Part 1
I.
Objective: Firstly, the existing Act should be amended so as to reflect
further devolution of functions, functionaries and funds to the urban local
self-governing bodies, as envisaged in the 74th Constitutional
Amendment, which is not yet fully implemented. Secondly, it is to provide more
avenues for increased direct participation of the urban citizens in their area
governance, so as to reflect their human and social capital.
1). If the Commissioner, GHMC is endowed all
the devolution envisaged in the 74th Amendment, there would be no
need for a District Collector for Hyderabad Metropolitan city and the present
powers and functions can be transferred to the Commissioner and his team of
Additional and Zonal Commissioners. The present rural parts of the present
Hyderabad district could be amalgamated with their adjoining districts.
II.
Objective: Today, the urban citizens need municipal
governance, not only by way of traditional vertical political representation
through corporators, but also horizontal representation of their other spheres
of interest in their life as youth, women or seniors, as well as from varied
productive and technical domains such as health, education, safety and security,
leisure and culture.
1). The Greater Hyderabad Municipal
Corporation shall be the first in the country to have a Citizens Council or
an Upper Council,
like the state legislative council or an Upper Chamber or a Board of
Alderpersons composed of the delegates of: all the professional bodies like
that of the taxi-drivers, domestic workers, doctors, Bar Council, Institute of
Engineers, Association of Architects, CESS, IMA, lawyers, chartered
accountants, CII, Hysea, managers, industrialists, tax-payers associations,
senior and pensioner associations and other civil society organisations, the
resident welfare associations, educational, industrial, commercial, research
and health institutions, as well as the creamy layer of the society in the
domains of games and sports, art, films, literature, culture and sciences. The
Council shall be the window of the rich social capital and culture of the
metropolitan residents of Hyderabad.
2). The selection should be made by the
municipal commissioner or the district collector on a clearly laid-out
technical criteria, under the supervision of the State Election Commission. Most
of the professional bodies would nominate their own candidates who can spare
their free time voluntarily, without seeking any honourarium, privileges and
pensions.
3). Its functions would be advisory,
recommendatory and evaluative (internal) of the performance of GHMC to ensure
that the city development plans and implementation go in harmony with human and
social development objectives.
4). The Alderpersons Council may elect a
Vice-Chairperson annually to preside over the sessions regularly, while the
Mayor or the Deputy Mayor remains the ex-officio chairperson.
5). The Upper Council will meet and receive
foreign and national delegations to showcase the accomplishments of GHMC and
also to discuss the subject-matters.
6). Just like the state legislative council,
the Upper Council members’ term also should be for six years, while one-third
would retire every two years.
a)
The term of the Upper Council would be
non co-terminous with the elected Municipal Council.
III.
1.
While Mister or Madam Mayor is entitled
to all protocols as the first resident of the city, he should not claim feudal
titles like lordship, excellency, etc.
2.
In order to promote collective
leadership, to share the governance experience and to avoid personalisation of
power and authority, the Mayor shall be elected annually from among the
Standing Committee members, elected by the Zonal Councils.
3.
The Standing Committee shall be composed
of two members consisting of the Chairperson and the vice-chairperson of each
zone.
4.
There shall be a ‘Zonal Council’ in each
zone with a chairperson and vice- chairperson elected from among the
corporators of all the wards in the zone. The chairperson of the zonal council
shall be called Deputy Mayor.
IV.
Objective: The present rules and regulations, tender procedures,
payments, etc. of the municipality in relations to the private contractors are
vitiated in such a way that they lead to corruption and poor quality of
execution, with no possibility to pin-point the responsibility. Further, the
low quality of the initial works is obliging the municipality to spend
considerable amounts for maintenance and for repairs and other emergency
actions.
1). For all works undertaken or permissions
given in a ward such as roads, the contractor or the Inspector of the Finished
Works should obtain the endorsement of the local resident welfare association
concerned or of the local Ward Committee member of the area.
2). There should be systematic social audit
or Third Party evaluation for all infrastructure projects, worth more than one
lakh rupees, such as roads, pavements, fly-overs, electric installations,
reservoirs, etc., as well as for all social welfare activities undertaken by
GHMC.
3). Members of the Upper Council shall
suggest or nominate the team of such Third Party observers and receive their
reports.
4). Objective: The present municipal staff
has a poor image in the public about their efficiency and competence skills in
performing their tasks.
