Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) Council Meeting Unanimously Approves Formation of Ward Committee & Area Sabha! Kudos to MCC Civic Group. It was a BIG victory for the Founders of MCC Civic Group, Nigel Albuquerque and Ajoy D’silva, who along with Smt Kathyayini Chamaraj – Executive Trustee, CIVIC Bangalore ®; and Narendra Kumar – President, Nagarika Shakti ® & State Joint Secretary, Forum to Build Bribe-Free Karnataka ®, both from Bengaluru, had filed a case in the High Court to form Ward Committee and Area Sabha in Mangaluru on 27 November 2018 , and on 8 August 2019, Hon’ble Chief Justice Abhay Shreenivas Oka of the High Court passed the order for the formation of the Ward Committee & Area Sabha. (Ref: Judgement by High Court favours MCC Civic Group to form Ward Committees & Area Sabhas )
Mangaluru: OMG- as always where the Mangaluru City Corporation Council meetings result in loud arguments between the councilors, and today’s meeting was no exception, which was held after a long time due pandemic lockdown, and I was totally confused whether I was at an MCC Council Meeting Hall, or at the Central Fish Market? The nose and behaviour of the elected MCC Corporators and opposition members was so very unruly and noisy, it was simply an ugly scene during the entire proceedings, to watch and listen to these so-called councilors yelling at each other over the microphone and the helpless MCC Mayor had to convince and pacify these ‘Men’ and ‘Women’ to calm down and sit calm in their seats, and behave like councilors and not like…??You could term this situation, like an Ind-Pak War or like a Cats and Dogs fight? Oh well.. such kind of councilors we have in our MCC.
Today’s council meeting was headed by MCC Commissioner Dinesh Kumar, MCC Mayor Diwakara Pandeshwar, MCC Deputy Mayor Mrs Vedavathi Janaki, and Council Governing Board Members- Ms Poornima, Sharath Kumar, Kiran Kumar and Jagadish Shetty. Over 55 issues were discussed during the council meeting today, among which was the increase in water fees and garbage cess. Mangaluru City Corporation administration has imposed a steep increase in the waste management cess and burdened the people at a time when they are devastated by the impact of coronavirus, alleged opposition leaders in the corporation, said Opposition leader Abdul Rauf.
“The annual waste management cess of Rs 180 for 500 square feet that was imposed by the corporation during 2015-16 after a review has been increased to Rs 600. It amounts to an increase of 231 per cent. Financial activities have stopped due to the lockdown during coronavirus outbreak. The corporation which should have relaxed taxes and helped the people during difficulties is making a profit on the pretext of coronavirus. Waste disposal cess was implemented in the corporation during 2013-14. The contract was assigned to Antony Waste Management company. As the payment to them was a burden to the corporation, waste management cess was introduced. Along with property tax for an area up to 500 square feet, an annual cess of Rs 360 was charged at the rate of Rs 30 per month in 2015-16. The cess was being collected at various rates for a property with an area beyond 500 sq ft. It is increased by mammoth proportions now during the coronavirus pandemic. The collection of the cess should be stopped forthwith. The amount paid already should be adjusted against future payment. Charges for water supply also are increased during this period. We urge the corporation to waive off the charges for three months,” added Rauf.
