Mumbai: After nearly three years, the BMC is set to appoint new full-time Assistant Municipal Commissioners (AMCs) for seven of its wards. At present, these posts are temporarily held by executive engineers.
The delay in these appointments has been attributed to the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) not completing the recruitment process in a timely manner. The newly selected AMCs are currently undergoing one months training, after which they will be assigned to specific wards as per the BMC’s directives.
AMCs, or ward officers, are responsible for overseeing the operations of their respective wards. However, in recent years, the posts of ward officers in around 16 civic wards became vacant, disrupting ward operations. To mitigate the impact, the BMC administration assigned executive engineers and deputy chief engineers additional charge as ward officers across several wards in the city.
This decision, however, has drawn criticism, with many pointing out that it is inappropriate for executive engineers to hold the charge of AMC, undermining the effectiveness of the ward offices.
Meanwhile, the MPSC conducted exams in October 2021 to recruit 16 AMCs for the BMC and declared the results in March 2022. However, the BMC filed an affidavit, along with correspondence with MPSC in August 2022 and January 2023, highlighting delays in the appointment process.
In August 2023, the Supreme Court intervened and directed MPSC to provide a list of candidates to fill seven of the 16 vacant AMC posts. Following the directive, the MPSC issued a recommendation list of seven candidates by the end of October. These candidates’ documents underwent thorough scrutiny to ensure compliance with all necessary criteria.
The recruitment of new AMCs was further delayed due to the model code of conduct for the state assembly elections. A senior official from the BMC’s General Administration Department stated, “These candidates will undergo training and will join their duties in January.”
Currently, there are 26 administrative wards, including two newly bifurcated, P East and K North wards. These wards, too, lack full-time AMCs, resulting in the ward officers of P North and K East overseeing both wards in the meantime.
The newly appointed AMC’s who will join soon are Dinesh Palewade, Nitin Shukla, Arjun Kshirsagar, Ujjwala Ingole, Yogita Kolhe, Kudan Walvi, Yogesh Desai.
