It's official! Corporators don't care about your problems

Illustration/Uday Mohite

Corporators in Mumbai are often blamed for their lackadaisical approach towards citizen issues. And a report by NGO Praja Foundation seems to second that. It reveals that they may not be concerned enough about the issues that plague their respective wards.

According to the report, the number of complaints filed by Mumbaikars last year was 49 per cent higher than the number recorded in 2015 - 92,329 from 61,910. The rise impacted the time taken to assess and sort through the complaints. While it had taken authorities only 15 days to sort through complaints in 2015, time taken last year was 48 days.

"Fine and quality service and an effective response to complaints are the two things citizens expect. As per the information with us, authorities are least empathetic towards people's issues," said Nitai Mehta, founder and chairperson of Praja Foundation.

The main issues
The quality of air and the imbalance in the number of toilet seats available for men and women in public loos are the two issues the report highlights. It states that the quality of air has been badly compromised amid approvals for massive projects in the city.

The report also states that 46 per cent imbalance has been found in the number of toilet seats available for men and women in public loos, with the historically important C ward (Marine Lines), which has a large population, seeing the highest imbalance - 85 per cent.

In the wake of the study, the report has called for greater attention to female hygiene in the area. "Such an imbalance in a metro city is saddening. The civic body must try its best to correct it," said Milind Mhaske, project director of Praja Foundation.

More misses than hits
An assessment of the questions asked by corporators gave another shocking revelation - not a single question was asked by 38 corporators from March to December 2017; 17 of these corporators belong to the ruling Shiv Sena, and, interestingly, 11 out of the 38 were reelected in the BMC polls held last February.

"It appears that the department that takes the decision on public policy has been failing repeatedly," said Mhaske. In a faint silver lining though, the number of complaints resolved went up to 83 per cent in 2017 from 58 per cent in 2016. Also, the new batch of corporators (elected in 2017) asked more questions than their predecessors (the batch of 2012) - 856 over the previous 697.

83%
Complaints resolved in 2017, up from 58% in 2016

856
Number of questions asked by new batch of corporators

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