Preface This report captures insights from a study to observe working of ward committees in Bengaluru through the monthly meetings and offers solutions to streamline their functioning to be more effective in transforming local governance and tackling the city’s complex urban issues.
The sample size of the study was 22 wards spread across the city, documented over 4 months - July to October ‘19 with the help of 14 volunteers. The insights from the study were further shared and solutions collaboratively developed by Sensing Local Foundation, Citizens for Bengaluru, Janaagraha, CIVIC, Reap Benefit and CFAR along with inputs from volunteers.
Names of Volunteers Ankit Bhargava
Urban Planner, Sensing Local Foundation
Archana M V
Research and Program Coordinator, B.PAC
Arvind Kavuru
Finance, Accenture
Ashish VR
Mentor, Reap Benefit
Janice Rodrigues
Architect, Balan and Nambisan Architects
Mohammad Najmuzzaman
Product Management, Capria Venture Basecamp
Nandhini Murthy
M.Arch-Urban Design student, R.V. College of Architecture
Natasha Kalra
Development studies, Institute for social and Economic Change
Naveen GT
Urban Planner, Sensing Local Foundation
Navneet Maheshwari
Program Manager, Reap Benefit
Nikhil Isaac
Civil Engineering
Preethi Raj
Civil Engineering, ESRT
Sobia Rafiq
Urban Planner, Sensing Local Foundation
Rahul Bisht
Public Space Designer, Srishti Institute of Art Design and Technology
Yogada Joshi
Finance & Economics, KPMG
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Table of Contents Table of Contents List of Tables and Figures ................................................................................................................. 4 1.
Context ......................................................................................................................................... 5 1.1
Ward committees & their mandate ......................................................................................... 5
1.2
Current status......................................................................................................................... 7
2.
Study: Evaluation of workings of ward committee meetings ................................................. 9 2.1
About the study ...................................................................................................................... 9
2.2
Insights from the study ......................................................................................................... 10
3.
Solutions to streamline the functioning of ward committees ............................................... 20 3.1.
Conducting Ward Committee Meetings ............................................................................... 20
a.
Working of ward committees ................................................................................................... 24
b.
Support required by Ward Committees ................................................................................... 26
ANNEXURE 01: Roles and Responsibilities of Ward Committees as per Community Participation Law .............................................................................................................................. 27
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List of Tables and Figures Figure 01: Number of ward committee meetings held between Dec. ’18 and June ‘19 ....................... 7 Figure 02: Number of Ward committee meetings held per month between Dec ’18 & Jun ‘19 ............ 8 Figure 03: Map of 22 wards documented in the study.......................................................................... 9 Figure 04: Representation of issues raised across 22 ward committee meetings ............................. 10 Figure 05: Typology and number of issues in each ward ................................................................... 11 Figure 06: Description of issues raised in ward 112, under each category ........................................ 11 Figure 07: Attendance of Ward Committee members, govt. officials and citizens ............................. 12 Figure 08: Map of wards that have conducted 70% of the meetings (Dec ‘18 – June ’19) ................ 13 Figure 09: Different types of location for ward meetings .................................................................... 14 Figure 10: Screenshot of meeting notices/messages from volunteers on CfB whatsapp groups ...... 14 Figure 11: Wards with pre-determined agendas ................................................................................ 15 Figure 12: Anchor in ward committee meetings ................................................................................. 16 Figure 13: Comparing formats of MOM uploaded to BBMP website across different wards.............. 17 Figure 14: MOMs uploaded compared to meetings held per month .................................................. 18 Figure 15: Ward map in Ward 117 ..................................................................................................... 18 Figure 16: Number of ward committee members attending meetings ................................................ 19 Figure 17: Issue entry format from MYCITYMYBUDGET .................................................................. 23 Table 01: Ward committee mandate as per Section 13-I of KMC Act 1976……………………………5
