Secretary Urban Development Stresses on Community Participation in JNNURM

Dr. M. Ramachandran ,Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development talking about the importance of Community Participation in JNNURM stated that it is important to make the cities aware about the scheme as well as mobilize communities to utilize this excellent opportunity at their disposal. He also shared the need for greater overall participation of the community in the Mission be it projects or reforms. He was speaking at the National Workshop on “Community Participation Fund & Citizen Centric Reforms” under the Mission organized by the National Technical Advisory Group under JNNURM, here today.

An interesting feature of JNNURM has been citizen participation. In fact, citizen participation is embedded in the overall design of the Mission. One mechanism to enhance community participation in the overall scheme of JNNURM is the creation of the National Technical Advisory Group, made of members of civil society. TAG has been part and parcel of the Mission ever since its creation in 2005-2006.It is meant for both the Sub-Missions (i.e. Urban Infrastructure & Governance under the Ministry of Urban Development & Basic Services for the Urban Poor under the Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation.) Its purpose is to ensure transparency and accountability in the Mission, as envisaged through various reform measures that the Mission requires of cities and states.

Community Participation Fund (CPF), brainchild of the National Technical Advisory Group was launched in September 2007.The primary objective of the fund is to catalyze community participation by supporting the building of community assets. In the long run, this should lead to increased community participation in the city’s functioning thus enabling them to develop a sense of ownership on community assets and take on responsibilities for community-based exercises.

There is provision for about 1000 community projects under CPF, with Rs.90 crores already approved. So far 43 projects have been sanctioned under this scheme for the mission cities (i.e. Kolkatta, Guwahati, Madurai, Bangalore, Faridabad, Mysore, Kanpur & Bhopal).

The mission cities (i.e. Madurai, Bangalore, Guwahati, Kolkatta, Mysore & Kanpur) who have been pioneers in terms of taking up projects under this fund, shared about their learnings, the benefits & challenges they encountered while implementing projects under CPF. The Mayors & the community representatives of the project area of the concerned cities where CPF projects are being implemented as well as where City level TAG & City Volunteer Technical Corps have been established were given momentos on this occasion by the Secretary U.D, Mission Director JNNURM & the National TAG .

The second session was on Citizen Centric Reforms (i.e. Community Participation Law & Public Disclosure Law). Presentation on the successful implementation of these state level mandatory reforms were made by the City Commissioner of Faridabad & by the Additional Director of Urban Administration and Development, Government of Madhya Pradesh. A very valuable perspective on Community Participation Law was provided by Mr.Raykar, Commissioner for Mysore city.

The chairperson for National TAG Mr.Ramesh Ramanathan in his concluding remarks called JnNURM a mission first of its kind wherein community participation is embedded in the very DNA of the programme.He called it an excellent opportunity for the civil society and citizens in general to participate and take ownership for their city’s development.

TFK/KS