[Reader-list] JNNURM fund for community groups

[Sudeshna Chatterjee]

 Under JNNURM now, a fund you can use to fill a gap in local
infrastructure Express
news service Posted online: Saturday , September 22, 2007 at 12:00:00
Updated: Saturday , September 22, 2007 at
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*Mumbai, September 21 * Soon, Mumbaiites won't have to wait for corporators,
MLAs or MPs to offer parts of their local area development funds when a
local vegetable market has to be repaired or a public toilet constructed.
Local community-based organizations (CBOs) will now be able to directly
apply to the Central government for funds.

Cutting down the bureaucracy and red-tapism associated with government
functioning and in order to hand over power to citizens who wish to
participate, the Centre will now provide funds to community based
organizations in a move to encourage community participation in creation of
civic amenities. Under the Centre's Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal
Mission's (JNNURM) Community Participation Fund, CBOs will be given funds up
to Rs 10 lakh to implement civic, social and community programmes and
projects.

Corporator Adolf D'Souza's Nagrik Satta (People's Power) Ward 63 Association
has show an interest in the scheme. D'Souza, a long-time civic activist who
contested and won the civic election as an independent with astounding
support in the Juhu area, said his ward has been divided into 37 units—to be
called Area Sabhas—and that citizens have already planned three projects to
be implemented under the Community Participation Fund.

"This is a really good policy as people can demand what they want. People
should get what they want and not what the BMC or the politicians want to
give," he said.

Before undertaking a project, the CBO must get the consent of 51 per cent of
the voters of the area's polling booth. Consent will be for the project as
well as for the implementing agency. And projects must be completed within
six months to 12 months, with the CBO contributing 10 per cent of the cost,
or 5 per cent if the project is a service for the urban poor.

Additional Municipal Commissioner (projects) Manu Kumar Srivastava said:
"Fortunately, Mumbai has a large number of CBOs and therefore a lot of work
under the Community Participation Fund will be implemented in the city," he
said. He added that people do not have to wait till their request file moves
and gets sanctioned, a "true empowerment" for citizens.

Once CBOs apply to the Centre, funds will be released after a project
appraisal committee reviews the project formulation. During implementation
too, appraisals continue and funds will be released in phases.

CBOs can undertake various projects—a group water distribution project for a
slum, crèches for children of working mothers, local vegetable markets,
hawking zone infrastructure, systems to improving traffic and safety
conditions around schools, special centres for the elderly and multi-purpose
community centres. They can also use the fund for educating the community or
spreading awareness about civic or social issues. Booklets, broadcasting,
sharing of information can be published and displayed for the empowerment of
communities.


-- 
Sudeshna Chatterjee, PhD
New Delhi, India