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1. Context 1.1 Ward committees & their mandate It is essential for good governance that it be inclusive and representative of the citizens so that the city for everyone is made by and with everyone. The 74th Constitutional Amendment (CA) or Nagarapalika Act was passed in 1992 by the Parliament. The official gazette notification was issued on 1st June 1993 to give “Power to the People” and bring in decentralisation, transparency, accountability and people’s participation in urban local bodies (ULBs). One of the key provisions has been the formation of ward committees that formally include citizens as co-decision makers in the ward level governance alongside the elected Corporator. Further, this has meant decentralization and devolution of power and responsibilities from the centralized municipal body to the 198 wards, entrusting them with localizing planning, budgeting and monitoring of urban services/schemes. This sets up a framework that can by design bring more inclusive-ness and on-ground citizen centric perspectives into the city making process. Further, the more issues tackled at the local level, the lesser are likely to aggregate to create complex city scale challenges. This in turn will also relieve the city level decision makers (to a large extent) of the day to day problem solving to instead prioritize long term planning to shift the city towards a more sustainable model alongside addressing broader systemic challenges. In this context, the ward committees promise to a game changer for the city. The detailed mandate of the ward committee as stated in the KMC Act along with the recent directives from the High Court are listed in Table 01. A more detailed view of the roles and responsibilities of the ward committee as per Community Participation Law (CPL) is attached as Annexure 1. It is however recommended that the CPL’s stated responsibilities only be rolled out in a phased manner over 2-3-5 year period once ward communities become more experienced and robust.
MANDATE
REFERENCE
1
Prepare and submit Ward Development Scheme to the corporation for allotment of funds
KMC Act (13-I)
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Ensure proper utilization of the funds allotted under ward development scheme in the ward
KMC Act (13-I)
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Approve the list of beneficiaries for beneficiary oriented schemes of the Corporation submitted by Area Sabhas falling under that ward
KMC Act (13-I)
4
Scrutinize list of ineligible beneficiaries submitted by the Area Sabhas and submit it to the Corporation
KMC Act (13-I)
5
Supervise all programmes and schemes being implemented by the Corporation in the ward
KMC Act (13-I)
6
Ensure timely collection of taxes, fees and other sums due to the Corporation
KMC Act (13-I)
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Ensure water supply maintenance in the ward and finalize location of new public taps and public wells
KMC Act (13-I)
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MANDATE
REFERENCE
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Ensure sewerage system maintenance in the ward
KMC Act (13-I)
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Ensure proper solid waste management and sanitation work in the ward and finalize location of new public sanitation units
KMC Act (13-I), Re-instated by the High Court (Nov 2017)
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Ensure maintenance of street lighting in the ward and finalize location of new street lights
KMC Act (13-I)
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Ensure maintenance of parks, open spaces, greening of area in the ward
KMC Act (13-I)
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Ensure afforestation; and implementation of rain water harvesting schemes
KMC Act (13-I)
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Mobilize voluntary labour and donation by way of goods or money for implementation of Ward Development Scheme and various programmes and schemes of Corporation
KMC Act (13-I)
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Inform the Corporation regarding any encroachment of land belonging to the Corporation
KMC Act (13-I)
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Perform such other functions as may be assigned to it by the Corporation as per its bye-laws
KMC Act (13-I)
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Establish a Disaster Management Cell at ward level
UDD Secretariat Notification [No. UDD 507 MNY 2012, dt: 22-6-2016]
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Inspect roads to ascertain whether the streets need repair owing to potholes or other causes, and to monitor the repair, maintenance works.
High Court Directive and Direction from BBMP Commissioner (Sept 2019)
Table 01: Ward committee mandate as per Section 13-I of KMC Act 1976
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1.2 Current status The current ward committees are their fourth avatar. The first existed from 1999 - 2001, second from 2003- 2006, the third from 2014 - 2015 and now is the fourth that started being set up since 2017. As of now, functioning of Ward Committees are currently synonymous with Ward Committee meetings. Since the regularization (on November 16, 2018) of the first saturday of every month as the day for ward committee meetings; between December 2018 - June 2019 (7 months), only 146 of the 198 wards have had at least one meeting and only 57 (i.e. 28%) of them have had more than 4 of 7 meetings. Figure 01, 02 shows the frequency of ward committee meetings. This data used is from the BBMP website where MoM of ward committee meetings are uploaded and Citizens for Bengaluru’s (CfB) website that has been keeping track of ward committee meetings taking place through a volunteer network.
