Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has called for a transformation in the governing landscape of Mumbai
MUMBAI: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday called for a change in the “complacent” mindset within the administration, referring to those who believe they have “run Mumbai for so many years” and question how someone “coming from outside” can run the city. Fadnavis said, describing this as a mindset that needed to be broken. Fadnavis was speaking at the launch of the BMC’s ‘Participate Mumbai’ initiative, a digital partnership platform aimed at increasing the participation of citizens, businesses, NGOs and experts in the city’s development process. “We have been following this process for many years. Who are you to teach us now after coming from outside? We have run Mumbai for so many years, so how will you run Mumbai after coming from outside? His remarks led to discussions within civic and political circles, with some interpreting them as a reference to former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray. Fadnavis, however, did not name anyone.
He cited a review of around 1,100 online services offered by the Maharashtra government, saying nearly 200 were found to have very little usage. Only around 45-47 services and schemes accounted for nearly 90% of citizen interactions with the government, he said. The government was therefore working to re-engineer these key services to make their delivery more effective.
“Instead of making superficial changes, we need to identify and remove shortcomings across the entire delivery system,” he said. Fadnavis also referred to the BMC’s AI-based building proposal approval system and said he wanted to see a system where building proposals could eventually be cleared with “zero human intervention”. He said technology and artificial intelligence should be used to make civic administration more transparent, efficient and responsive.
Fadnavis said citizens today expected government services and grievance redressal to be delivered quickly, including when complaints were raised on social media.