Private Public Benefits

THE MAHALAXMI RACE Course is one of the most iconic land­marks of Mumbai and is run by a club called the Royal Western India Turf Club Ltd (RWITC). Some time back, the land’s lease, which had been taken from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), had come up for renewal. Usually, it is impossible to get membership in such clubs with waiting lists stretching into decades. In a city like Mumbai, such clubs occupy land worth hundreds, if not thousands, of crores of rupees. They charge mini­mal fees from their members and pay lease that is negligible because in city planning, clubs are a public service for the state to subsidise. It is when the lease ends that the government can get a foot in, renegotiate rates, force the clubs to throw their doors open, or do some­thing which is beneficial for the larger population, instead of small privileged groups. For the race course, the corpora­tion decided to take back a part of the land from the RWITC for a public park, which is a progressive step. However, it also came out with a government reso­lution forcing the club to give lifetime membership to 50 bureaucrats selected by the chief minister. That seemed an arbitrary exercise of discretionary power to distribute largesse.

This week, in a widely publicised missive, a former corporator wrote to the chief minister about another such institution, Willingdon Sports Club, again in South Mumbai, which had also been asked to induct 50 bureaucrats. It is a club so exclusive and tradition-bound that it once denied artist MF Husain entry because he was barefooted, leading to frontpage headlines. The corporator, who was voicing the sentiments of exist­ing club members, asked for the move to be reconsidered. The logic used was that it would upset the demographics to have so many new members and would change the culture of the club. The real question is, in fact, the opposite. Why should government offer to subsidise clubs in which the entire population is kept out? If people desire a club, why shouldn’t they just buy land at market rate? The idea of such clubs was from the colonial time when Mumbai was a small town, land was relatively cheap, and it was felt that the state had a duty towards quality of life of the elite who helped govern it. None of it makes sense in a city of crores where all that such enclaves do is signal entitlement and luck. If your grandfather decided to be a member by paying a few hundred rupees, you get to be one. Membership is not based on merit, contribution to society, random lottery or any reasonable criteria.

The government could just convert all such land to gardens and park, where everyone can enter and it would be more equitable. Or it can sell these lands, collect tens of thousands of crores of rupees, and use it for education and health. Or, at the very least, it must explain what it is giving back to the society by humouring a few people coming every night to have a drink together.

About The Author

Madhavankutty Pillai

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