NE NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD, BHUBANESHWAR, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, JAN 13
Odisha took home the Best State and the Best Civic Agency award, while Gujarat took home the Best State Election Commission and Kerala the Best State Finance Commission. Indore for its PPP Based Integrated Solid Waste Management took home the Best Municipality at Janaagraha City Governance Awards. Meanwhile, Maharashtra won runners-up in four of the five award categories, a release said.
City governance is a crucial area in a nation of India’s size. PM Modi’s flagship urban missions under @MoHUA_India have been focussed on transforming our urban landscape. All missions are doing well in terms of achieving their targets & objectives. pic.twitter.com/w5nkJ3g5Bp
— Hardeep Singh Puri (मोदी का परिवार) (@HardeepSPuri) January 12, 2021
Held in memory of V Ramachandran, a doyen of decentralisation, the awards recognize groundbreaking work in decentralisation in an urban context by institutions across government. The awards were conferred in a virtual ceremony by Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri on Tuesday.
Delivering the keynote address, Hardeep Singh Puri said that cooperative and competitive federalism are in-built into the design and execution of various schemes and missions. “My Ministry is clear that only a partnership between citizens, municipalities, states and MoHUA can deliver transformative urban change in this country. We have seen such a partnership in action, at scale, across hundreds of cities, in schemes like the Swachh Bharat Mission. In the next phase of urban development, we need to invest in building the capacities of municipalities as institutions of local self-government. As part of Atmanirbhar Bharat, there is a sharp focus on shoring up own revenues of municipalities through property tax and user charge reforms,” he said.
“An innovative, effective and elegant way to catalyse the change at scale throughout the country is by showcasing best practices, celebrating them and facilitating healthy competition and peer learning,” Puri added.
Gujarat emerged winners in the Best State Election Commission category for E-Voting. “Gujarat has a strong tradition of strong self-government institutions. Sardar Patel was the President of the Ahmedabad Municipality from 1924 to 1928. Gujarat Panchayat Act was enacted in 1960 and the state has a strong three-tier panchayat system. The State Election Commission has adopted technology in a big way. Gujarat was the pioneer in the adoption of the online voting system. The Commission has a mobile compatible website with two-way interface up to the voter level. There are more than 1.5 lakh elected representatives in the self-government institutions of Gujarat. The State Election Commission is proud to receive the Janaagraha Award from the institution that is totally committed to empowering the citizens of the country,” said Sanjay Prasad, State Election Commissioner, Gujarat.
Odisha won the Best State for its JAGA Mission under the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Meanwhile, the Best Civic Agency was awarded to Piped Water Supply Scheme for all Urban Households, Public Health Engineering Organisation, Odisha. G Mathivathanan, Principal Secretary, Housing and Urban Development, Odisha, received the awards for both the categories.
“Government of Odisha launched the JAGA Mission with a noble and ambitious objective of transforming slums into livable habitats through a combination of land rights and a comprehensive slum improvement programme. Meanwhile, under the Piped Water Supply Scheme, 900 projects across the state with an investment of Rs 4000 crores were rolled out. As a result, nearly 100 per cent pipe water supply in 114 ULBS was possible in 3 years,” G Mathivathanan said.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has made decentralization no more an option but urgent compulsion and we are happy the Slum Dwellers Associations are emerging as the fourth tier of governance structures with urban poor communities actively participating in development and governance process,” G Mathivathanan added.
Kerala’s Fourth State Finance Commission was feted for its recommendations on participatory governance and robust data ecosystem Decentralisation.
“The Government of Kerala is delighted that the Janaagraha City Governance Award has been given to Kerala’s Fourth State Finance Commission for its work on the devolution of funds to the local governments of Kerala. As you know, Kerala has a very strong democratic devolution structure. The Fourth State Finance Commission actually ensured that 25% of the state’s plan outlay would be given to the local bodies, panchayats, municipalities, block and jala panchayats. It also gave several far-reaching recommendations in terms of the horizontal devolution of the funds, use of the deprivation index and also suggested various measures to augment revenues of the local bodies. It also made far-reaching recommendations regarding maintenance of assets, the cost to borrowings including municipal bonds and setting up of web-based software for the financial transaction for the local bodies of the state,” said Rajesh Kumar Singh, Additional Chief Secretary, Kerala Fourth State Finance Commission.
“We are particularly delighted to receive this award which is in honour and memory of Mr. V.Ramachandran, who is also former Chief Secretary of Kerala and inspiration to all of us and who worked in the field of democratic decentralisation,” he added.
Indore Municipal Corporation was feted with the Best Municipality Award for its PPP Based Integrated Solid Waste Management.
“The residents of Indore have taken upon themselves to make Honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s Swachh Bharat Mission successful. Indore has been awarded the cleanest city for 4 consecutive years, for which I would like to thank the residents of Indore, the garbage tippers and the various municipal body officials. I would like to express my gratitude for the award that has been presented by Honourable Minister Shri Hardeep Singh Puri to the city of Indore. I would also like to acknowledge the unwavering commitment of our Chief Minister Shri Shivraj Singh, for making the Swachh Bharat Mission successful,” said Ms Malini Laxmansingh Gaur, Mayor, Indore.
The winners were chosen by an eminent jury comprising Priyank Kharge and Arvind Bellad (Members of Legislative Assembly, Karnataka), Amitabh Kant (NITI Aayog), Ashutosh Varshney (Brown University), Niranjan Rajadhyaksha (columnist and economist, IDFC Institute), Sanjeev Chopra IAS (Director, LBSNAA), Yamini Aiyar (Centre for Policy Research) and SK Das IAS (Retd.) (Chair of Jury, Member of Janaagraha’s Governing Board).
“Covid 19 has starkly reminded us of the need for government to be close to citizens, at the ward and even polling booth level. Decentralised governance with citizen participation inherently built into its design is inevitable for surmounting the challenges of our cities and neighbourhoods. We need more and more governments, and more and more political and administrative leaders, to put their might behind empowering our municipalities and neighbourhood communities. Through the Janaagraha City Governance Awards we are committed to amplifying such efforts,” said Srikanth Viswanathan, CEO, Janaagraha.
