BMC TO TRAIN OTHER CIVIC BODIES IN STATE

Even though it is at the receiving end of flak for its alleged mismanagement of the city, Mumbai’s civic body now plans to tutor other municipal corporations. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) plans to set up training centres to help smaller corporations in Maharashtra.

Though a civic training institute and research centre (CTIRC) in Borivli has been operational for years, officials said its methods of training and research are inefficient.

The institute is currently working on ways to train new employees to adapt to upgraded techniques and increase their efficiency. To supplement this, officials plan to hold courses at Powai and Borivli too.

The BMC has acquired a vacant building in Powai from the Maharashtra Housing and Development Authority (MHADA). It was given a second building in Borivli by the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA). “The BMC will not only develop a training institute for its own staff, but also design a curriculum from which smaller corporations could benefit,” said an official from the civic body’s Development Plan (DP) department.

Officials are currently looking at case studies — such as the Yashwantrao Chavan Academy of Development Administration (Yashada) in Pune — to strengthen their model.

The state-run Yashada conducts various administrationrelated training programmes.

Officials said they have not decided upon how to fund these training centres as they are still in the planning stage.

The BMC is a relatively smoothly functioning organisation, with 64 departments and more than 1 lakh employees.

With a budget of Rs25,414 crores, it is one of the richest corporations in Asia — its budget exceeds the outlay of many smaller states in the country.