Figure 01: Number of ward committee meetings held between Dec. ’18 and June ‘19
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Figure 02: Number of Ward committee meetings held per month between Dec ’18 & Jun ‘19
Sources: Ward Committee Meeting proceedings - http://bbmp.gov.in/wardcommittee CFB, Bengaluru Ward Committee Tracker - http://wc.citizensforbengaluru.in/
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2. Study: Evaluation of workings of ward committee meetings 2.1 About the study This study has been undertaken to observe ward committee meetings in the city to understand the following: • Current functioning of Ward Committees - type of issues discussed, its communication and representativeness (what part of the society does it affect) • Speed and process of resolution of issues • Format of the meetings and how its curated • Support needed in ward committees to fulfil their mandate effectively A total of 22 ward committees (Figure 03) were observed with the help of volunteers over 4 months – July, August, September and October. There was one standardized format created so that documentation was uniform and comparable. It covered the following aspects: • Issues (category, description, location, progress status/action taken) • Proposals (category, description, location, progress status/action taken) • Attendance (Ward Committee members, officials from line departments, citizens) • Process of meetings being conducted • Agenda setting • General observations and suggestions from volunteers
Figure 03: Map of 22 wards documented in the study
2.2 Insights from the study The insights have been captured in the form of general trends and key issues that the team has observed across all the 22 wards.
A. TRENDS These have been with respect to the types of issues raised and the representation of people attending Ward Committee meetings. 1) Types of issues raised across wards The issues were captured under 11 main categories. The representation of issues across 22 wards is shown in Figure 04. The dominant issue categories were - sewage and water, waste management, roads and pavement and public safety. The number of issues raised under these categories in each ward is shown in Figure 05 and 06.
Figure 04: Representation of issues raised across 22 ward committee meetings
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Figure 05: Typology and number of issues in each ward
Figure 06: Description of issues raised in ward 112, under each category
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2) Attendance at the meetings The attendance of Ward Committee members, government officials and citizens varied across wards. A majority of the wards had a significant number of citizens present, which is reflective of the success of ward committees (see Figure 07).
Figure 07: Attendance of Ward Committee members, govt. officials and citizens
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B. ISSUES With respect to the working of the Ward Committee and conducting of its meetings, a number of aspects mandated in the KMC Act and the Gazette notification (no. UDD 507 MNY 2012, Bengaluru, dated: 22-6-2016), were observed as not being followed on-ground. In this context, 10 key issues have been identified and listed below: 1. Lack of consistency in conducting the monthly Ward Committee ●
Most Ward Committees have not even had one meeting, and those who do meet are inconsistent with respect to holding them monthly. The map in Figure 08 below shows only 12% of the wards have conducted atleast 70 % (5/7) meetings between December 2018 June 2019.
Figure 08: Map of wards that have conducted 70% of the meetings (Dec ‘18 – June ’19)
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There is also no standardization of the location of ward committee meetings. Figure 09 shows the inconsistency in the types of locations these meetings are being conducted in park (Ward 93), Corporator office (Ward 13), other govt. buildings (Ward 111), community halls (Ward 49), etc. The real issue here is that these alternative locations are often not known as they are not formally notified on the BBMP website, which affects awareness about the meetings and people’s participation.
Figure 09: Different types of location for ward meetings
2. No standard format for communication of Ward Committee meetings â—?
Meeting notices are largely being shared on individual whatsapp groups, sent as forwards and collated in larger citizen whatsapp groups like CfB as seen in Figure 10.
Figure 10: Screenshot of meeting notices/messages from volunteers on CfB whatsapp groups
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●
As per the UDD notification (dt:22-06-2016), meeting dates are to be communicated with a clear seven day notice. While the on-ground trend is often to notify one or two days before, if the meeting is taking place. Meetings often get cancelled despite notices being released. A lot of them get cancelled last minute and there is no structured and formal way to communicate the same. Example: Ward 20 (5th Oct meeting), ward 59 (7th Sep Ward Committee meeting).