Hence, a separate Vigilance officer
of the rank of an All-India officer cadre should a). be constantly vigilant
over the exercise of competency and skills, delays, abuse or wastage of the
Corporation’s resources and any inconveniences caused to the public by the
staff of the Corporation b). receive complaints from the public, and c). ensure
the proper functioning of the Citizens Charter.
5). A police officer of the All-India cadre
should head a re-inforced Enforcement department and Demolition Squad to clear
the encroachments of open spaces, tanks, roads and footpaths, etc.
6). There shall be committee proposed by the
Upper Council or by the Mayor to review the forms of bills or receipts or
contracts to be filled by the public as well as the contractors so as to
simplify them in order to make them understandable.
7). The spirit of the contracts or
permissions from the departments dealing with Health & Sanitation,
Engineering, constructions and Planning, and the rules and procedures of the
finance department is ‘first, prove your innocence.’ Instead, it should be
rather in terms of ‘trust and verify’ approach in dealing with the public.
i)
For all works and plans to be approved,
it should be necessary to have the attestation of the engineers or architects
involved, so that they shall be held responsible for eventual infractions,
deviations, damage and accidents along with the applicant. Panels of the
professionals who are recognised should be announced and updated in the Website
regularly.
8) . Municipal Tribunals envisaged under the
previous Act regarding any disputes between the citizens and the municipality
have to be set up, as soon as possible. Any infractions to the GHMC Citizens’
Charter shall be appealed to them.
9) Where
a Resident Welfare Associations can undertake works and projects proposed in
their own areas, they should be allowed to do so, on par with the empanelled
contractors, with technical assistance and mobilisation funds from the
Corporation.
10)Objective: At present, the municipal personnel, from the
contract labour (street sweepers, etc.) to the All-India cadre, more than
one-third of their time is practically devoted every day to functions other
than their initial duties, such as preparation of electoral rolls, election duties,
census, surveys, campaigns, visits of the dignitaries, ceremonies and
celebrations. Very often, their skills are not appropriate to the assignment
and their attendance or presence cannot be properly accounted for. Where others
like teachers are being roped in, their more important primary tasks are being
neglected leading to social loss.
i) . Hence, when required, the Commissioner
must be able to recruit temporary suitable staff from the open market on
contract basis to meet the ‘ad hoc’ specific tasks, without having to take the
permission of the concerned department in the Secretariat.
ii) Further, the Commissioner should be able to
invite ‘volunteers’ from the ward committee members or civil society or
professional organisations or from educational institutions.
11). Citizens Charter: The Corporation should
revise and update the ‘Citizens’ Charter’ regularly in consultation with the
members of the Upper Council or the civil society organisations or consumers of
those services, and exhibit the Charter widely in all circles, in addition to
its presence in the Corporation’s website. Deficiency in the delivery in terms
of time and quality should entail automatic penalties and punishment in-house
expeditiously by the Vigilance Officer. Appeals by either party should be
before the Municipal Tribunal.
12)Public
Information Officers, nominated to implement the RTI Act should be trained by the State Information Commission.
13)The
GHMC Planning department to draw a) five-year City Development Plan and b) a
Master Plan under the guidance of the Upper Council and in concurrence with
HMDA. Such a Plan should integrate all the micro-plans proposed by the Ward
Committee. As the present practice goes, it should be open for complaints from
the concerned parties as well as the suggestions from the civil society
organisations.
V. Finance:
1). The Upper Council should make an annual
report of their observations and suggestions for increasing the income of the
Corporation.
2). The Estate Officer of the Corporation
and the Additional Commissioner in charge should
a).
make a periodic inventory and mapping of the total municipal assets, such as
open lands, open spaces, parks, offices, libraries, shops and cultural places
and objects. There should be financial incentives or cash awards to those who
indicate, discover or identify hitherto unknown assets,
b). a
periodic resurvey and re-assessment of income from them,
c).
an annual status report to be presented before the Municipal Council on the
income received and expenditure incurred on such assets.
3). When a lay-out for construction is
approved, the public space indicated for parks, play grounds, etc. It should
be, immediately geo-tagged and demarcated by green fencing. Later, its custody
should be handed over to ward committees or the resident welfare associations
or local civil society organisation for their maintenance under contract, or to
private firms which come forward to sponsor its maintenance.
Part 2
VI. Rules & Guidelines for the Ward Committees to be formed as per the Municipalities Act. 20 of 2020 of GoT. They may be adopted for GHMC Act also.
