Framework for aid under JNNURM (never mind what it stands for) makes it mandatory for the local body to move three ways:
1) Evaluate existing infrastructure for deficiency in service delivery;
2) Formulate a vision statement for Mysore city; and
3) Draw up a list of projects in consultation with citizens.
Hoping that the powers that be take Point Three seriously, I reckon an online interaction would be in order. As Mr U N Ravikumar of the Centre for Appropriate Rural Technology put it, the vastness of scope of the subject called for more and intensive discussions than what the Karnataka infrastructure development corporation (IDECK) hosted on Wednesday (March 1).
Going by media reports (The Hindu is my favourite) the recent infrastructure talks we have had, whether at the Lalitha Mahal hotel the other day or at the IDECK- sponsored workshop yesterday, were generally in the nature of reiteration of oft-stated positions taken by the city’s familiar citizens and figure-heads who are given to recycling their thoughts for all occasions – conference, convention, seminar and workshop. We haven’t had anyone hosting a teach-in or talkathon.
Maybe IDECK could try out a talkathon, in topic-specific group-sessions format, with more inclusive citizen participation. Blowing the chaff off the jargons, my point is we ought to split infrastructure into specifics such as connectivity in road, rail and air and through ICT, water supply, urban housing, education, tourism, environment and what-have-you. Each topic could be discussed in a manageable working group (of eight to 10 panelists) in all its nitty-gritty (costing, timeline, social cost/benefit etc.), to come up with a concise, action-focused (rather than fault-finding) position paper, not exceeding two typed sheets.
Panelists could be chosen in recognition of their proficiency/ experience/ expertise or sheer passion for specific topics. I have in mind persons such as Dr Bhamy Shenoy (energy panel), Capt. Anup Murthy (airport expansion), retired army officials Gen. C K Karumbaya (township planning) and Gen. Vombatkere (structural engineering), Mr Bapu Satyanarayana (roads), Dr.Javeed Nayeem and Mr Gouri Satya (city heritage), Prof. G Raghavan (financial accounting), Dr. K A Kushalapa (social forestry, lung-spacing) and a host of other experts other browsers of this site could identify. MGP could nominate resource persons from its expert membership. Institution of engineers, of architects, builders association, chamber of commerce, the university vice-chancellor, and b-schools could field their nominees for various subject groups.
The position papers emerging from various group sessions could then be presented at a valedictory session. The entire exercise could be spread over a two/three-day talkathon. The idea is to come up with a Mysore Infrastructure Charter that could truly be a creature of govt.-citizens partnership.
Such exercise could even result in evolving a standing committee or an agenda-driven Mysore Task Force that could monitor implementation of ongoing infrastructure projects.
As an after-thought, I believe there are at least two infrastructure projects that needs to be pushed right away, without any further talk. I mean the Mysore-Bangalore rail track doubling project, and the airport expansion. Both are the kind of projects that will have, what economists would call, a multiplier-effect on Mysore’s growth. This rail-air connectivity, plus completion of the four-lane road to Bangalore, would give much-needed impetus to other infrastructural projects.
What the rail track doubling entails is political will and public pressure. It is the question of persuading/pressuring the state government to release its share of funds that it has been holding out on funding for no credible reason.
The airport project is reported to be held up because of a court stay on the government acquisition of 20 acres out of the 174 acres needed for airport expansion. Shouldn’t the citizen groups come forward to back the government effort to get the court stay vacated ?.
Thank you Mr. GVK for thinking of me in the capacity mentioned by you in the "panel". I prefer residents of Mysore who are normally resident, in that I mean those living here most of the time to be the experts on the panel. People like me who are traveling half the year may notbe able to contribute whole time. I would certainly be of help via the internet and in person whenever in town.
The "panel" (call it shadow panel until it really takes place?) should have a head, a co-ordinator of sorts and could I suggest Mr. Chiranjeevi Singh I.A.S., former head of the Administrative Training Institute? The thought is a good one, to create a infrastructure panel and help in the City's development. If this can be expanded to include chaps in the local government, it can truly be empowered. What do you think?
