Satyamev Jayate - Jinhe Desh Ki Fikr Hai

Power to you

Be an information activist by spreading the word about the problems that exist in our society. Here are some resources that can help you empower yourself and others.

 
  
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Power to you

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We can demand accountability and transparency with these tools

People first Back

Water crisis. Bad roads. Poor sanitation. Health issues. Few educational opportunities. Lack of safety.

These are just some of the problems that affect Indian citizens on a daily basis. But how much say do we have in changing any of these situations? Very little. However, a bill called the Model Nagara Raj Bill seeks to increase the role of citizens and include them in the process of self-governance.

History of the bill

The 74th Constitutional Amendment, enacted in 1992, aimed to decentralize and delegate power to local authorities. It also conceived of citizen participation in local and government decision-making. In 2005, an urban reform process was started in India with the introduction of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). As part of JNNURM, the Central Government introduced various urban reform measures and provided financial support to achieve them.

JNNURM addressed two issues: (a) urban infrastructure and governance, and (b) basic services for urban poor. The passing and implementation of the Nagar Raj Bill by the states was necessary to access funds under JNNURM. The central government then generated a model Nagar Raj Bill, which the states could re-interpret and implement. Thus, local residents across India could have a say in the planning and decision-making processes, at the local and the city levels.

The Nagar Raj Bill

Nagar raj means town or urban governance. The Nagar Raj Bill, which was introduced in 2006, seeks to decentralize power, increase citizen participation and empower people to take community-level decisions for issues that affect them. The other goals of the bill include ensuring greater transparency and accountability on the part of the government. The salient features of the bill are as follows:

  • Each municipal ward will be divided into several ‘mohallas’, each consisting of about 3,000 voters.
  • These voters will select an mohalla sabha representative from amongst themselves, through elections conducted by the state election commission, to be a part of the ward committee of their municipality.
  • All the mohalla sabha representatives in a municipal ward will constitute a ward committee. The elected municipal councillor of the ward will be chairperson of that ward committee.
  • The mohalla sabha and ward committee will have independent sources of revenue—they will have powers to levy and collect taxes from their mohalla/ward. They will also get funds from the municipality, state and central government that can be spent as they deem fit.
  • Mohalla sabhas will determine the priority of the schemes and development programmes to be implemented in their mohallas and forward them to the ward committees.
  • The mohalla sabhas will address local issues like street lights, solid waste management, maintenance of parks, sanitation, beautification of the locality, public health, etc.
  • The mohalla sabha has the right to get information from government officials about the services they will provide and the work they will do.
  • The mohalla sabha shall have the power to summon local officials and impose financial penalties on them if they do not do their work properly (like a local teacher who does not teach properly, for instance.)
  • The state government and municipality cannot make any schemes, projects or programmes that have to be implemented at the mohalla or ward level. All affairs at the mohalla or ward level must be dealt with only by mohalla sabhas or ward committees respectively.

Towards swaraj

The idea of swaraj or self-governance is illustrated by this model Nagar Raj Bill. It embodies the ideals of a participatory public which can demand both transparency and accountability from the government. It puts power back in the hands of the people and with it, the right to be makers of their own destiny. However, the struggle to pass a model Nagar Raj Bill and implement the same still continues because, in most urban areas, there is very little taking place on the ground.

To read more about the Model Nagara Raj bill, click here.

  
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