Should the Mayor’s tenure be increased?

Should the Mayor’s tenure be increased?
New Indian Express

BANGALORE: Bangalore is the fastest growing city in Asia and precisely because of this the demand for fixing a longer tenure for the Mayor is often heard.

Many States already have a two-and-a-half year term and Chennai has a Mayor-in-Council system.

Former mayor P R Ramesh, speaking to this website’s newspaper felt the development programmes in the City would be affected if mayors change every year.

“The civic body is a complex organisation and by the time a mayor becomes familiar with its operational aspect, his term is over.

“In the meantime, he makes some proposals for city infrastructure, which does not materialise during his tenure,” he added.

Former chairman of the standing committee on Taxation and finance G Krishnappa said that the issue of grants from the Government and taxation matters need a single-minded pursuit, which is not possible in the current system.

In the present system along with the mayor’s tenure, the term of all the standing committees and the leader of ruling party come to an end every year.

Such complete change in political executive leads to more confusion than order, said the former leader of the ruling party Jayaram.

Despite a proposal by the All India Council of Mayors, the Government is sticking to this system. Karnataka is one of the few states where the term of the mayor is decided by the Government and not the Council of the civic body.

Ramesh felt that the option is to have a mayor-in-council. In this system, which is working in Chennai, the mayor is directly elected and the voter casts two votes; one for the councillor and another for the mayor’s post.

The mayor-in-council holds the office for five years. Former mayor and Basavanagudi MLA K Chandrashekhar said that if the Government implements the 74th amendment to the Constitution of India, the issue would be better addressed.

“The 74th amendment aspires to bring this kind of autonomy to the civic bodies. Many states have implemented it but Karnataka has not. It would also revise the mayoral term.

The Government should consider it in the interest of the city,” he said.