The forum has urged all candidates contesting the upcoming BMC polls, scheduled for January 15, to commit to transparent, accountable, and citizen-first governance in Mumbai
The forum clarified that the charter is non-partisan and applies to candidates of all political parties. Pic/MNCDF
The Mumbai North Central District Forum (MNCDF), a citizen welfare platform, on Thursday released a detailed 30-point citizen charter ahead of the BMC Election 2026.
The forum has urged all candidates contesting the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls on January 15 to commit to transparent, accountable, and citizen-first governance in Mumbai.
The citizen charter was issued on behalf of the MNCDF Citizen Welfare Forum by Advocate Trivankumar Karnani.
The citizen charter claims to reflect the collective concerns of residents across the city and focuses on grievance redressal, pedestrian safety, infrastructure planning, health, environment, transport, and transparency in civic administration.
Grievance redressal and accountability
The forum has demanded that elected municipal councillors compel the BMC’s Public Relations Office (PRO) to overhaul the existing social media-based grievance redressal system, calling it ineffective and reduced to a public relations exercise.
Some of the key demands include -- time-bound resolution of citizens complaints, independent monitoring with citizen oversight, a secure, multilingual portal for anonymous complaints with whistleblower protection, monthly citizen meetings with ward officers and escalation of unresolved issues to the BMC Commissioner’s monthly meetings.
The charter has also called for annual independent audits of grievance handling and the launch of a 24/7 multilingual helpline with complaint tracking.
Pedestrian safety and encroachment control
The forum stressed that pedestrian safety must be implemented in practice, not just on paper.
Some of the major highlights include -- dedicated pedestrian zones and safe crossings, high-visibility road markings and speed breakers using durable materials, strict criminal action against illegal hawkers and encroachments, and a clear policy for relocation and rehabilitation of illegal 'Aarey shops/milk centres'.
Councillors have been urged by the MNCDF not to protect illegal encroachments linked to political or personal interests.
Zero-pothole policy and more public toilets
To prevent repeated road digging, the charter insists on joint planning meetings involving citizens, ward officials, and all utility agencies before road concretisation.
The MNCDF has also called for a zero-pothole policy, real-time reporting apps linked to contractor accountability, criminal action against contractors for substandard work, installation of mobile public toilets at busy tourist locations and health, cleanliness and social Welfare.
The charter highlights serious concerns about civic hospitals and waste management, stating that there must be an annual audits of hygiene, equipment, medicines, and staffing in municipal hospitals.
Civic hospitals in Mumbai
It has also demanded that there should also be mental health counselling centres in civic hospitals in Mumbai and age-friendly infrastructure, reserved hospital beds, transport concessions, and digital ID cards for senior citizens.
The MNCDF stated that in slum areas, the forum has demanded strict enforcement of solid waste management (SWM) rules, appointment of marshals, and penalties for violations.
It has said that environmental protection forms a major part of the charter, including real-time, ward-wise air quality monitoring, strict enforcement of dust and noise control norms at construction sites, relocation of kabutarkhanas to non-residential zones, awareness campaigns stating that relocation of dogs and cats is illegal and transparent animal sterilisation programmes in partnership with NGOs.
Transport and traffic control measures
The forum has proposed integrated and technology-driven solutions, such as one app or smart card for BEST buses, Mumbai Metro, and suburban rail.
It said that Artificial Intelligence (AI) enabled traffic signals must come up in Mumbai to reduce congestion and accidents and there should be immediate enforcement of the long-pending parking policy.
It said that apart from these, there should be --
- Real-time parking availability apps
- Strict action against illegal parking, especially on footpaths
- Education, Transparency and Public Facilities
- Digital classrooms in all BMC schools
- AI skill development training
- Mandatory asset disclosure of BMC officials, particularly engineers
- Development of sports complexes, libraries, and cultural hubs in every zone
The forum clarified that the charter is non-partisan and applies to candidates of all political parties.
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