It is good that JNNURM has generated some interest in some section of the society. One who wants to know more about it can visit WWW.urbanindia.nic.in. Myosre may get on an annual basis Rs 40 to 50 crores of grants from the central government and state has to give additional Rs 4 to 5 crores which it is already giving and city has to find also similar amount for porjects which it may already spending. Thus the net additional amount city will get is the grant of Rs 40 to 50 crores which is about 50% of our annual budget. This is considerable. For this we need to meet many minimum requirements like implementation of double entry system, ward committes, more transparency, egovernance, improving property tax system, levying proper charges for water and solid waste handling etc. Most of this is not done by our corporation today. Will it happen soon? This is million dollar question. On the part of the state they also have to bring about certain reform. All services like education, police, planning, land development etc should all be brought under the elected body unlike having many agencies today. This is waht is required by 74th amendment. Is the state going to undertake this just to assist Mysore get some funds? They also should reduce stamp duty to 5%, remove land ceiling act etc.
Securing grant is an extremely compliacted and also complex process. We need to prepare a city development plan. How will this be coordinated with Comprehensive development plan of MUDA? There is alaborate tables given as part of this exercise. I have not seen this kind of elaborate statistics on our city. Of course one can guess and fill the tables. Hopefully we will do better than that. Our consultant did not even have a good feel for likely population growth during the next 10 years. They did not have information on slum population or garbage generation.
Having been involved in several CDPs earlier and also having data bank on some of the parameters, they should be able to play a key role in identifying the experts. Will they? Mysore's institute of development studies can play an important role. They may also have many statistics and MGP and IDS has collaborated in the past.
One should know also that there will be no money for projects involving education, power, telecom, health, employment generation etc. Water supply, saniation, sewarge, drainage, road etc are the preffered sector and the emphasis is more on reducing poverty and also to improve the slums. Thus those involved in project need to keep these things in mind while preparing the project report. Public participation is the new mantra adopted by this mission and that was the purpose behind the meeting yesterday. Unless we the civil society come forward we may not see another such meeting because the bureaucracy can now claim they have involved the public. They have taken extensive video and media has also covered the event.
Who is going to bell the cat? Who has the time? Even more who has the expertise and interest? It is difficult to find all three together for successful participation. It was not often we saw such a thing yesterday. Public has the rare chance to make a difference now. Will we use this opportunity or be sitting on the side and commenting on what others have failed to do?
GVK, It's a good idea to get various aspects of the city moving.
The Railway double line seems to be going in a mysterious way of it's own. I think even a weekly followup to find out where it is getting stuck would be worth the while. It now transpires, the previous Govt. did nothing, which is similar to what the earlier Govts did! Can we not find out, say, from the rights of Information act , whether the amount for survey for Bangalore -Ramanagaram has been released or not following C.M.s' letter that it will be released immediately. If not, the reason behind the delay and how it can be pushed. Also, the entire work has to be speeded up otherwise, it will be ages before the double line between Bangalore- Mysore actually materialises on ground.
With regard to developing a green cover for the city, Mr. M.B. Srinivas, retired DCF could assist Dr. Kushalappa in this important area.
The process defined by the NURM grant scheme is elaborate as Dr.Shenoy has spelt out,but one worth following to bring about engagement between various stakeholders leading to transparency,assigning responsibility,accountability, and measurement/evaluation.The challenge is to move from platitudes to practise,from derailing the process by getting into detail without agreeing on the broad contours of minimum deliverables.Essentially the requirement of the grant scheme is to make a realistic assessment of current status in terms of demographics,along with utilities provided by civic bodies,and evaluating the effectiveness of resources deployed.Projections are made to estimate future needs,define the demand for services and chart out the optimum way to bolster supply within resources available.
If access is improved to Mysore without the corresponding increase in civic services such as water,power,pubilc conveniences,waste collection/disposal,drainage,zoning/increased residential clusters etc, you would soon have a significant part of the migrant population in slums.The towns of Gujerat appear to be the best in terms of responding to the NURM initiative.To have a meaningful debate it would be neccessary to collate some data,clarify the process and ensure that participants do not merely make suggestions with no one to implement the ideas by generating the resources required.
