The constant battle for supremacy between the elected Councillors and the bureaucrat-heavy MCG has vitiated the functioning of the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG), which was expected to carry the major responsibility for the development and maintenance of the City’s civic amenities and the delivery of civic services. The multiplicity of government agencies, the presence of many private builder areas, and the limited jurisdiction of MCG, have further eroded its effectiveness. For the Councillors, the major lacunae in the functioning of this urban local body is that, despite them being elected representatives, they have no say (let alone power) on how funds and powers will be used for the benefit of their wards; sole authority rests with the MCG Commissioner, who reports to and is beholden to his own bureaucratic seniors or the political masters in Chandigarh. After being totally ignored by the previous regime (partly because the Mayor and many Councillors were supported by Gurgaon MP and Hooda's bête noire Rao Inderjit Singh, and of course also because all that allegedly mattered was how the Administration took care of builders), the Councillors are hoping for positive change from a responsive BJP govt. that is powered by four MLAs from Gurgaon district. They believe that now MCG Gurgaon (and Councillors) will be better empowered, that HUDA sectors (along with relevant assets and employees) will be transferred to the Corporation, and that MCG will become the premier agency in this financial capital of Haryana.
Gurgaon Senior Deputy Mayor, Yashpal Batra says that time has come for the MCG to be duly empowered and funded for the benefit of the entire City. More importantly, Batra says, the elected Councillors should also be able to influence local development priorities, and a fund should be allocated to them on the lines of MPLAD (for MPs), for their respective wards. The Councillors currently act more like watch and ward staff, making recommendations to the local JE, who makes estimates of the civil work at his own sweet will, as part of a long, tardy process. Further, many big ticket important projects - such as the construction of flyovers, underpasses and parking lots - that were planned by MCG, have been stalled because the proposals keep hanging fire in Chandigarh. A majority of the MCG Councillors are now hoping that the new government, which got excellent support from the people of Gurgaon, will now deliver what it had promised –basically, to end the multiplicity of agencies in the City and to empower the MCG. On the proposed Gurgaon Development Authority, which is being envisioned by some civil society members as the overarching body for the City (on the lines of NOIDA), most Councillors believe that it will be less effective than an empowered MCG backed by a Mayor/Councillor system. Councillor Seema Pahuja, who was actively seeking the Congress ticket in the recent elections, tells Friday Gurgaon that while minor works like improvement of roads and the building of lanes and drains has been achieved in her ward, the people are still suffering from massive traffic jams. Further, the sewage and sanitation works are inadequate, and many colonies are suffering from an inadequate supply of water. Batra asserts that the revenue of MCG can even go up to Rs. 2.000 crores in a year, provided there is support to the urban local body from the government. There is an immediate need to transfer HUDA sectors to MCG, and to resolve the property tax issue, he says. Pahuja criticises the manner in which MCG has been modelled (rather, implemented) for the City, and wants it function on the lines of Delhi and Mumbai, which have more empowered bodies. Gurgaon Deputy Mayor Parminder Kataria, who hails from the BJP, says that a large number of works have been done by the Corporation in his ward – like the widening of Railway Road, more street lighting, construction of lanes and drains and the better provision of drinking water. He also agrees that in the current setup there is little scope for the Corporation to undertake large projects. "We have improved some basic facilities from limited resources, but more can be done provided there is support from the government," he says.
MCG Councillor Lakhpat Kataria, who also fought the Assembly polls, is of the opinion that the current State government should focus on building flyovers and underpasses, to help connect ‘old’ and ‘new’ Gurgaon in a better way. "There is also need to increase the strength of the MCG staff, as the current contract system has failed to deliver," he says. Unfortunately, even for this, they need permission from Chandigarh. An RTI has revealed the precarious state of affairs of the MCG; reportedly almost 80 per cent (2237 out of 2758) of the sanctioned posts have not been filled up – including a number of important posts! And 33 officials are on deputation. The State government seems to have little or no interest on whether, and how, this crucial civic body functions.
