* Kolkata has two Muslims among 42 top civic officials
* Gurugram has one Muslim among 35 key officials, Nellore has five Muslims among 79
* Visakhapatnam has no Muslim among 204 officials
* The Ayodhya body has no Muslim among the 30 officials
* Prayagraj has 386 officials of whom 22 are Muslims
THE presence of Muslims among key officials in municipal corporations across India has remained very negligible, with several civic bodies not even having a single Muslim official in their setup, according to Mohammed Abdul Mannan’s new book, At the Bottom of the Ladder: State of the Indian Muslims –https://www.amazon.in/dp/B0GF1Q9R25 – which quantifies Muslim presence in 150 key organisations, including Union ministries, departments, and other organisations.
India’s cities are home to over 400 million people, a number set to touch 800 million-mark by 2050. Cities cover only three per cent of the land area but contribute more than 60 per cent to the country’s GDP. After the first municipality in the former Presidency Town of Madras in 1,688, the presidency towns of Bombay and Calcutta had their corporations in 1,773 and 1872, respectively. Other such urban local bodies were created after 1842.
Today, India has over 120 municipal corporations managing urban governance in various cities. However, a 2024 report by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) says the country is home to 232 Municipal Corporations (MCs).
Their scope of work and responsibilities have been rising due to rapid population growth and the fast expansion of cities and urban development. They play a crucial role in local administration, providing essential services and infrastructure that directly impact the daily lives of residents and visitors.
Taxes earned by municipal corporations are grossly inadequate to meet their expenditure needs. Their tax revenues come from property, water, toll, and other local taxes. Between 2019-20 and 2022-23, their revenue receipts were over Rs 1 lakh crores each year, with over 58 percent accounted for by the top 10 MCs. For the financial year 2022-23, the total revenue receipts of 232 MCs stood at Rs142,178 crores while the expenditure incurred by them stood at Rs131,608 crores.
India has 53 million-plus cities or Urban Agglomerations (UAs), defined as a continuous urban spread constituting one or more towns and their adjoining outgrowths. These host 44 per cent of the country’s urban population as per the Census 2011. Across 28 States and seven Union Territories (UTs), there are 88 municipal legislations and 44 town and country planning legislations that govern 4,900-plus cities and towns. Of these, 49 legislations cover 149 municipal corporations. Chennai, Bengaluru, and Mumbai have their city-specific Acts.
According to the 2011 Census, the Mumbai Urban Agglomeration has seven urban local bodies (ULBs), apart from the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai. The Kolkata Urban Agglomeration has a staggering 30 ULBs apart from the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. According to an OECD study, metropolitan areas with a metropolitan governance body have a per capita GDP that is, on average, seven per cent higher than that of metropolitan areas without such a body.
According to the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA), India has 8,000+ urban centres out of which 4,766 are statutory towns having the status of urban local government. These urban centres are divided into three categories – Municipal Corporations, Municipal Councils, and Town Panchayats.
The Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), spread over 6,328 square km, consists of nine Municipal Corporations, while the entire Maharashtra has 27 MCs. The western state stands on top each year as the highest revenue surplus state. Tamil Nadu, with 25 MCs, stood among the top three revenue-deficit states. Further, Telangana, with 13 MCs featured twice out of four years among the top three revenue surplus states. Fourteen cities have the largest MCs in India – Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Pune, Kanpur, Lucknow, Vishakhapatnam, Surat, Jaipur, and Nagpur.
The richest of them, Mumbai’s Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), is also the largest municipal corporation since 1958 without any alterations to its boundaries. The second on the list is the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). Over the previous seven years, 13 municipalities from across the country have floated bonds and raised funds from the market. Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, and Indore have respectively raised Rs 495, Rs 400, and Rs 3,83.9 crores from the market over the years. These 13 civic bodies have together raised a total of Rs 2,783.9 crore.
The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has 30 key officials, of whom only two are Muslims – MK Ali, Deputy Commissioner, and Ahmed Shafiullah, Zonal Commissioner. One of the 13 zonal commissioners is a woman, Zakiya Sultana. Out of the 515 Assistant Commissioners in the Property Tax Wing, as many as 52 are Muslims. The Town Planning Wing has four Muslims out of 54 officials; Urban Biodiversity Wing has one Muslim out of 38 officials, and Trade Licensing Wing has eight Muslims out of a total of 59.
