Uncivic, to say the least!

Raju Korti
Each time I enter the hallowed (!) portals of the Grade II heritage building of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation in Fort, I cannot but help getting the feeling of being in a Princely State.
Everything about the set up -- its magnitude, its infrastructure and its people -- is expansive. It has an overwhelming and intimidating effect on those who cannot believe or imagine that a local self government institution can wear such a royal look.
At the cost of repetition, let me tell you that the BMC is the richest civic body in the country whose budget is even bigger than some of the state governments. And the sea of people who run the Corporation never let you lose sight of that for whatever amount of time you have brush with them. Having seen the place from much closer quarters than would be necessary for my comfort, I can tell you it is a place where even Mr 10% Asif Ali Zardari would contract inferiority complex. Some of the top officers make no bones telling you that the sleek mobiles in their hands are given to them by the Corporation. But they also temper it by saying "Kay aahe, ha Paalike cha paisa aahe." (Its the Corporation's money), just to keep your thinking straight so you don't end up saying "So what? That's our tax-payers' money."
However, if you thought that the civic body was all about itself, perish the thought. It swears by the concept of a true Welfare State. That is, in the considered belief that it is no less than a State itself. Much like the cash-rich Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the BMC is also all jumbled up about how it must spend the riches in its swelling coffers. So it keeps doling out largesse in the true patronizing style of a Welfare State.
Take for instance its latest Quixotic decision. It has decided to increase the compensation amount to the families of the people, who die during the Dahi Handi and Ganesh festival from the existing Rs 1 lakh to 1.5 lakh. The architect of this very considerate and giving move is the Leader of the House Yashodhar Phanse. The civic administration, equal to such generosity, accepted the proposal in all grace. The civic fathers also wanted the BMC to give other benefits like increase in the treatment amount to Govindas who suffer injuries during the Dahi Handi sport. Mercifully, the civic body  rejected the proposal stating that would put an extra financial burden on it. So thoughtful of them!
The metropolis turns into a sort of fair on Janmashtami when hundreds Govinda squads swamp the place for the adventure sport that sees crores of rupees at stake. Such is the lucre of the prize money -- sponsored mostly by political parties -- that Govindas don't mind risking serious injuries and even fatalities. Over the years, it has acquired the importance of a conventional ritual for the Govindas, many of whom also freak out eve teasing and littering in their collective drunken hijinks.
You must therefore hand it to the BMC for being so hospitable and philanthropic towards the same people who turn the city into a veritable garbage can in a span of just 24 hours.
Magnanimity, however, always does not ride on wisdom. The civic body's decisions are doltish and ill-advised. For one, Dahi Handi is neither government nor civic body enterprise. It is a festival that involves voluntary participation and therefore, it should be none of the BMC's bother who suffers injuries or fatality. It just hasn't occurred to its inane and incongruous officials the kind of monetary burden it would incur if at Rs 15,000 per head, say, more than 200 Govindas suffer injuries. And Rs 1.5 lakh if anyone of them dies during the course of treatment.
The BMC wants only those Govindas to be compensated who are injured in Mumbai. Who will vouch for and prove that? Dahi Handi sites are usually clogged with swarming, jostling people from even outside Mumbai and anyone can get injured for any reason.
One also wonders what is the rationale behind the civic body's largesse for only Dahi Handi. There are many who suffer serious injuries while burning fire-crackers during Diwali. The civic body must loosen its purse-strings for them as well.
The civic body's proposals are not only irrational, they are ridiculous and reek of populist and political motives. More so when as a struggling Mumbaikar you know it hardly makes it its business to address the poor condition of city's roads. It shows no concern for an unsuspecting citizen who dies in a bridge collapse but has enough money in its fat wallet to squander on the Govindas.
Are the Govindas national property?

(PS: This blog was inspired by my journalist friend Mahesh Vichare of Maharashtra Times, who wrote so eloquently and succinctly on the issue.)