Instance 2

“How about Bhaskar Jadhav as MVA candidate from Magathane?” A colleague of mine suggested “Why is he better than so many other options we have” my manager enquired “He has been a 3 times corprator” My colleague replied “Ok then, no more questions”

Instance 3

On the news: Shinde government is now only eyeing corporators from every party. They are willing  to pay 5 cr to each ex-corporator who joins.

Corporator this, Corporator that!?!? Who are these corporators? As I was new to the field of political consulting I was still looking for my answers. Next day on my field visit I decided to ask people in Mumbai, who are corporators and why do you think they are important? And this was the major conclusion I received from them all. “Corporators are the closest, citizens can get to demand accountability from the government. They are at the core of Urban Local Governing bodies”

My search for these Urban Local Governing Bodies started and in this essay I try to explain it in my best possible way.

Need for Urban Local Governing Bodies (ULGB)

Urban local governing bodies like municipal corporations and municipal councils are essential for managing our ever growing cities effectively. To begin with, they came into existence with the 76th Constitutional amendment. The idea was to bring democracy to the grassroots for citizens and to truely make India a federal state. In 2024, urban areas accounted for 36% of India’s population and 70% of GDP.

So in India a city comes under the jurisdiction of three governments, National government, State government and Urban Local body government. So how are the powers and functions divided? Is there an overlap in the responsibilities? Does it make the work of state government easy or does it mean an increase in paperwork, more formalities, corruption and bureaucracy for the citizens? Let’s start with the core functions of Urban Local Governing Bodies

1.      Management of Cities:

• What mostly sets rural areas apart from cities is the infrastructure. Cities have complex needs like roads, drainage, waste management, water supply, public transport and street lighting.
• Urban Local bodies are responsible for maintenance of the city by ensuring a smooth functioning of the tasks mentioned above.

2.      Localized Decision-Making

• Imagine going to the principal for every inconvenience in your class. For example, the dustbin is full. Now for students in the class it is a huge problem but a principal can’t be dealing with it. That’s why we had a class teacher. Just like every class has a unique demography, issues and demands, so does every city. Local representatives like mayors and corporators are people who understand the specific needs of their area better than state or central governments.
• They have powers due to which makes them eligible to approve certain decisions without having to wait for permissions from the state governments.

3.      Public Participation & Accountability

• As we know, the municipal bodies have a political and an administrative wing. The people get to vote and elect a representative who they deem fit to be able to solve their issues, and the same people can also hold him/her accountable.
• This makes participation of locals necessary in a government and brings governance closer for people.

1. Urban Growth

• Urbanization is increasing at a lightning speed which also says that cities need planned expansion and development. Local governing bodies ensure this planning and development to fasten and accommodate urbanisation

5.       Implementation of Government Schemes

• National and state-level policies for example Smart Cities Mission, MHADA, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan are executed effectively at the city level. Hence ULGB help to reach welfare benefits like healthcare, education and housing schemes to urban populations fairly.

But running these ULGB is not a cake walk hence it  involves multiple stakeholders. We can broadly divide these stakeholders under the following:

• The political wing consists of Elected Representatives like corporators who are involved in policy discussions, decision-making, Budget Allocation & Fund Utilization at the city level.
• The administrative wing headed by the Municipal Commissioner who executes these policies.
• The State Government contains this entire system and provides financial support.
• Citizens, Businesses and NGOs are basically like trustees who ensure accountability and interact with the municipality to ensure smooth governance.

From my field diaries as a political consultant while I spoke to multiple people about their perception of Urban bodies, one example stood out. The efficient municipal governance in containing COVID-19. It was an emergency  task which put the entire pressure on urban local bodies in the cities. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation(BMC) and its handling of the Mumbai COVID-19 response during the peak of the pandemic was quick and effective to an extent that even the World Bank praised it. BMC was involved in Healthcare infrastructure expansion, Testing & Contact Tracing, Oxygen & Bed Management, Vaccination Drive and Public awareness. Dharavi, one of the most densely populated slums in the world, was expected to become a COVID-19 disaster zone. However, BMC aggressively tested, traced, and isolated cases, successfully breaking the chain of infection. After hearing people praise BMC so much for their Covid response, it was clear that people had a positive perception of the Urban Local bodies.

Another moment which made me realise that Urban Local bodies do have a permanent place in people’s hearts was when the delay of municipal elections was troubling citizens. Somehow people find it easier to approach an elected representative than an administrator i.e citizens prefer reaching out to a corporator than a BMC officer for their problems but now as elections are being delayed for more than 3 years they have nowhere to go. Ex-corporators do not have funding and hence their hands are tied.

However after primary and secondary research I can conclude that there are a few gaps which are hampering the effectiveness of UBLs

1. Understaffing for municipals

Our municipal corporations are understaffed, with a bigger challenge being the lack of specialized skills. Urban service delivery requires expertise, but recruitment frameworks focus only on basic qualifications, ignoring managerial and technical competencies. Weak organizational structures further add to the problem. For instance, BMC planned 145,111 posts to meet growing demands, but years of unfilled vacancies have led to a crisis with 52,221 positions still vacant.

2. Delay of elections:

The delay in elections has a very political reason behind it but it is causing trouble to citizens on an everyday basis. If Urban local body is a cycle, it is functioning with only one wheel which obviously is making the entire purpose of a cycle null and void that is – no efficiency, no accountability and no citizen participation

3. Lack of funds:

Municipal corporations do not have full financial autonomy and rely heavily on grants from the state and central governments. Delay in fund disbursement from higher authorities affects urban projects. Another important issue is the Weak revenue collection mechanisms which is also contributing to financial issues. Abolition of Octroi & other Tax after GST reduced municipal revenue sources,

Urban local bodies act as the backbone of city governance, ensuring better services, local empowerment and sustainable growth. The citizens have high hopes from these bodies but the gaps mentioned above need to be filled for UGLBs to do justice to its own people. Just as they say, “Every drop contributes to making an ocean,” UGLB are the drops that collectively form the vast ocean of democracy.