Many Assistant Municipal Commissioner (AMC) posts have been lying vacant for years in the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). This has prompted the civic body to either appoint chief engineers and deputy engineers of various departments or give additional charge to other AMCs for the time being.
BMC officials have said it is the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) that is responsible for filling in the AMC posts. It has already advertised for 16 AMC posts so far. Meanwhile, BMC has invited applications for the post of Executive Engineer and Deputy Chief Engineers. "There are vacancies for AMCs in the BMC at present. Many departments do not have full-time AMCs, which hampers and delays work and adds to the load on officers given the additional charge," said a BMC official on the condition of anonymity. He added, "Many officers who are due for promotion, but have to hold their posts until new candidates are appointed."
The AMCs are 'ward officers' that head each of the 24 civic administrative ward offices. Besides this, they also head the Tax Assessment and Collection, Planning and Market Departments, amongst others. However, in the last few years, many of these posts have remained vacant. Therefore, an Executive Engineer and Deputy Chief Engineer are appointed as in charge.
"Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the MPSC has been postponed. So, we couldn't appoint a regular official for this post. We have interviewed a number of candidates in the rank of Deputy Chief Engineers and Chief Engineers and the results will be out soon," said a senior BMC official.