To begin with it maybe worthwhile defining a vision for Mysore and a backgrounder on drawing up a vision document could be posted to help the process.For instance,one could consider establishing Mysore as a centre of excellence for education( and define the specific streams of education), as a centre of excellence for heritage tourism,for yoga/spiritual fulfillment,for cultural tourism,for active retirees,as a hub for organic farm produce, for plantation produce etc etc.Once there is concensus on what would Mysore want to aspire to be, you would need more serious professionals to step in to ensure that the cdream does not become a nightmare.
Gurgaon for instance has become by default the hub for call centres/BPO;auto industry;malls;golf courses;gated communities;corporate offices and new technology companies;day schools.The traffic is far in excess of the improvement in access,prices have skyrocketted,because of the construction boom the increase in slums is far greater than the impressive developments, and there is an absloute collapse of basic amenities for the original residents.Fortress environments will emerge which will be exclusive rather than inclusive.
The learning experience from other urban developments suggests that it is easier to provide infrastructure in concentrated clusters rather than dispersed development.Normally this would mean not disturbing your heritage areas but in having alternate " City centres" with improved inter-modal transport/pedestrian access with cycle and pedestrian pathways.There is a view at IIT Delhi that Gurgaon would have been better off with elevated walkways and cycle paths rather than fly overs.Unfortunately most of us leap to solutions without defining the issues and this is exactly what is being attempted to redress.I-deck is to be viewed as a process facilitator rather than a font of all knowledge. And as to the suggestion of getting ex-IAS officers judging from the experience of the Delhi Metro, it is better to get specialists rather than generalists and having someone who has run a commercially viable enterprise providing the leadership.
Since the formation of Uttranchal,Dehradun is rapidly moving towards an urban mess.I think the idea of ensuring that Mysore can benefit from inputs from a larger cross section of people is an excellent one.Perhaps Infosys could be encouraged to host a virtual debate across a spectrum of portals.
Mr G V K has initiated a very passionate and pioneering step by boldly proposing a panel to ensure an orderly development of infrastructure projects for and in Mysore. I will take a further step and propose that this panel should engage itself continuously on the assigned job and not ending by just submitting a one time report. Only by this, we can ensure the proposals emanating out of the PANEL discussions are monitored till their implementation. Well. I have personally heard about almost all the proposed panelists. They are stalwards in their respective fields. They all should be persuaded to accept this assignment without fail. Even though they may be very busy with their present professional assignments, they should consider this assignment also a very important one from the social commitment angle.
Some of the leading companies like Infosys, who have a stake in Mysore, can sponsor the work and meet the expenses connected with the assignments.
I once again commend the proposal of Mr GVK and the panel should get into the proposed assignment right now onwards with all seriousness. The proposed panelists should be extended all support and assistance by all of us.
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Bhamy V Shenoy
Date:
RE: Let's talk infrastructure Getting down to few specifics.
IDEC had developed two alternative vision statements. I have given below a third one for the consideration of the group. I am sure using the wordsmiths that we have and also the experts we can improve on this.
To restore the old charm and glory of Mysore while creating cultural, social, educational and economic environment in which the rich and poor will have an equal opportunity to pursue the most satisfying life style in a sustainable manner by preserving the rich heritage we have inherited.
One of the most fundamental and critically important assumptions is what is likely to be the population of Mysore by 2030. It is that which decides water supply, housing, sanitation load, sewaerage, traffic and public transportation, parking etc. We need the best forecasters we can find with a good insight. This is not an easy exercise. How many had predicted that Bangalore's population will reach this level even 5 yeras back leave alone in 1975?
Does any one want to make a try? IDEC people mentioned 2% in their vision statement. This is a gross underestimate. When the average population growth of India itself is at present around 1.8%, to presume that Mysore will grow at 2% is an understatement.
I read a news item in the local daily that mentions a former mayor of Mysore Mr. RG Narasimha Iyengar mentioning that Mysore will lose development funds under JNNURN unless ward committees are formed as per the 74th Ammendment to the Indian constitution. I don;t know what this means. Are ward committees the same as those that are being talked about in this forum? the news article does not ask this question. An average reder is left to his own imagination as to what this is and how this will affect the JNNURM situation with respect to Mysore.
