The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) had formed ward committees with great fanfare to take development planning to the grass-root level. However, the information gleaned by the Forum for Good Governance shows otherwise.
Ward committee meetings that were supposed to be conducted at least once in two months are not being held regularly. And the meetings that were conducted were limited to oath-taking by ward committee members, said Forum secretary M. Padmanabha Reddy.
“If ward committee meetings are to be conducted as per the HMC Act, a minimum of 12 meetings have to be held and a ward development plan has to be prepared. But from the information gathered so far, not a single ward development plan has been prepared,” he said.
The FGG, which conducted a sample survey on the functioning of the 35 ward committees in Kapra, Charminar, Jubilee Hills, Moosapet and Secunderabad circles, found out that no meetings were held in three wards, a single meeting was held in 21 wards and two meetings were held in nine wards. Over two meetings were held in a couple of wards, but no business was conducted!
Apart from preparing a development plan, the ward committees, as per the Act, are also expected to motivate residents to construct individual toilets, assist authorities in collection of tax, supervise civic work for roads, water supply, drainage, street lights, maintenance of parks and playgrounds etc., and act as a bridge between the citizens and the civic body.
Mr. Reddy said in the absence of people’s participation in urban governance, expanding the municipal corporation in terms of zones or circles may not yield any result unless there is ‘meaningful interaction and dialogue’ between citizens, civil society, elected members and officials at the ward level.
Also, the GHMC has not transferred 20% of maintenance budget for basic civic amenities to ward committees leading to the members losing interest in working, he claimed and requested the Municipal Administration & Urban Development Secretary, Arvind Kumar, to issue suitable instructions to all urban local bodies to conduct meetings and prepare development plans.
