In a major governance reform, the Maharashtra government is set to mandate that all municipal corporations in the state will be headed exclusively by IAS officers. The move comes after a series of corruption scandals and irregularities in smaller corporations, prompting Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to direct the Urban Development Department (UDD) to amend existing rules to formalise the change.
The Centre’s Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) had earlier designated 14 major municipal corporations, including Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Nagpur, Kolhapur, Kalyan-Dombivli, and Vasai-Virar, to be headed by IAS-cadre officers. However, the state government continued to appoint officers from the state services or the Chief Officer (CO) cadre, bypassing the directive. In some cases, such as the Mira Bhayander Municipal Corporation (MBMC), even non-CO cadre officers were installed as commissioners.
Officials from the General Administration Department (GAD) and UDD admitted that appointing state cadre officers allowed local politicians greater control over civic bodies, resulting in mismanagement and corruption.
The controversy deepened after it emerged that in MBMC, two personal secretaries of former Chief Minister Eknath Shinde were appointed as commissioners. One of them, Dilip Dhole, faced an Enforcement Directorate (ED) probe in a money-laundering case in August 2023. Similarly, Anil Pawar, former Vasai-Virar commissioner and a state services officer later promoted to IAS, was arrested by the ED on corruption charges. Even Nashik commissioner Kailash Jadhav, also promoted from the state services, has faced allegations of irregularities in recent years.
“Given this backdrop and increasing political interference in urban local bodies, particularly in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, the CM has decided to ensure that only IAS officers head municipal corporations,” a senior GAD official confirmed. The UDD is preparing the proposal, which is expected to be cleared soon.
Join Us on WhatsApp