Any enlightened persons who know about this matter? Please inform the rest of us what this means and how this can be overcome. is it something we the people need to do or is this something the Government needs to do?
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Bhamy V Shenoy
Date:
RE: Let's talk infrastructure What is a ward committee?
74th amendment to the Constituion had the objective of decentralizing power from the state to the city and then from the city to different areas of the city. It was expected that the state will adapt suitable laws for the formation of wards. Wards for the urban areas are like gram panchayats for rural areas where gram panchayats are given financial responsibilities also. On paper they should be able to raise their own revenues and be able to spend the way they want. It is a different story it has not happened in rural areas.
Soon after the passage of 74th amendment, NGOs like MGP fought for the implementation of that act in true spirit. In that case, Myosre will have say 20 wards where each ward will represent a population of 50000 and comprises 2 to 3 electoral wards. One of the corporators belonging to that area will be elected as the president of the ward. Corporation has to allocate funding to each ward and residents will decide during the regual meetings of the ward how the money allocated to that ward will be spent. This is the way devolution of power is supposed to work where residents of each area will be directly involved.
As we all know no such thing has happened. Under JNNURM for securing the funds, the state is forced to bring new legislation to form such wards.
Thank you Dr. Shenoy for your reply, it certainly helps understand the situation. No doubt the goals set out in th Constitution are noble. What baffles me is that the MCC or the Corporators have not jumped into this and grabbed the initiative. Since you mention that one of the ward Corporators will be elected as the President of the ward and will have access to funding and so on, it baffles me even more that the promise of Presidentship of the ward has not attracted the corporators. Nice title to call themselves actually. This also allows them to get positive work done on behalf of the local residents and gives the Corporators the opportuity to have greater visibility with their voters and actually make a difference to the area that they are elected from. They should have supported the MGP initiative to make this happen. Did they? or did the MGP face opposition from these very "city fathers"?
How about some of the leading lights and prominent citizens standing and winning MCC elections and making an example for others to see and perhaps emulate? Why don't people vote for edcuated doer's than vote for semi educated, power hungry people who only seem to want power to line their own pockets? I hope MGP has more success in persuading the MCC to form the ward committees and prevent the disqualification of the City from the NURM initiative.
Soon after the passage of 74th amendment, NGOs like MGP fought for the implementation of that act in true spirit. In that case, Myosre will have say 20 wards where each ward will represent a population of 50000 and comprises 2 to 3 electoral wards. One of the corporators belonging to that area will be elected as the president of the ward. Corporation has to allocate funding to each ward and residents will decide during the regual meetings of the ward how the money allocated to that ward will be spent. This is the way devolution of power is supposed to work where residents of each area will be directly involved.
wonder if MGP would consider renewing their campaign, particularly in view of the coming civic elections, which are a few months away. Citizens, under the MGP initiative, should be able to build up public pressure to ensure that all political parties make 74th amendment a poll issue. Candidates should be told they can't have the vote unless they make a commitment on implementation of the act. MGP could think of a signature campaign on the lines of their 'Save Mysore' camapgin. This could be backed up with poster campaign, neighbourhood meetings, media campaign, if local newspapers could be pursuaded to join in. We could even seek the support of leaders with spiritual influence and other community leaders. I am thinking of the cprecedent set up with Mysore Citizens forum, which did some good tsumani relief work. It Would be nice if all NGOs, public interest groups join in to work on a common campaign strategy.
May be this suggestion may not get us result early enough to clinch NURM funds. But it would be a campaign work taking up, for its long-term benefits.
Here's the State Budget now. Says Rs. 350 crores for bangalore traffic management. Interesting to know what that means. No funds for a metro rail project that was supposed to be already on stream! So much for infrastructure development!
Where is Mysore in all this? There's something abt the JNNURM funds being made available for Mysore and Bangalore (not necessarily in that order) etc etc. I don't see any serious move to improve things urgently and drastically. Poor us!
