The Charter, a 26-page booklet that lists the rights of the citizen vis-a- vis the civic body, was released by Chief Minister Narayan Rane at the packed Birla Kreeda Kendra, Chowpatty, making it the first time that such an initiative has been taken anywhere in the country.

The charter, which comprehensively guides the people on how to go about with their complaints and get quick redressal from the BMC, is a combined effort of the BMC and Praja, a non-profit NGO, along with The Indian Express. The booklet will soon be distributed along with The Indian Express and its other group publications.

``The charter is not in your praise but shows the corporators' shortcomings. The very fact that such a booklet has to be launched only indicates the deficiencies andloopholes in the BMC. In the 125 years of the BMC is this the first time that such an initiative has been taken? Was it not there before?,'' Rane pointed out reminding the elected representatives that it was their duty to inform and redress grievances. Mayor Hareshwar Patil, Deputy Mayor Ram Barot, Municipal Commissioner K Nalinakshan, former cabinet secretary B G Deshmukh and eminent jurist Nani Palkhivala, were amongst those who attended the release of the charter.

It is not just the top bureaucracy and the elected representatives who have pledged their support for the charter: a willing participant was the strong BMC union. The Kamgar Sanghatna leader, Digambar Satam assured everybody the Sanghatna and the Municipal Mazdoor Union would help in every possible way to make the Charter a success.

Rane stated that 1.25 crore large public of Mumbai would definitely be able to find better solutions to their civic problems with the launch of this charter, which even provides the phone numbers of all the wardofficers and deputy municipal commissioners whom they should approach.

``It's my dream to see Mumbai as clean as Singapore in the next ten years; but to achieve that the municipal councillors will have to work harder to serve the people's cause and the bureaucracy has to be more supportive,'' said Rane.

Giving an example of Canada, where over 98 per cent of the people pay taxes on the understanding that ``more taxes meant better amenities'', Rane criticised the BMC for having an almost opposite approach in Mumbai. ``Here the corporators themselves oppose taxes as they are scared that the people will not vote for them the next time!'' he remarked.

Municipal commissioner K Nalinakshan stated that the two main aims of the charter would be to provide information of the necessary civic services and how the public can effectively utilise it. ``Because of the charter now you will know that garbage from your locality has to be collected within 24 hours, burst water pipeline has to be repaired in 24 hours, andthat a new water connection can be sought in 30 days time limit, and so on,'' he informed.

B G Deshmukh, former cabinet secretary and chairman of the Tata Council for Community Initiatives observed: ``The Citizens' Charter is a two-way commitment that will bind the civic authorities with people.''

Nitai Mehta, one of the founder-members of Praja complimented the BMC for its wholehearted support: ``We had their full support for the Charter. In fact, we had to change the Charter over ten times to make it thorough.''In his address, the mayor Hareshwar Patil said that in the past one year over 25000 letters have been addressed to the mayor's office with various grievances. ``Basically the people do not know where exactly to complain. Soon we will set up 16 ward committees to take up local issues and problems,'' he said.

Charter is the key

The Charter has 11 sections on BMC. While describing the work of each department, the charter informs on how soon the concerned ward officer should respond toyour complaint. It tells you which official should be contacted at what time and also lists telephone numbers of all the 23 ward officers and the deputy municipal commissioner of all the 6 zones (with the precise addresses and appointment hours).

The charter also guides you step-by-step on how to go about with the complaint procedure, complete with the `complaint form'. And if this too fails to catch BMC's attention, then Praja will step in and meet the officials. The very thought of going to a BMC office, will now hopefully not conjure pictures of lethargic babus and curt officials. The key to BMC is now in the charter. And, soon, in your hands. For further information, call Praja at: Tel: 2188865, Fax: 2185739 or e-mail: praja_foundation@hotmail.com or visit:http:// www.praja.org