3. Inconsistency with respect to process of setting and sharing of the meeting agenda •
As per the UDD notification (dt:22-06-2016), the agenda of the meeting has to be shared one week prior to the meeting with inputs from all the Ward Committee Members. But as per the observations from the 23 Ward Committee meetings, most Ward Committees do not have a set agenda to start off the meeting, and even if they do, it is not being shared in advance. Figure 11 shows how many ward committees had agendas.
Figure 11: Wards with pre-determined agendas
●
The process of setting the agenda is also not defined, hence leading to ambiguity and inconsistency in the way agendas are created. The lack of an agenda are further causing highly unstructured meetings.
4. Many ward committee meetings chaired by proxies •
It is observed that in many cases it is the Corporator’s proxy who conducts the name sake proceedings and takes decisions on approvals and release of funds. Figure 12 demonstrates there is no consistent anchor for the Ward Committee meetings which varies from the Corporator, Nodal Officer and Ward Committee members. * In this data Corporator’s proxy is counted as Corporator as Corporator was also present in the meetings, or left half way as observed in the case of Ward 117.
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Figure 12: Anchor in ward committee meetings
5. Ward Committee Meetings largely behaving as grievance redressal platforms, ignoring the actual mandate •
All Ward Committee meetings are spending a majority of their time on addressing grievances. Although this is leading to larger participation from citizens, the issue is that the Committees are not fulfilling their assigned mandate towards ward planning, budgeting, project oversight and monitoring of supply of urban services.
6. No standard protocols for capturing and resolving ward issues There exists no defined protocols with respect to issue capturing and resolution at the ward level which is resulting in the following challenges • Most of the issues are based on personal experiences and understanding of Ward Committee members themselves and not the ward as a whole. • No standard process of outreach of Ward Committee members to citizens towards gathering issues, resulting in the lack of representativeness of issues as well as demographic and geographic blind spots. • Lack of understanding of the issues and issue resolution process as most Ward Committee members do not have the technical background or required additional training. • Lack of understanding of what issues are city level issues vs ward level issues. This results in a lot of time being spent on concerns that are not resolvable at a ward level. There also exists no process of escalation for the issue if it is not in the mandate of the ward committee. Example: Ward 111 spent 45 minutes of their July (2019) Ward Committee meeting time, discussing the dispute of BMRCL with the All Saints Church land, which found no conclusion as it was not resolvable at a ward committee level. 7. No process in place for approval of project proposals •
The lack of a ward development scheme results in there being no framework towards evaluation of new projects that are being proposed and approved within a ward. Example: Corporator in ward 111 in the July Ward Committee meeting proposed setting up of a Dialysis Centre. He asked for a unanimous approval from ward committee members but despite requests provided no further details of any sort on project details, roll out plan, timeline etc. 16
8. Inconsistency in documenting and sharing Minutes of Meetings The minutes of the meetings is one of the most crucial documents that not only is a proof that a meeting is being held, but also a way to follow-up and track progress and accountability towards issues raised. The inconsistency manifests in the following aspects: • No standard format or process for documenting, ensuring accuracy of minutes and a sign off to establish accountability as shown in Figure 13. As a result there is no way of documenting progress within the same ward or across wards. • It is noted that many a time minutes are being noted as bullet points and in that process leaving out many critical aspects covered in the discussions. • On an average only 60% of the Ward Committees are uploading the MoMs on the website. (Figure 14) • The MOMs being updated are only in Kannada, which also limits access and understandability for the larger citizenry.
Figure 13: Comparing formats of MOM uploaded to BBMP website across different wards
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Figure 14: MOMs uploaded compared to meetings held per month
9. Inadequate and often unusable data and information provided to ward committees •
•
Ward Committees have not been given all the information such as ward data, ward maps, programmes of works to be carried out, ward budgets etc. This makes it impossible to do planning or monitoring. The ward level data/maps available on the BBMP website are not in a usable or easily understandable format. Figure 15 shows the ward map drawn in the ward office that forms the backdrop of the meetings. It was achieved after months of persistent requests by a WC members, yet it is noted to be inaccurate.
