Urban governance through people’s participation and micro planning with the use of Geographical Information System by Kolkata metropolitan development authority

Urban governance through people’s participation and micro planning with the use of Geographical Information System by Kolkata metropolitan development authority

Community Services

On-line Tax related payments, collections, title transfer etc.
Grievance registration.
Births & Deaths registration.
Building plan approval status.
Queries.

A few salient features of GIS implemention in KMDA

Decentralised Approach.
Participatory Approach.
On Line Training.
Cheaper Cost.
Transfer of technology.
Emphasis on Database.
Sustainability.
Environment Issues ESP Tanks and open Space.
Increase in revenue through municipal GIS.
Continuous interaction with Beneficiaries.
Confidence of Funding Agencies.

Sustainability
Some of the key elements that have contributed towards the sustainability of the project are:

The wide participation of the people, the municipal staff as well as the elected councillors together with the innovative use of technology ensured its low cost and local ownership both of the data as well as the process. Another key factor was ensuring the immediacy of useful results to the local body. These could be used to increase the tax revenue of the municipality and consequently ensure further support to this initiative.
There is a great demand for expansion of this project to cover all the remaining ULBs. Some ULBs are taking their own initiative and have started work.
The initiative is being documented. A brochure in Bengali and English for Councillors, a brochure in Bengali and English for the general public. Two other documents are under preparation.
The initiative catered to the needs of all segments of the population – quicker approvals, objective basis for tax assessment.
Focus on improving services for the disadvantaged sections by identification of families and households where there is a deficiency of service or lack of utilization of a service. Further, mobilizing municipal and government functionaries to reach out to these identified families/households for ensuring utilization of that service, and in some instances initiating advance action for the protection of the health of the mother and the child.

Lessons Learned
Begin from where the municipality is, that is, what are the strengths and constraints of a municipality and move to the objective. The participatory processes of building up database and maps are as important as the final products.

Secondly, the work must be done in the premises of the municipality and with their own staff. The elected representatives and the staff must be taken into full confidence and be fully involved at all stages of the project. The more the elected representatives are involved in the different activities, the better they understand, own, implement and monitor the project. All work must be done on site and not away from the Municipal premises. This will destroy the myth that GIS is a highly technical project requiring a different level of skills and competencies.

Thirdly, the project must deliver results within a short span of time of 3 to 4 months. Projects, which are too long in delivering, run the risk of loosing the primary stakeholders. The results must prove useful to the primary stakeholders, that is the Municipality and their immediate use of these results will provide the project with the desired political and administrative support.

Transferability
Workshops and meetings were organized at the municipal level, as well as at the divisional level to sensitize and exchange ideas on the project. This enabled new participating municipalities to learn what others were doing, the successes and achievements of the work being carried out as well as moral support to the implementing agencies.

Documentation was given high priority. Different municipalities were requested to prepared their own documents and some did it themselves. This sharing and presentation of information was a valuable tool for the spread of the project. In addition, process documentation was also done with a two fold purpose: to share information widely as well as to build up a set of training materials.

Conclusion
The objectives of the project on urban governance in West Bengal are to provide an environment conducive to socio-economic growth and ensure delivery of services to all sections of the population in order to reduce inequalities in opportunity among residents. At the same time, the administration must attempt to maintain maximum possible fiscal sustainability through efficient revenue generation and collection. E-governance, is the use of information technology to deliver public services in a much more convenient, people-oriented, cost-effective, and altogether different and better way.

The key specific objective of the project is to establish a GIS/MIS data-base in all 50 Municipalities/Municipal Corporations. The key strategy is to introduce GIS in all the municipalities in West Bengal to facilitate decentralized planning involving community with emphasis on social sectors and disadvantaged groups especially women and children. Two significant achievements are the transition from animosity and fears of computers and computerization to a realization amongst councilors and municipal staff that technology can be used to improve the efficiency of the administration as well as the quality of life of the poor. A second important consequence is the change in people’s perception of the local body – better and quicker service, reduction of corruption, greater transparency in decision-making and allocation of resources and a more people friendly government.