aRTICLE | Mayoral Reforms
Empowering mayors necessary for managing cities efficiently In 1992, when the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act (CAA) came into existence, the local bodies and municipalities were accorded the constitutional status. Post that,the issue of devolution of powers to Mayors and their representation in the governance structure of Indian urban regions has taken centre stage. As per the 7th Schedule of Indian Constitution, “local government” is a state subject, making it the discretion of state governments to decide on the aspects of local governance. This explains why the Mayor in Mumbai is indirectly elected for 2.5 years, while the one in Bhopal is directly elected for 5 years Hitesh Nigam | Reporter
ayors in India have been regularly demanding for the effective and universal implementation of the 74th CAA. It guides the basis of governance at the local level in cities, but is patchy in implementation. A Mayor is considered as the ‘Chief Executive’ of affairs in a municipal corporation. When a region faces some civic crisis, people look at their local elected representative. In a democracy, what makes a leader deliver his duties effectively? May be the fear of losing the seat in the next round of elections, which means they are accountable to the people. For this reason, the different methods of election of mayors in different states has been questioned by experts.
Direct election is the key?
In India, except some states like Haryana, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh, all others conduct indirect election of Mayors. The representative of people at the very local level is not directly elected ‘by’ the people. Citizens
36 April 2022 | www.urbanupdate.in
elect their councillors and then they select their leader as the city Mayor. As a result, such representatives do not resonate with the local public and it creates a leadership gap. When people elect their representative, he/ she is directly accountable to them which acts as a motivation for the elected representative to work for the development of the region. Since Shashi Tharoor, Member of Parliament, Thiruvananthapuram, initiated a private members bill in the Parliament in 2016, demanding direct elections and strengthening of Office of Mayor, it has been discussed time and again, but any substantial step towards it is still pending. Various global cities with directly elected powerful Mayors are presenting great example of leadership. For instance, Michael Bloomberg, Former Mayor of New York City, has various feathers in his cap ranging from public health initiatives, improving and encouraging non-motorised mass transit system, to boosting scientific research and industry in New York. Even with such examples, whether the direct elections for the position of Mayors would have any fruitful outcome is questionable. Even in India, states like Bihar have the provision for direct elections but few would argue that they perform differently. To know more about this, Team Urban Update talked to Tikender Panwar, Former Deputy Mayor, Shimla. He said, “Holding direct elections for the post of Mayor is not that important. What’s more important is to strengthen the institution of Mayors by creating a bureaucratic setup which is accountable to Mayor, considering that he/she is the Chief Executive in a city.”
