‘Corporators are needed despite shortcomings’

Most residents and activists donrsquot seem to miss corporators whose term ended 16 months ago but political experts tell midday that though there is large scope for improvement in the system civic councillors are required in a democracyRegarding allegations of corruption that are sometimes raised against councillors the experts asked midday if MLAs and MPs were untainted They also stated that in the absence of corporators the administration is enjoying benefits akin to those received by our overlords during the colonial eraSome pointed out that MLAs and MPs perform similar functions as corporators such as inspecting nullah cleaning road work and public toilets along with infrastructure and asked why legislators are duplicating this workSandip PradhanIn a democracy public representatives from the grassroots level to Parliament are a must The system includes public representatives and administration and it has inbuilt setup of checks and balances There can be a debate on corruption and inefficiency but if we need to control the administration a public representative is a must The administrator is not answerable to anyone Once heshe joins they will work until retirement and do not face the public every five years Not so for public representativesSandip Pradhan political expertDuring the pandemic we had to impose the Britishera Epidemic Diseases Act Indian Civil Service officer W C Rand vacated Pune with the help of the same act to control the spread of plague The Act was so strictly imposed that Rand was murdered by the Chapekar brothers in 1897 Unfortunately the same law had to be implemented during COVID19 The Act allows the administration to control the people Though it is not in use anymore in the absence of corporators in cities and gram panchayats in rural areas ministers and administrative officers are taking advantage of the same law for their own benefitAs there are no standing improvement or any other statutory committees ministers find it easy to clear works These committees are necessary as they give a voice to the local people There are many allegations of corruption surrounding corporators but do you think MLAs and MPs are untainted If residents in towers say corporators are a nuisance why do they use lsquocorporator fundrsquo to fix tiles and pay cable bills Isnrsquot it corruption to use the money for the wrong reasons Writing comments on social media will be of no use if there is no connection with the ground levelPeople in slums are very tolerant They work for 12 to 14 hours a day and do not have much time and energy to pursue civic issues So they are silently facing difficulties and there is no public outrage On a broader level PM Narendra Modi cannot rule the whole country only with the help of administrative officers Peoplersquos representatives who echo public sentiment are needed at every level And if he tries to do it the attempt will fail miserablyPrakash AkolkarThere is a clearcut class divide in the city and those who are saying corporators are not important and merely a nuisance do not have any connection with slum dwellers Residents of towers can solve their issues through various resources but the maids who go to their homes have to go to corporators to solve their issues Even though the city has had no corporators for the past one and half years people in economically deprived classes are still going to their former corporators in large numbers to solve their daytoday issues and not only civic infra issuesThe Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation headquarters File picAshish RajeCorporators act as a pillar for support for issues from domestic violence to updating passportsAadhaar cards There are so many issues like the collapse of their huts no supply of electricity water cuts landslides and many others The people in towers have influence and have many tools like social media and helpline numbers But in slums they have only connections with corporators who have access to the administration and can put pressure on local authorities to get work doneOn a large scale democracy without public representatives is a disaster and a big conspiracy Elected members are an integrated part of democracy Though they are involved in corruption and we report it from time to time we cannot neglect the crucial link between the administration and the public How can we say we stay in democracy if there are no representatives of the public from local wards or rural areas Bureaucracy cannot run the countryCorporators have to attend calls at midnight for the sake of their vote bank Now the BMC has given corporatorsrsquo funds to MLAs Do you think they are not involved in corruption I know many corporators who are spending from lsquotheir own pocketsrsquo as they want to be elected next timeIn the BMC corporators act as a window to show what is going on behind closed doors of the administration and sometimes major corruption is uncovered due to political rivalry or someone not receiving their share The discussions and debate in the general body meeting underlined the various issues faced by people such as low supply of water potholes waterlogging waterborne disease etc Now deals are finalised at higher levels without a hint to common people or suggestions from themHaima DeshpandeFor the past year and a half there have been so many municipal corporations that do not have an elected body as the civic elections have not been conducted In all these months the question is Did any of us miss our corporator I did not In fact I donrsquot even know who my corporator is I know the MLA and the MP but not the corporatorPrakash AkolkarFor me the corporator is a faceless person accompanying the MLA to ensure that in case the latter does not contest an election The corporator may get to fill in their shoes due to the ldquoclose proximityrdquo factorWhat does a corporator do which is not being done by the MLA or the MP In the ward that I live in the MLA and the MP do similar functions including checks to see if the public drains have been cleaned road work and other infrastructure work have been completed or not etc So if the corporator is supposed to do the same work why are the MLA and the MP duplicating itThere are many people I know who have never voted in the civic polls because they do not know the candidates So it will do well if the corporator is more accessible and moves around the constituency a little more than what is happening nowTweet talkVirendra BhatnagarVirendraBhatna8 Corporators have a legal responsibility and can be pulled up in court of law for not discharging their dutiesRet2indnriret2indnri Save money and put it in FDs Powerful ALMs can replace corporators and make ward officers accountableAwaken Citizenstweetsocial_17 Most corporators are not seen after the electionshellipMohit Chhabriamohit_chhabria1 Corporators need to be more activeAnupamaanupamapatnaik They act according to who they favour and many donrsquot bother to listen to the residents at allNitin Thakkernitinthakker BMC still exists in the colonial raj and their employees and our beloved elected corporators are the newage lsquogorasrsquohellipChirag SalianChiragSalian1 You only have to look at the state of the city to see how certain people are only working for vested interestsReshmaresh1978 Corporators will help only if they see merit in doing so else will just ignore you There are very few who work for the people2022Year corporatorsrsquo term ended