Maharashtra municipal presidents went to the state secretariat in Mumbai on Wednesday to protest what they described as reductions in their statutory, financial, executive and administrative powers, according to a report by Loksatta – Mumbai. The Maharashtra Nagaradhyaksha Hakk Samiti warned that it would launch an agitation if the powers were not restored.
The municipal presidents also conveyed their dissatisfaction to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, the report said. The committee submitted a memorandum seeking the restoration of powers that it said had been curtailed through changes to the legal and administrative framework governing municipal councils and nagar panchayats.
Maharashtra’s municipal councils, nagar panchayats and industrial townships are governed under the Maharashtra Municipal Councils, Nagar Panchayats and Industrial Townships Act, 1965, along with the Maharashtra Municipal Accounts Code, 2023. According to the report, amendments made through legislation in 2019 and 2024 reduced several powers previously available to municipal presidents.
The committee said elected municipal presidents require statutory, financial, executive, administrative and signing powers to ensure effective and faster functioning of local self-government institutions. It also claimed that the changes had affected decision-making at the municipal level and the implementation of development works.
The demand comes in the context of the direct election of municipal presidents by voters since 2015. The committee argued that directly elected presidents should receive powers at least equivalent to, or greater than, those available under the earlier framework. It asked the state government to restore the powers that had been reduced.
Among the demands is that municipal presidents should receive signing, financial, executive and administrative powers in line with the system followed in 2015. The committee also sought the implementation of development projects within municipal limits through the municipal machinery itself, rather than transferring them to agencies such as the Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran, the Public Works Department or other authorities.
The committee further demanded that directly elected municipal presidents be allowed to spend up to 50 per cent of funds directly. It asked that development proposals submitted by presidents be approved by the District Planning Committee and that the funds be transferred directly to the concerned municipality, without deductions or diversion to another agency or elected representative.
The municipal presidents also sought membership as ex-officio members of District Planning Committee meetings. Their demands would alter how development proposals, funding and implementation responsibilities are distributed between elected municipal leadership, district-level planning bodies and state agencies.
The committee’s warning of an agitation places the issue before the state government as a question of municipal authority and implementation control. The next step identified in the report is the government’s response to the memorandum and whether the demanded powers will be restored.