To being an end to this multiplicity of agencies in Gurgaon, and to make MCG responsible for all civic works across the City, Nisha Singh, Councillor for Ward no. 31, has launched the 'My City in My Hands' campaign, which is backed by many civil society members and activists. Nisha Singh says that the purpose of this campaign is to ensure that the funds, functions and functionaries should be vested in the Mayoral system, of an elected Mayor and Councillors, of the City. She says that the purpose of the campaign is to raise the awareness amongst the people of Gurgaon/Haryana (and indeed the whole nation, as the movement grows) on the need to empower the position of a Mayor in our cities – an issue that is becoming vitally important, given the fast increasing urbanisation of the country. A Mayor cum Councillor system can best provide an efficient, effective and accountable governance to our cities. At present the residents, RWAs and civil society members of Gurgaon have no voice in the ‘system’. They are fed up of checking out and then dealing with the multiple State govt. authorities that operate with confusing and ill-defined scope and areas of influence, and that feel no accountability towards them. In fact they have developed a thick, arrogant hide. The ‘My City in My hands’ campaign aims to galvanise all these stakeholders to demand what is rightfully theirs, recognised the 74th Amendment to the Indian Constitution of India – a right to have a democratically elected, empowered and autonomous Municipal Corporation. Nisha Singh and her team have prepared a document that details this demand. Bhawani Shankar Tripathy, who is a founding member of Mission Gurgaon Development, says that a sustainable Gurgaon can only be built if there is participatory planning between the planners, policymakers and the public. To achieve this, Gurgaon must strengthen local governance and all participatory mechanisms, so that the citizens of Gurgaon can participate effectively in the City’s development decisions. The Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon must therefore be empowered to act as the ‘Institute of Local Governance’, as mandated by the 74th Constitutional Amendment. Ward Committees should be formed, so that residents can more openly and effectively contribute to the development decisions. He adds that the Gurgaon Manesar Master Plan 2031 has a number of deficiencies, and needs to be reviewed against sustainable development parameters, in the backdrop of the NCR Plan. The Plan should also not just be for the new sectors of Gurgaon, but also for the City’s older areas, which need to be reviewed for retrofitting and infrastructure improvement. This would be possible only if MCG has an expanded role. Rajani Sawhney, a Councillor, asserts that Haryana needs to revisit the Urban Local Bodies Act and remodel it, so that more powers and funds are given to the elected representatives. "The MCG Mayor and Councillors today just constantly await the approval of projects for their wards from Chandigarh; and if the nod does not come, they can do nothing," he asserts. Another Councillor says that work is not happening because there is a lack of engineers in the Corporation; there is no one to ensure the implementation and monitoring of projects. Those on deputation or contract are here to just maximise their returns in a short time.
The inertia in the MCG can only be ended if the State government acts as per the spirit of the 74th amendment of the Constitution, which has made provision for urban local self-government and Panchayati Raj in the country. The ‘My City in My Hands’ campaign is planning to approach not only the government but also the judiciary, to seek the right of self-government in urban areas like Gurgaon. It is also working on a comprehensive approach to, and resolution of, this vital governance issue. It plans to examine the constitutional validity of the provisions of the Haryana Municipalities Act 1994 and related rules and regulations, as also consider the recommendations of the 6th Report of the 2nd Administrative Reforms Commission, titled ‘Local Governance’ - whose adoption would help in the deepening of democracy in the land. The campaign is also calling for a detailed review of the budgets of the urban local bodies, and the allocation of a separate budget for each municipality, under a separate head in the State budget. It also wants parallel bodies, which transgress the functional areas listed in the Twelfth Schedule of the Constitution for devolution to the Municipalities, to be abolished, or be subsumed in the municipalities. Simultaneously, all their related physical, manpower and financial resources should be transferred to the municipalities. It also wants the government of Haryana to identify posts and functionaries under its administrative and/or financial control in the functional areas listed in the Twelfth Schedule of the Constitution, and transfer them to the administrative, functional and financial control of municipalities. Most importantly, it wants the Mayor, who is the Chairperson of a Municipality, to be the Chief Executive of the Municipality.
A majority of the Councillors and members of civil society point out that unless Gurgaon (or any city) is run by people who have a stake in it, there is little chance that it will come back on track. With huge financial stakes involved, and many vested interests still ruling the roost in the City, it is perhaps democratically elected Councillors, accessible and accountable to the public, that can best bring about a change in how this City functions. Let us continue to create wealth for the City and the State (and Nation), but let us also help get our local Administration empowered, and then ensure that it works with us and is accountable to us.
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