If a senior state functionary from the Congress party is to be believed, all posts in Mhada lying vacant for years could be filled before the end of this month. A highly placed source in the party told The Asian Age, “Enough is enough. The party high command has asked the chief minister to fill all the political posts in Mhada. The step to appoint board members will not only boost the enthusiasm of party workers, but will also kick-start pending works.” Earlier, a section of party functionaries was unhappy with the CM as the posts lay vacant and he did nothing to fill them up despite lobbying in 10 Janpath.
“If members are appointed to the board, redevelopment of almost 5,000 Mhada colonies under Section 33(5) of the Mhada Act would get momentum. Hurdles in the proposals will be dealt with by the board members and solved amicably, unlike bureaucrats,” said Virendra Upadhyay, a former member of Mumbai board of Mhada. Mr Upadhyay added, “Nowadays, no officer wants to take a decision on his own, hence all the redevelopment proposals are stuck.”
It is worth noting that all political posts in different boards of Mhada have been lying vacant since October 2011. Tenures of the slum board, as well as the reconstruction and repair board ended in October 2011 and were never revived. The term of the Mumbai board of Mhada ended in November 2011 and has been dismantled since. The slum board’s tenure ended in October 2011 without a member, but had Velluswami Naidu as its chairman. Prasad Lad, current chairman of the reconstruction and repair board is also leading the board without any member. Last week, he released the annual report of his board, which drew huge flak from activists.
If all posts are filled, it will pave the way for political repatriation of at least 21 party workers of Congress and also the NCP. As per the power sharing formula, Congress and NCP will nominate seven members each to all the three boards. “State Assembly and general elections are coming up. Appointments to these vacant posts will definitely spark confidence in the leaders,” said a senior Congress leader, who has earlier worked as a board member.