The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Wednesday clarified that no separate organisation has been appointed and no additional publicity campaign has been ordered for the Mayor's Office. The clarification from the BMC comes after various reports claimed that Rs 25 lakh would be spent on the publicity for the Mumbai Mayor.
In an official statement issued from the mayor's desk on Wednesday, the BMC said that the expenditure related to handling the social media of the Mayor's Office is being borne by the organisation appointed to manage social media for the entire municipal corporation.
The civic body further highlighted that the expenditure covers technical manpower required to operate and manage social media platforms and does not include other publicity-related activities.
According to the civic body's clarification, various social media accounts of the BMC are currently operational and require technical manpower for their management. M/s Runtime Solutions Private Limited was appointed two years ago following the prescribed tender process to handle the municipal corporation's social media, including the myBMC platforms.
The company provides technical manpower for managing the civic body's social media operations.
Proposal to extend the private company’s contract has been approved
The proposal to extend the company's contract for another year, from August 2026 to July 2027, for handling the social media of the entire municipal corporation has already been approved by the standing committee, the BMC said.
The civic body further clarified that the Mumbai Mayor's Office is provided technical manpower through the same appointed organisation for handling its social media accounts.
BMC officials further said, "The Mayor has not instructed [us] to appoint a separate organisation or carry out publicity activities for this."
The clarification comes amid reports and discussions over an alleged Rs 25 lakh expenditure on publicity for the Mumbai Mayor. The BMC urged media outlets and others to ensure that the facts are not distorted while reporting the matter.
Mumbai activists urge BMC to audit government encroachments
In a separate development, Mumbai March, a city-based civic advocacy group, said on Tuesday that the BMC should remove its own encroachments along with those of private establishments and street vendors.
“Whatever BMC preaches, it must practise. There are several permanent fixtures that BMC approved, and must now take accountability for,” said Gopal Zaveri of Mumbai March.
The group said clearing only hawkers and street vendors would not resolve Mumbai’s footpath problems and called for a comprehensive audit.
* This article was originally published here
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