The Health Wing has three Muslims out of 61. Both Transport and Electrical Wings have 72 Muslim officials. One of the 31 officials at the Engineering Wing is a Muslim. The Urban Community Development and Fire Prevention Wings have no Muslim among their 39 officials. The Entomology and Veterinary Wings have four Muslims among 67 officials. Sanitation and Food Safety Wings have one Muslim among the total 60 officials. While Vigilance and Enforcement have no Muslim among the six officials, the Estates Wing has two Muslims out of 10 officials.
In Telangana, Peerzadiguda Municipal Corporation has no Muslims among its 16 senior officials. Vijayawada, also in Andhra Pradesh, has nine Muslims among its 218 officials, including four Assistant Engineers. In Karnataka, the Ballari City Corporation has 63 officials, including three Muslims, including G Khaleel Sab, Commissioner. Mohali Municipal Corporation has no Muslims among its 44 officials.
Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has 29 departments with the commissioner as the head. Out of its 42 top management officials, two are Muslims – Dr Mohammed Salim Ansari, Chief Municipal Law Officer, and Arshad Jamal Hshami, District Officer for Minority Affairs (DOMA). There are three Muslims out of 57 officials in various departments – Mohammed Zahid Kamal, Mohammed Asif Jawed, and Adil Ansar, all Deputy Assessors-Collectors. Among 98 officials at other departments, eight are Muslims.
There are also two Muslims in another category of 51 officials. In the finance and accounts department, there is one Muslim, Mahfooz Ur Rahaman, Deputy Chief Manager. Among 80 other officials, one is a Muslim – Mohammad Salim, Deputy Manager (Law). Among the 48 officials is a Muslim, J Huda, Assistant Engineer (Civil). In the personnel department, one is a Muslim among 17 officials – Mohammed Afif Khan, Deputy Personnel Officer. Six are Muslims among 161 other officials. They include Mohammed Shahrukh Alam, Sub-Assistant Engineer, Faiyaz Qaisar, and Mohammed Rashid (both Deputy Managers) at the Social Welfare & Urban Poverty Alleviation Department. Gurugram, Haryana’s financial hub, dubbed Millennium City, has a 35-member Municipal Corporation with 35 key officials, including the commissioner. Of them, none is a Muslim.
Faridabad, also in Haryana, has 96 officials of whom six are Muslims – all in its Engineering Department. Karnal Municipal Corporation has 25 Muslims among its officials. In Punjab, the Jalandhar Municipal Corporation has not a single Muslim among its 93 officials. So is the situation in Patiala, which has 61 officials. Amritsar civic body has no Muslims among its 22 officials. The Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh has no Muslims among its 123 officials. The Guwahati Municipal Corporation has 21 officials, including a single Muslim, Sayeed Ur Rahman, Deputy Commissioner for Dispur Zone.
Ludhiana, the largest city of Punjab by geographical size and population and the hub of India’s hosiery industry, has one Muslim official – a health and zonal superintendent – out of a total of 196 officials. Bathinda Municipal Corporation also has no Muslims among its 62 officials. Dehradun Municipal Corporation in Uttarakhand has one Muslim among its 17 officials – Raza Abbas. Rishikesh Nagar Nigam has no Muslims on its rolls of officials. The scene is not different from other cities.
The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC), formed way back in September 1688 to become India’s oldest civic body, has 75 top officials, including only three Muslims – Aftab Rasool, Regional Deputy Commissioner (South), KS Mohamed Jangir Hussain, Deputy Collector (Land & Estate), and Dr J Kamal Hussain, Veterinary Officer. The Cuddalore City Municipal Corporation has 15 officials, of whom three are Muslims, including N Noor Ali, Superintendent and Manager.