Figure 15: Ward map in Ward 117
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10. Undefined point of accountability of Ward Committee members There is no one held to account with respect to the following: • Lack of timely resolution of ward level issues by the line departments • Ward committee meetings not being held or non-attendance of meetings by members. Figure 16 shows attendance of ward committee members.
Figure 16: Number of ward committee members attending meetings
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3. Solutions to streamline the functioning of ward committees 3.1. Conducting Ward Committee Meetings Listed below are suggestions towards further streamlining the way Ward Committee meetings are being conducted: 1. Only the Corporator should chair the meetings 2. Have an option of two days a month for Ward Committee meetings. •
1st Saturday and 3rd Saturday can be allocated as optional days for ward committee meetings as often meetings are not possible on the one assigned day and importantly to ensure availability of officers across agencies. It must be noted, it is observed to be fruitful for meetings to be on Saturdays as they encourage maximum public participation.
UDD notification (dt:22-06-2016) 5. (1) The Chairperson of the Ward Committee shall endeavour to fix a particular day in a month for the meeting and shall be made known to the public. 5. (2) In case the Chairman fails to call a meeting in a month, or if one third of the Ward Committee members feel the need to call for a meeting, the Chairperson shall, on the requisition in writing of not less than one third of the members of the Ward Committee, convene a meeting of the Ward Committee provided the requisition calls attention to the fact that a monthly meeting has not been called or specifies the purpose for which the meeting is to be held.
3. Correct locations of all ward committee meetings must be made public and put on the BBMP website • The meetings must take place in ward offices. However, in their absence in a specific ward, any location such as government building, community hall, a school or college classroom and the like may be designated for the ward committee meetings. The list of confirmed locations must be also made available at the BBMP website.
UDD notification (dt:22-06-2016) 6. (1) The Chairperson in consultation with the Commissioner keeping in view the public participation choose a suitable place of the meetings. The place of the meeting as far as possible shall be in the ward office premises or place adjacent to the ward office. If the ward office premises are insufficient for this purpose, alternative venues such as government schools or public spaces proximal to the ward office may be utilized.
4. Need for bi-lingual communication and public notice board at ward offices to support greater awareness and participation of citizens. • It is recommended that meeting notices and MoMs be communicated in both English and Kannada. • In addition to making information available digitally, there also needs to be a public notice board at the ward offices that acts as a single point for ward information.
UDD notification (dt:22-06-2016) 5. (4) Every notice of the meeting shall be issued by the Secretary of the Committee. The notice shall be exhibited in all prominent public offices within the ward, such as Water Supply office, Electric Supply office, Public Health Centers, etc.
5. The agenda must be set and shared a week prior to the meeting • •
The agenda for each meeting shall be set in consultation with the Ward Committee members and circulated a week before the meeting. Further, It is recommended that the BBMP integrate civic technology and dashboards, and budget and works data into the meetings.
UDD notification (dt:22-06-2016) 5. (3) The meeting shall not be held unless a clear seven day notice along with the agenda for the meeting is circulated in advance to all the members.
6. Compulsory representation of designed officials from BBMP Engineering, Health, BWSSB, BTP, BCP, BESCOM, dealing with critical city level issues in every meeting •
Given that some issues like sewage, water, waste, electricity, traffic, security and roads are recurring in almost all wards, the relevant officials need to be present in each meeting. While for other issues, the officials may be requested to participate as per issues raised.
7. Ward committee meeting time needs to be rationed between 1) addressing grievances, 2) ward development scheme, 3) ward budgets •
Given the dire state of infrastructure it is paramount that ward committees are not limited to grievance redressal platforms, but involve in planning, budget making and monitoring as well as per their mandate.
8. Format and process of documenting the meeting minutes (MoM) must be standardised across wards and it is imperative that these be uploaded online in a timely manner
•
There needs to be a set format for documenting ward committee meetings.
