TIMES NEWS NETWORK
9 Feb, 2007 0214hrs IST
HUBLI: The Hubli Dharwad Municipal Corporation has initiated the process of constituting citizen committees at polling booth level to prioritise implementation of strategies proposed in the city development strategy report.
The city development strategy report has been prepared by the HDMC as a blueprint for long-term development of the city for the next 20 years, which will also act as a basic document for development plans under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.
HDMC had commissioned the services of a consortium of Administrative Staff College of India and Ernst & Young to prepare the report. It was funded by Washington-based Cities Alliance, a World Bank affiliate.
To facilitate completion of the process of formation of citizen committees by February 18, the corporation has constituted a citizen advisory committee chaired by former Mangalore University vice-chancellor M I Savadatti. HDMC commissioner P Manivannan will be its co-chairman. Other members of the committee are D C Patil, Anand Pandurangi, Bharath Kkimji, K B Desai, S S Hasabi, Mohan Nagammanavar and Savithri Mahishi.
The citizen advisory committee will supervise the formation and functioning of citizen committees and zonal committees, which will be formed in all the 12 zones with one representative each from the citizen committees of the respective zone.
It will identify the activities of HDMC where citizen participation is essential and provide necessary guidance to working groups for three divisions of the city in drawing up and implementation of action plans to meet the goals of development. Each working group will be headed by the executive engineer of the respective division and will have three NGO representatives as members.
These working groups will assist the citizen advisory committee and the capacity-building agency in functioning of citizen committees.
After bringing about decentralisation in its administration and transparency in its functioning through e-governance, the HDMC is now attempting citizen participation in preparing development plans of their respective areas and monitoring of works undertaken.
If successful, it will curb the clout of councillors in the sanctioning of development works in their respective wards as this will then be decided by the zonal committees on the basis of inputs received from the citizen committees.
The citizen committee will be asked to prepare a monthly feedback of the respective wards and will be empowered to undertake internal checking of electoral, tax and other details. Along with zonal committees, they will also help create civic awareness.
The city development strategy report has been prepared by the HDMC as a blueprint for long-term development of the city for the next 20 years, which will also act as a basic document for development plans under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.
HDMC had commissioned the services of a consortium of Administrative Staff College of India and Ernst & Young to prepare the report. It was funded by Washington-based Cities Alliance, a World Bank affiliate.
To facilitate completion of the process of formation of citizen committees by February 18, the corporation has constituted a citizen advisory committee chaired by former Mangalore University vice-chancellor M I Savadatti. HDMC commissioner P Manivannan will be its co-chairman. Other members of the committee are D C Patil, Anand Pandurangi, Bharath Kkimji, K B Desai, S S Hasabi, Mohan Nagammanavar and Savithri Mahishi.
The citizen advisory committee will supervise the formation and functioning of citizen committees and zonal committees, which will be formed in all the 12 zones with one representative each from the citizen committees of the respective zone.
It will identify the activities of HDMC where citizen participation is essential and provide necessary guidance to working groups for three divisions of the city in drawing up and implementation of action plans to meet the goals of development. Each working group will be headed by the executive engineer of the respective division and will have three NGO representatives as members.
These working groups will assist the citizen advisory committee and the capacity-building agency in functioning of citizen committees.
After bringing about decentralisation in its administration and transparency in its functioning through e-governance, the HDMC is now attempting citizen participation in preparing development plans of their respective areas and monitoring of works undertaken.
If successful, it will curb the clout of councillors in the sanctioning of development works in their respective wards as this will then be decided by the zonal committees on the basis of inputs received from the citizen committees.
The citizen committee will be asked to prepare a monthly feedback of the respective wards and will be empowered to undertake internal checking of electoral, tax and other details. Along with zonal committees, they will also help create civic awareness.
