BMC launches 'Participate Mumbai' platform, signs pact with Samagra to improve services

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has launched a new digital platform, 'Participate Mumbai', to increase the involvement of citizens, industry and business, voluntary organisations and experts in the city's development. It was launched at the civic body's auditorium. At the same event, a memorandum of understanding was exchanged with 'Samagra' to improve the corporation's service delivery, simplify administrative processes and raise efficiency. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was speaking on the occasion.

Present were Mangal Prabhat Lodha, Minister for Skills, Employment, Entrepreneurship and Innovation and co-guardian minister of Mumbai Suburban district; Mumbai Mayor Ritu Tawde; Deputy Mayor Sanjay Ghadi; and Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide. Corporation office-bearers, corporators, officials, employees and representatives of industry and voluntary organisations also attended.

Fadnavis said 'Participate Mumbai' is not merely a platform for raising corporate social responsibility (CSR) money. According to him, it is a platform for the question of what "you and we can do together for the last person in society". He said details of projects in areas where the corporation wants partners will be put on the platform. Companies, voluntary organisations or citizens willing to work in areas such as education, health, water, employment, environment, gardens, beautification and poverty alleviation will be able to choose a project of their liking. An organisation wanting to work in a particular area will also be able to put forward its own plan on the platform. Fadnavis expressed confidence that this would reduce the distance between the corporation and the social and corporate sectors and speed up development work.

The Chief Minister said that more important than how much money is spent on CSR is how much public welfare it delivers and what the outcome is. He said organisations working through CSR bring the government new technology, modern management methods, effective monitoring systems and flexible working methods. Traditional government administrative processes have some limits, so linking the government machinery with CSR partners can make the work more effective, he said.

On malnutrition, Fadnavis said the BMC has done major work in basic infrastructure, but more effective intervention is needed in education, health and nutrition. According to him, problems such as malnutrition, stunting and wasting are still seen in some parts of the city. CSR partnerships should be used well to deliver nutrition to children, especially in slums and poor settlements, he said. He said nutrition is directly linked to children's brain development, performance in studies and immunity, so it can have a long-term effect on the next generation.

Fadnavis described the agreement with 'Samagra' as an important step towards making the corporation's administration faster, more transparent and citizen-centric. He said many government processes still run in the old way, and it is not right to run processes made years ago in the same manner today. Citizens want instant service and solutions to problems, so 'business process reengineering' is needed, cutting unnecessary steps, he said.

He said the state government tried to put about 1,100 services online. Analysis found that citizens do not actually use about 200 of them. If the delivery process of the 45 to 47 services and schemes that people use on a large scale is improved, faster and better service can be given to 90 per cent of citizens. According to Fadnavis, the restructuring of this process is in its final stage and will be implemented soon.

An artificial intelligence (AI)-based system has already been introduced in the BMC's building proposal department to scrutinise construction plans. Fadnavis said the aim going forward should be to reduce human intervention in this process to a minimum or to zero, which would make doing business in Mumbai easier. He also said the administration must change with the times and drop the attitude of "we have been doing this process for so many years, who will teach us anything".

Mayor Ritu Tawde said 'Participate Mumbai' and the agreement with 'Samagra' are an important milestone in Mumbai's administrative history. According to her, it is an effort to institutionalise public participation in the city's development. She said that going forward, the administration and the public will not be two ends; instead, the "collective strength of Mumbaikars" will become the new identity of the city's development. Tawde said CSR should not be only about giving money but a means of bringing "change, not cheques", and that 'Participate Mumbai' will link this capacity of industries, organisations and citizens to the corporation's needs.

Commissioner Ashwini Bhide, in her introductory remarks, said that to give a city of more than two crore people citizen-centric, transparent and fast service, continuous reform of the administrative machinery is necessary. She said citizens' participation will be taken in the form of funds, help in kind, experts' knowledge or volunteering. There is also an effort to develop a system for evaluating and comparatively reviewing the work of departments and wards.

Deputy Mayor Sanjay Ghadi proposed the vote of thanks. Fadnavis unveiled a booklet on both initiatives. Hindustan Unilever handed over Rs 25 crore to the BMC under CSR for ten new facility centres to be built in Mumbai.