State set to issue policy instructions to corporations

MUMBAI: The state government on Thursday decided to play Big Brother to all municipal corporations in the state in issuing ���positive policy directives for mandatory implementation in the larger public interest���. The Maharashtra government will issue an ordinance empowering it to issue policy instructions to municipal corporations to carry out urban reforms and implement welfare schemes of the Central as well as state government.

The move is largely aimed at getting municipal bodies to carry out long-delayed civic and urban reforms. These include a uniform system of preparing budgets, using double entry accrual system to bring in transparency in revenue collection and civic audits, mandatory implementation of rules pertaining to tree plantation, cleanliness etc.

���At present, the state government has negative powers, meaning it can stop a municipal corporation from doing a wrong thing or passing a wrong resolution. But it does not have positive powers which would enforce policy directives to the civic bodies. Lack of these powers has effectively held up several crucial reforms in our cities,��� explained a urban development ministry official.

The government has, however, clarified that the powers to issue the directives did not mean that the state wanted to infringe upon the autonomy of the civic bodies. ���By empowering the state to issue directives, we don���t even imply that the state intends to interfere in the day-to-day functioning of civic bodies,��� the official clarified.

The official also pointed out that the policy directives would be in consonance with the existing laws that govern the functioning of civic bodies. ���At present, the state government can make recommendations to the civic bodies asking them to follow certain norms or carry out certain programmes for larger public good. But the civic bodies can very easily ignore those recommendations. The result is that the larger public good is not served,��� said the bureaucrat.

In particular, the state has cited the long-pending reforms mandated by the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). Very few municipal bodies in the state have carried out the reforms which are mandatory under JNNURM guidelines.

���For instance, civic bodies need to shift to a capital value system to assess property tax which is more practical, dynamic, and transparent. But this has not been done even though the JNNURM guidelines came in 2006. The central government cites slow progress on reforms to hold back funds. But the state does not have any powers to get civic bodies to carry out reforms,��� another official said.