Resurrecting the urban citizen...

Resurrecting the urban citizen...
Deccan Herald

Ironically, despite the abundant capacity the urban voter cannot voice his opinion for want of a structured platform while his rural counterpart gets to have a say in the decisions made by the local body, thanks to the Gram Sabhas which lend their ears to every voter.

What should mega city Bangalore do to step up its infrastructure to match its rapid growth? Adopt the ‘village democracy’ say experts.

Ironically, despite the abundant capacity the urban voter cannot voice his opinion for want of a structured platform while his rural counterpart gets to have a say in the decisions made by the local body, thanks to the Gram Sabhas which lend their ears to every voter. The rural set-up scores over that in cities in accountability as Gram Panchayats control most vital functions - from delivering basic services, to tax collection to planning.

This lacuna faced by the urban populace will be remedied by Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), which has mandated reforms with the citizens’ participation in urban local bodies.

Enactment of a law to institutionalise citizen participation and introducing the concept of Area Sabha in urban areas are mandatory reforms. The formation of Area Sabhas will be the way forward, say experts.

“Every city will decide its own destiny. For that, we need amendments to the municipality acts - in this case KMC Act. The Area Sabha, smaller fragments of the ward committees, will ensure better participation and also put an end to the government nominations to the ward committees. If ward committees represent a population of about 1.5 lakh, area sabhas will represent just 1500 people who make up a polling booth,” said Ramesh Ramanathan, national technical advisor, JN-NURM.

Reforms

While, reforms like enactment of Public Disclosure Law to ensure preparation of medium-term fiscal plan of ULBs and release of quarterly performance information to all stakeholders will check corruption by helping the voter keep a watch on the ULB spending, suggest experts.

“Some concepts like ward infrastrcuture index will help prioritise spending to end disparities existing between wards,” added Mr Ramanathan.