During today’s council meeting, it was decided that the Water Bill and Garbage Cess would be reduced. But the much awaited issue on today’s agenda during the Council Meeting was regarding Ward Committee and Area Sabha in MCC with reference to High Court of Karnataka in Bengaluru judgement orders WP 53244/2018. And the good news was that the Ward Committee and Area Sabha in MCC was unanimously passed in Meeting, supported by members from both BJP and Congress. The initiative to form the Ward Committee and Area Sabha was taken up by MCC Civic Group. MCC Civic Group Institutionalizes Citizen Participation in MCC, 27 years after the 74th Constitutional Amendment took effect (Ref: MCC Civic Group Sends ‘Show Cause Notice’ to Officials regarding Ward Committees )
Lead petitioner to High Court of Karnataka in Bengaluru judgement orders- WP 53244/2018 for Ward Committee and Area Sabha in Mangaluru City Corporation- Nigel Albuquerque, also co-founder of social media civic platform- MCC Civic Group along with Ajoy D’silva, speaking to Mangalorean.com said- “This is a great victory to the people of Mangaluru, who were intentionally and deliberately denied Institutionalizing Citizen Participation in the governance of Mangaluru for 27 years after the 74th Constitutional Amendment took effect. Mangaluru citizens known to be educated, are now provided with constitutional and legal platforms in order to participate in the their respective monthly Ward Committee and quarterly Area Sabha meetings, raising their civic problems and deciding their progress and development, in the pursuit of achieving ART of Governance- Accountability, Responsibility & Transparency.” (Ref: MCC Civic Group & Karnataka Ward Samithi Vedike (KWSV) Stress On Candidates Contesting For MCC Council Election To Form Area Sabha & Ward Committee )
Ajoy D’silva also speaking to Mangalorean.com said- “Today is a great victory for Accountability, Responsibility & Transparency – ART of Governance, a paradigm shift in the governance of Mangaluru.” For various reasons the city is known for its high quality human resources, but somehow it has shown a certain degree of relent in taking forward civic issues. But things have changed a group of young civic activists led by the whatsapp group ‘MCC Civic Group’. The group administrator Nigel Albuquerque and many of the group members have been discussing on why Mangaluru city corporation did not form the ward committees despite the directives from the government. The city’s civic leaders did not open their eyes even after the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike was rapped by the court for not holding the ward committee meetings regularly. The civic activists of the city have been knocking at every door including the people’s representatives, the Mayor, Commissioner of Mangaluru City Corporation and the successive Deputy Commissioners for a long time.
Following the seriousness of the issue the MCC Civic Group decided to take the issue of formation of ward committees in all the 60 wards. At a time when the city has launched itself into the ‘smart city mode’ the civic activism has to rush to the help of the city corporation to make it a bottoms up model and not a top down model in planning for a city of their dreams. The Mangalore Smart City Limited authorities have also welcomed the initiative taken up by the MCC Civic Group. They say such an initiative will help the city to grow into a smart city with the help of the people when they are involved into the planning process.
Regarding, the Constitution 74th Amendment Act, 1992 Decentralization is a backbone for democracy and the Constitution of India recognized it. The 74th amendment to the Constitution in 1992 provides that each urban area shall have a municipality and municipalities are categorized into three, a nagar panchayat, for a transitional area, that is to say, an area in transition from a rural area to an urban area; a municipal council for a smaller urban area; and a municipal corporation for a larger urban area. In addition to the municipality, the Constitution also provided, in each municipality, Wards Committees, consisting of one or more wards within the territorial area of a municipality having a population of three lakhs or more.
More details about Ward Committee & Area Sabha click on this link : MCC Civic Group Hosts Area Sabhas & Ward Committees Workshop for Better Future of ‘Smart City’ Mluru
The Area Sabha and Ward Sabha are not decision making bodies and as such do not have any powers to exercise. However, they would have certain functions to perform. The functions may consist the following: – Generate proposals and determine priority of schemes in the area and forward to Ward Committee for inclusion in Ward Development Plan – Identify the eligible beneficiaries under government sponsored welfare schemes on the basis of already fixed criteria – Identify deficiencies in the services provided by municipality – Suggest location of street lights, public taps, public conveniences etc. – Cooperate with the Ward Committee in maintenance of sanitation – Impart awareness on matters of public interest like literacy, health care, environmental issues and pollution etc.
Even after the judgement was passed by HC to form Ward Committee & Area Sabha , but during that MCC Council was not constituted for 3 and 1/2 months; Reason unknown, although widely believed to be Mayor reservation. Further, Covid-19 lockdown further delays WC & AS in MCC. But Constant follow up efforts of MCC Civic Group with former MCC Commissioner Ajith Kumar Hegde Shanady result in inclusion of WC & AS in MCC with reference to High Court of Karnataka in Bengaluru judgement orders in MCC Council meeting agenda dated 16th July 2020, which was rescheduled for today, 13 August 2020.
Hope with all the efforts put in by MCC Civic group, let’s hope that the Area Sabha & Ward Committees will benefit for the betterment of this growing city, where now with all the corrupt officials and councilors who are running the show in MCC are ruining the progress of the City systematically. Good job by MCC Civic group, and three cheers to Nigel Albuquerque, Ajoy D’silva, Smt Kathyayini Chamaraj, and Narendra Kumar for their determination and fight in finally making Mangaluru Smart City/MCC to have a ‘WARD COMMITTEE & AREA SABHA’
Congratulations and thanks to MCC Civic Group for their efforts.
Cheers to manglorian .com