Mumbai: BMC's volunteer portal remains inactive a month after Fadnavis launched it

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporationrsquos BMC lsquoParticipate Mumbairsquo portal is failing potential volunteers with zero opportunities listed to participate in even a month after Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis officially launched it on October 6 2026 The platform aims to connect citizens corporates and organisations to channelise Corporate Social Responsibility CSR resources and volunteer efforts towards sustainable development in Mumbaipopcorn number500 descNo of volunteers registered on the portal classDefaultKey categories for volunteershellipgtgt Healthgtgt Community servicegtgt Educationgtgt Environmentgtgt Disaster reliefgtgt Gardens amp parksgtgt Solid waste managementAll of these are listed under lsquovolunteer Initiatives coming soonrsquo with no opportunities currently posted under any of them Officials said the citizen participation side which currently has around 500 listed volunteers should have opportunities by the end of the monthCurrent volunteer opportunities listedAbout portalVolunteer participation page Participate MumbailsquoJoin thousands of citizens making a real difference mdash from beach cleanups and tree plantations to health camps and education programsrsquoParticipate Mumbai missionlsquoTo create a structured transparent and efficient mechanism for channelling Corporate Social Responsibility resources towards Mumbairsquos most pressing developmental challengesrsquoThe CSR storyhellipgtgt 246 projects currently livegtgt CSR proposals worth almost R40 crores receivedgtgt Highest response to solid waste management projects followed by educationldquoWe would like to request organisations to take part in our healthrelated projects as wellrdquo said a civic officialMore openings soonAsked about what the ldquoaround 500rdquo registered volunteers a figure BMC gave at the time of inauguration are doing now with no opportunities to participate in an official said ldquoThe volunteers are registered with us We will tap into their pool offering participation as soon as we launch the opportunitiesrdquoWhen asked whether the figure for registered volunteers has increased over the past month the official stated ldquoNo we are aiming to roll out the programmes first Then we will focus on getting even more volunteers on board via outreach to students and senior citizensrdquoResponding to a query about how many citizens have proposed volunteering ideas so far the official said ldquoWe have received fifteen ideas so far and their consideration process is ongoingCitizens can propose their ideas through the portal and the BMC will process their listings Several opportunities will be listed by the end of this monthrdquoCitizen SpeakTejinderpal Singh 59 food distribution volunteer associated with Malad gurudwaralsquoWe give regular langar seva at our gurudwara and also on sites But at times we find that there are no takers and prepared food has a very short life We could use a portal like lsquoParticipate Mumbairsquo if it provides us with realtime opportunities for food distribution technology will ease our seva and also help reduce food wastersquoGrace Harjas 22 psychology student and mental health counselling volunteerlsquoI have volunteered in education and career counselling for students family and relationship counselling at health camps and also awareness campaigns for psychoeducation Opportunities like these are tough to get by organically and we mostly end up paying organisers for the experience Lots of psychology students across Mumbai could use the portal to help those in need and ourselves through the experiencersquoDharmesh Barai volunteerlsquoWe are an established group in volunteering consistently conducting cleanup events every weekend for the past five years Around 15 lakh volunteers have participated in 324 events across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region resulting in the removal of 1300 tonnes of trash from the coastline Yet we arenrsquot aware of this portal If BMC needs volunteering opportunities to post on this portal how about reaching out to groups like us which have the right experiencersquo