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•
All ward committee members present need to sign off on the minutes before it is uploaded to ensure the accuracy and authenticity of the proceedings.
•
The minutes online need to be bi-lingual. There also needs to be a set process for timely (within 1 week) and easy uploading to BBMP website alongside making it accessible on dedicated apps and services where citizens and ward committees can track progress. Currently only 60% of the MoMs are being uploaded.
•
UDD notification (dt:22-06-2016) 5. (5) Steps are to be taken to ensure that a link is created on the corporation website for each ward and all meeting notices and agenda for the meetings are published on it in a timely manner.
9. There needs to be an accountable process in place towards issue resolution
•
There needs a clear structure for how issues are received, the timeline for resolution and the accountability of officials to the ward committee and citizens.
•
All issues related to the ward are currently being captured through BBMP Sahaya App, I ChangeMyCity or being brought up at the ward committee meeting. There needs to be a single streamlined channel for resolution, where issues, actions taken and progress can be tracked, that further feeds into agenda setting for the ward committee meetings.
UDD notification (dt:22-06-2016) 5. Functions of the Secretary- the Secretary shall – (f) Forward all resolutions of the Ward Committee to the concerned authorities for necessary action. (g) Shall ensure follow-up action on all resolutions of the Ward Committee and provide an Action Taken Report at every ward committee meeting on the resolutions passed at the previous meeting
Suggested format for capturing of issues: MYCITYMYBUDGET engagement at ward sabhas from 2016 offers a format that can be followed for documentation of issues/grievances raised and actions taken. The idea is that citizens, ward committee members and government officials all have access to the entirety of the information about an issue and its progress in the system:
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Figure 17: Issue entry format from MYCITYMYBUDGET
10. Each Ward Committee member must attend a minimum number of meetings a year The attendance at the ward committee meeting is currently taken in a register. This should be digitized and made public. If members are not present for a subsequent number of meetings, there must be a process of holding them accountable.
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a. Working of ward committees Most ward committees members meet only at the monthly Ward Committee meetings, as there are no tasks allocated to be undertaken in-between. This is limiting the mandate of ward committees down to only monthly grievance. Therefore, in order to ensure implementation of the mandate and to make Ward Committee meetings are effective, it is essential to define the working of Ward Committees. Listed below are suggestive tasks/actions that will help guide the working of Ward Committees: 1. Identifying clearly roles and responsibilities of all Ward Committee members Being representatives of the citizens of the ward, the members of the committee must table issues impacting the larger citizenry, must ensure these issues are addressed in a timely manner, and work towards the improvement of the ward. However, most Committee members do not completely understand the functioning of the ward, responsibility of the officers, the process of creation of the ward development scheme, budgeting etc. As in the case of the Ward Committee Secretary and the Chairman, the roles and responsibilities of the 10 nominated members also needs to be defined in order to fulfil the set mandate. Additionally a system may be put in place where nominated members can individually take up specific sectoral leadership and be accountable for it. 2. Provision of all necessary ward level data in a usable format UDD notification (dt:22-06-2016) states that the following ward level information needs to be made available by the Commissioner: 1. Decisions of the Standing Committee 2. Decisions or resolutions of the Council 3. Ward-wise budgetary allocation made, if any, by the corporation or any of the Standing Committee 4. Copy of the Ward Maps 5. Details of the Corporation properties ward wise 6. Information on revenue streams 7. Information which is needed for the proper functioning of the ward committee as per Section 13 - I However, to fulfill the Ward Committee’s mandate of planning, monitoring and oversight as stated in Section 13-I the following additional data is needed: 8. Ward maps and information to include that of public utility system and services - water, sewage, waste trees, electricity etc. along with jurisdictional boundaries of the various agencies 9. Works taking place in the ward - estimates, work orders, bills, to ensure funds are spent effectively to ensure proper utilization of funds 10. List of Beneficiaries and Beneficiary oriented schemes 11. Data such as flooding / flood prone areas to inform the Disaster Management Cell.
