22 Jun 2021  |   04:50am IST

Shadow councils as game changers in civic areas

Shadow councils as game changers in civic areas

Following the example of Margao, now residents of the town of Mapusa have formed what is called a shadow council that will ‘address’ issues of the town and keep a watch on the functioning of the elected council. A shadow council is a rather unique body in Goa which is made up of local residents with the aim of keeping the elected council on its toes. It has no legal standing and a shadow council can merely take up issues outside the council, which effectively means raising these up in the media. It cannot, therefore, address the issues of the town, but merely raise them and hope that the council takes these up and addresses them. But, even if it manages to keep the council alert, then such a shadow could be game changers in the State’s civic areas.

The term shadow council possibly comes from a feature of the Westminster system of government, where the United Kingdom has a shadow cabinet that is led by the leader of the opposition and consists of senior opposition Members of Parliament as a form of an alternative cabinet. These parliamentarians have no executive power but merely shadow the ministers – scrutinise the policies and the works – and the main task of this shadow cabinet member is to take on the government minister in the House of Commons in debates. Primarily, what occurs is that the opposition has a member who is fully conversant with a certain department and can therefore debate knowledgeably. 

This is not possible in the case of the shadow council, as it is not made up of elected members who can raise the issues in the council but of residents who aspire to keep a check on the working of the council. For instance, the Mapusa shadow council, its members say, has been formed because of the ‘failure of the former council’ that ‘failed to live up to the expectations of the people’ and that the new council is made up of relatively young members. So the shadow council of Mapusa is a group of local residents hoping to keep a check on the civic affairs and exert pressure on the council. 

In the Goan context of governance, where the local governing body polls are not held on party lines and the elected councillors are therefore free to switch sides, such a shadow body could exert pressure on the elected members to perform but this will be possible only if the shadow council does not have any political motives. It should, therefore, be a truly citizens’ movement that owes no allegiance to any political party or any of the panels that contested the election. There are always people who stay away from electoral politics but if such well-meaning people from a town can come together to keep tabs on the council, it could actually ignite the council to work.

A shadow council should not, however, only exist to object to whatever tasks that the elected body is taking up, working as a sort of opposition, but also make suggestions to improve the living conditions in the urban area. It should also strive to increase the role that ordinary citizens play in civic matters. The efficacy of such a group can be gauged if it is able to force the council to take up issues that are of immediate concern. For instance, the Sonsoddo issue in Margao lingers on for years with no solution forthcoming, despite promises made at every election. If a shadow council succeeds in bringing out accountability and efficiency in a municipal council, then perhaps more towns could have such bodies to exert pressure on the elected council.


IDhar UDHAR

Idhar Udhar