The Salem City Municipal Corporation has one Muslim among its 15 key personnel. Tiruchirappalli City Corporation has two Muslims among 88 officials, while four of its 28 commissioners have been from the largest Minority community. In Bihar, Patna Municipal Corporation’s 100 officials now include six Muslims, including a revenue officer. The civic body had seen 30 commissioners since 2007, of whom none was a Muslim.
Rourkela, the municipal corporation in Odisha, often hailed as the Steel Township and Fertiliser Township, has 22 officials without a single Muslim. The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation, formed in 1994, has 31 officials, excluding a Muslim. Sambalpur Municipal Corporation, also in Odisha, has one Muslim among its 59 officials, a ward officer. In Himachal Pradesh’s Shimla, the municipal corporation also has no Muslims among its 67 officials. There is not a single Muslim among officials at Solan, a hill Resort of Himachal Pradesh.
In Andhra Pradesh, the Nellore Municipal Corporation has five Muslims among its 79 officials, of whom one is a Revenue Officer. The Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) has not a single Muslim among its 204 officials. The Raipur Municipal Corporation in Chhattisgarh has no Muslims among its 10 officials. Itanagar Municipal Corporation in Arunachal Pradesh, formed in August 2013, has 14 officials without a Muslim. In Kerala, the Cochin Corporation’s 68 officials include eight Muslims, with one of them holding a top post of Deputy Corporation Secretary. Assam’s Silchar Municipal Corporation has three Muslims among its 21 officials. Aizawl Municipal Corporation, in Mizoram, has 112 officials of whom none is a Muslim.
The Corporation of Coimbatore’s 46 officials include five Muslims, including Mrs A Sultana, Deputy Commissioner, and two Assistant Revenue Officers. Indore, billed as India’s cleanest city for the seventh year in a row, has no Muslim among its 49 officials. In Odisha, the Bhubaneshwar Municipal Corporation has no Muslims among its 26 officials. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), India’s second largest, has 646 officials in its centralised cadre. It includes six Muslim officials. In West Bengal’s Siliguri, the gateway to the North East of India, none of the six top officials is a Muslim. In Karnataka, Tumakuru City Corporation includes 108 officials, of whom six are Muslims.
In Gujarat, the Bhavnagar Municipal Corporation has one Muslim official out of 159 – Tanvir Pathan, Additional Assistant Manager (Engineering). One is a Muslim among the other 48 officials – IS Ansar Uddin, Sanitary Sub Inspector. Among 35 officials in other departments, one is a Muslim – AS Ismail, Swimming Instructor. Out of 412 officials in other departments/units, there are 16 Muslims. The Jamnagar Municipal Corporation has no Muslims among its 26 officials. The Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation has three Muslims among its 110 senior officials, of whom one is a Sanitary Sub-Inspector. The Junagadh Municipal Corporation has only one Muslim among its 48 officials. Vadodara Municipal Corporation has no Muslims among its 70 officials.
Surat Municipal Corporation has one Muslim among its 82 officials – AH Shahid, Food Analyst. Among 142 officials in its nine zones are two Muslims – MZ Shaikh, Deputy Engineer, and AK Mohsin, Deputy Engineer (Civil). India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, has 17 Municipal Corporations. Ayodhya Municipal Corporation has 30 officials, without a single Muslim. Bareilly Nagar Nigam has one Muslim among 40 officials. Mathura has 81 senior civic officials, including two Muslims – Mohammed Anwar Khwaja, General Manager, and Imran Habib Ansari, a Junior Engineer.
The Prayagraj Municipal Corporation, also in the country’s most populous state, has 386 officials, of whom 22 are Muslims, including Israr Ahmad, Revenue Inspector, Najmi Muzaffar, Executive Engineer, and Zeba Aaga, Junior Engineer. Gorakhpur Municipal Corporation has no Muslims among the 12 top officials. Saharanpur Nagar Nigam has 15 officials without a Muslim presence. Shahjahanpur has 33 officials, including one Muslim, Anwar Ahmed, Superintendent for Lights. Aligarh Municipal Corporation has 24 commissioners without a Muslim. Firozabad’s 19 officials include two Muslims – Abbas Hasan Naqvi, Additional Municipal Commissioner, and Mohammad Farhad Hussain, Assistant Engineer (Water). Nagar Nigam Jhansi has 46 officials, including two Muslims – Mohammad Qamar, Additional Municipal Commissioner, and Syed Rizwan Haider Zaidi, Assistant Engineer (E/M).
Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) or Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, which is the country’s richest civic body with an annual budget exceeding that of several smaller states, has five Muslims among its 157 officials. They are B Aslam, Executive Assistant, Nisar Khan, Superintendent Cum Deputy Education Officer, Dr Kalim Pasha Pathan, General Manager at Deonar Abattoir, Munaf Shaikh, Human Resource Officer, and Bilal Shaikh, Assistant General Manager (Electric Supply). Out of its 31 Commissioners, one has been a Muslim – AU Sheikh, from February 1962 to April 1963. Its Swachh Mumbai Prabodhan Abhiyan (SMPA) has 86 officers, including two Muslims -Shaikh Shakeel Ahmed, Supervisor, and MH Momin, Assistant Head Supervisor.
Celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2025, the Pune Municipal Corporation, with 36 departments, has 69 officials without a single Muslim. Amravati Municipal Corporation, too, has no Muslim among its 63 officials. Chandrapur City Municipal Corporation, formed in October 2011, has zero Muslims among its 14 senior officials. Also in Maharashtra, Kolhapur Municipal Corporation has only one Muslim among its 58 senior officials – Dr Khalil Tamboli, Medical Officer. Out of 84 other officials, only two are Muslims – Munir Faras, Health Inspector, and Dastagir Mulla, Fire Station Officer.
The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) presently has not a single Muslim among its 54 officials, while all its 24 commissioners have been non-Muslims. Panvel Municipal Corporation, formed in October 2016, has only one Muslim among its 39 officials – Rehana Nurul Hasan Mujawar, Medical Officer. Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation, in operation since February 2002, has 38 officials without a single Muslim. Thane Municipal Corporation has only one Muslim among its 110 officials – Yasin Tadavi, Deputy Disaster Management Officer. Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVCMC), formed in July 2009, has only one Muslim among its 66 officials – Jaffar Saiyed, Junior Engineer at Water Supply, Sewerage and Construction Department. The Sangli Miraj and Kupwad Municipal Corporation has on its rolls three Muslims among 40 officials, including Anis Mulla, Assistant Commissioner.
In West Bengal’s Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation, there is only one Muslim among its 13 officials. Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, the civic body of India’s third most populous city, has only one Muslim among its top 27 officials – Dr Syed Sirajuddin Madni, Chief Health Officer (Public Health). A proposal is afoot to split the BBMP into five municipal corporations. BBMP is among India’s largest municipal corporations, at over 700 square km. Two Muslims among its 39 other officials are Mohammed Naeem Momin, Joint Commissioner, and Abdul Rab, Deputy Commissioner.
There are five Muslims among 67 officials handling Revenue, Engineering, and Urban Planning. Seventy-four officials in other departments include three Muslims – Dr Syed Farooq, Health Officer, Mohammad Ali Pinjar, Superintendent of Horticulture, and M Imran, Assistant Director (Urban Planning). There are two Muslims among 107 officials in the BBMP offices – Abdur Rab, Deputy Commissioner, and Asma Syed, Joint Director (Urban Planning). There are two Muslims among 385 officials in other offices – Mohammad Naeem Momina, Joint Commissioner, and Suhail Ahmed, Revenue Officer.
Panaji, the world’s smallest municipal corporation catering to the civic needs of Goa’s capital city, has no Muslim among its 54 officials across its various departments and sections. In Haryana’s Sonipat, the municipal corporation has 111 officials on its rolls, including a Muslim clerk. In Rohtak, there is not a single Muslim among 73 officials at the municipal corporation. In Maharashtra, Bhiwandi–Nizampur City Municipal Corporation has no Muslims among its top 10 officials. A city located on the eastern coastline of Odisha, Berhampur Municipal Corporation’s 18 departments and sections have 109 officials without a Muslim.
To read and obtain more data, please visit:
At the Bottom of the Ladder: State of the Indian Muslims – https://www.amazon.in/dp/B0GF1Q9R25
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