Objective: According to the Municipalities Act 20
of 2020 there would be 4 ward committees for senior citizens, women, youth and
for eminent citizens. The members of these committees should come from among
the resident welfare associations, community-based organisations, and other
such groups and individuals by rotation annually. However, given the past
disappointing experience of the earlier ward Committees and Area Sabhas, and
judicial guidelines given, the following rules and guidelines might allow the
residents to invest their very rich human capital to make Hyderabad a greater
city.
Mission:
Among
other things already mentioned, the WC should include Micro-planning, Establishing
Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in case of emergencies and for disaster
management, day-to-day coordination of field activities of various departmental
staff in the ward, Maintenance of local infrastructures and safeguarding the
public assets.
1.
The 4 Ward Committees are to be selected
once in three years, so as to disassociate or de-phase the selection from the
election of corporators mode and mood. The nominations are to be called for,
scrutinised and selected by the Dy. Commissioner or the Zonal Commissioner, as
Assistant Returning Officer (ARO) under the supervision of the State Election
Commission. They shall be placed before the Council for approbation. In case,
there are more nominations than required, the Dy. Commissioner or the Zonal
Commoner might propose criteria for selection by the Municipal Council among
them, taking into account the principle of rotation and diversity. The
Commissioner is responsible to ensure effective and democratic functioning of
the Ward Committees.
2.
(8 A (2): The members of the Committees:
The
residents of the ward are to be proposed by the associations registered with
the Registrar of Societies or under the Registrar of Cooperative Societies,
such as the Resident Welfare Associations, including Colony associations as
well as Apartments-Building associations, senior citizens' welfare associations
or Cooperative Housing Societies, or those groups recognised by MEPMA, or UCD
department, such as the 'Basti Committees', Self-Help Groups, and the Circle
level Aasara committees, which are very specific to GHMC, or Mahila Mandalis,
Youth associations, and chapters or area committees of the nationally
accredited professional bodies of health, educational and medical persons,
Chartered Accountants, Advocates, Domestic Helpers, Auto-Rikshaw drivers,
teachers, lecturers and professors, engineers, whose memberships are not based
on caste or creed or not affiliated to any political party.
i. As
far as the Committee of 25 eminent persons is concerned, the nominated persons
should be residents in the ward but not necessarily a member of the nominating
Association, and should not be an active member of any political party.
ii. Half
of such nominations should be women.
iii. Two-thirds
of the nominations should be processed through the Resident welfare
Associations so as to ensure annual rotation in nominations, adequate
representation of local diversity in all Committees, as well as to ensure the
unbiased and neutral functioning.
iv. Among
the associations and recognised groups, preference should be given to those
which hold regular annual general body meetings of more than 50 residents in
the ward in the spirit of ‘area sabhas’ to collect the feedback from the
residents in the area.
v. Care
should be taken as far as possible by the Dy. Commissioner to see that neither
the close family members of the corporator nor his/her defeated political
opponents do not creep into the Committees to disrupt the good-faith in the
discussions.
vi. During
the course of approbation in the Council, the corporator of the ward concerned
should be given an opportunity to veto the nomination of two members in each
Committee, if the Mayor is convinced.
vii. While
the corporator in office would be the ex-officio president of the four
committees, a working-chairperson and a minutes-drafting secretary should be
elected in each committee at its first annual session to assist the
GHMC-appointed Secretary who is responsible for its proper functioning and who
communicates the minutes regularly to the Commissioner and the Mayor for their
consideration and follow up.
viii. The
meetings shall be convened by the working-chairperson, with due information to
the President-Corporator and the GHMC Secretary, as often as the chairperson
deems it necessary, while at least one meeting every three months is
obligatory.
ix. The
quorum shall be 13 members for each Committee.
x. Along
with other residents in the ward, including the members of the other 3
Committees also should be allowed to attend as observers. They would be allowed
to speak only if the chair permits. The family members or the nominees of the
corporator would not be allowed even as observers.
xi. The
life and work of the Committees will continue till new committees are approved
by the new Municipal Council.
xii. Any
representation of the Committee to any other body than GHMC should be forwarded
through the GHMC Secretary. The Committee can, further, demand the GHMC
Secretary to invite the local officer of any department or any private
establishment or agency operating in the area, such as electricity, water, health,
transport, communications, etc. to their meetings for clarifications and for
better field coordination in execution.
xiii. The
members of the 4 Committees do not receive any remuneration or speak in public
on behalf of GHMC or the Ward.
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