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The beneficiary schemes include school fee reimbursement, medical benefits, two- wheeler, fourwheeler, barber kits, push-carts, iron kits, laptop, distribution of sewing machines, etc. The allotment of these schemes need to be discussed with the ward committee so that they can facilitate beneficiary community to access them. The idea being to ensure the yearly quota for schemes is used effectively and no one is not unjustly excluded. Further it is recommended to organize knowledge cum enrollment camps to facilitate poor and disadvantaged to better access schemes. 3. Development of a systematic way of setting the Agenda that reflects that follows the mandate The mandate of the Ward Committee meeting as defined in the KMC Act reflects aspects that are sectoral (waste, water, afforestation, etc.) and task based (monitoring, planning, distribution, etc.). These need to be taken up in Ward Committee meetings in a strategic manner each month such that there is progress towards improvement of the wards. There must also be a set process for regular outreach to citizens to capture emergent issues in the ward in order to set the agenda. This can be done using multiple ways such as surveys, temporary booths, RWA meetings, WhatsApp circles, etc. These forums need to be made public and widely known to all citizens of the ward. 4. Ward Committee members need to have in-between sector-based working meetings There must be time charted out for additional meetings by the ward committee members to work dedicatedly on activities related to the creation of ward development scheme and budgeting. This can include specific tasks such as creation of the SWM ward action plan, monitoring the state of potholes, etc. 5. Submission of the monthly Action Taken Report (ATR) Standardized formats need to be developed for submission of reports for actions taken in the ward each month. This needs to be tabled at every Ward Committee meeting and be made publicly accessible. 6. Creation of the Ward Development Scheme to inform yearly budgets This is the first activity that needs to be taken up by the ward committee to inform budgeting. Guideline documents and technical support needs to be provided to Ward Committees to ensure that wards create their Ward Development Schemes and submit the same for setting of yearly budgets.
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b. Support required by Ward Committees The ward committees are relatively new entities. Most of the members lack the know-how regarding their responsibilities and how to undertake them effectively. At the same time, the mandate of Ward Committees is already quite vast and likely to continue to grow and so is the long list of urban challenges that need to be addressed with great urgency. Therefore ward committees need the following type of additional support to be effective: 1. A dedicated resource to help support the Nodal Officer There are two keys reasons for this resource. The first is that the Nodal officer is also a ward AE, so she/he needs support to fulfil this additional responsibility. Second, the ward AEs often get transferred, so a support person would help maintain continuity and aid a smooth transition. The support resource could be part-time resource / volunteer who can assist with the following aspects ● Setting the agenda for each meeting ● Communication of the meeting date to Ward Committee members/citizens ● Coordination and follow up with parastatal agency officers to attend meetings ● Collation of monitoring and reporting templates on a monthly basis ● Documenting and compiling the Minutes of the Meeting 2. Training of ward committee members Training programs for WC members need to developed and conducted for the following aspects: ● Individual responsibilities of the ward committee members – Corporator, Nodal officer and the ten citizen nominated members ● Understanding the general working of the ward from an administrative and governance stand point. ● Technical know-how on creating the ward development scheme, monitoring of urban services, budgeting, oversight of fund spent, resolving certain sectoral issues, etc. It is recommended that the training take place at the Zonal level so as to make it more effective. Further, this training may be repeated from time to time to ensure all the ward committees are up to date with their responsibilities and how to execute them. 3. Technical support for achieving the mandate Technical support must be provided both in the form of knowledge and man-power. These include the following ● Technology portal for data collection, analysis and information dissemination ● Toolkits and workshops towards the creation of ward-level action plans, budgeting, etc. ● An urban planning resource to support strategy development, planning and implementation of projects ● Guideline documents with frameworks and formats for monitoring and auditing of basic services, action taken reports, etc. 4. Integration of civic dashboards • It is recommended BBMP integrate dashboards for grievance redressal with Action Taken Reports, ward works, and ward budgets. 26
ANNEXURE 01: Roles and Responsibilities of Ward Committees as per Community Participation Law
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