The Model Nagara Raj Bill, 2008 (hereinafter ‘the Bill’) is India’s first community participation legislation and creates a new tier of decision making in each municipality called the Area Sabha. The Bill is a mandatory reform under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), which means that the various states in India must enact a community participation law to be eligible for funds under the JNNURM programme.
Highlights of the Bill
The Bill suggests a three-tier model of decentralization starting with the municipality on top followed by ward committees and Area Sabhas. This is done at two levels. First, it details the process of selection of a representative of an Area Sabha as well as its functions, rights, power, and duties and secondly, it puts forth the mechanism of electing members into the Ward Committees and the scope of its functioning and activities. What follows is a brief examination of the key provisions of the legislation.
a) Constitution of Area Sabha
An Area Sabha shall include all persons registered in the electoral rolls in that area and the representatives of each Area Sabha shall be elected by the registered voters. In this context, reliance must be placed on the fact that the Bill excludes migrants, traders, squatters, pavement dwellers and other temporary residents and may therefore have a social exclusionary fall-out.
While the Bill requires that an election be normally conducted by the State Election Commission to select the representatives, this is not a mandatory requirement
b) Area Sabha Representatives – Their Role, Rights, Duties and Responsibilities The Bill lays down a broad array of functions and duties of an Area Sabha Representative which include among others, the determination of the priority of welfare and the identification of the most eligible persons, assistance to the public health centres, tax mapping and mobilize voluntary labour. The representative of an Area Sabha also has a duty to suggest the location of public amenities within the area and point out the problems of deficiency in the water supply and street lighting arrangements in the Area Sabha jurisdiction. These are complex and varied responsibilities and there are concerns on the enormity of responsibility entrusted upon one representative.
c) Constitution of Ward Committees
At the second tier of government, the Bill envisages the creation of a ward committee in which 2/3rd of the total members would be the Area Sabha representatives resident in that ward. The elected councillor of the ward shall be the chairman of the ward committee, and continue to represent the ward in the municipal council. The Bill provides for automatic variations in the size of a municipality or ward depending upon the population of an area and the number of polling booths.
d) Functions, Rights and Duties of Ward Committees
The ward committees are given wide ranging functions which are similar to the responsibilities entrusted upon the Area Sabha representatives. They are given to right to obtain information regarding matters pertaining to the ward. Productions of ward plans, preparation of the budget, encouraging local level alternatives for implementation are some of the duties of the ward committees under the Act
e) Activities of Ward Committees and Constitution of Sub-Committees
The activities of a ward committee can be categorized under the broad heads of planning, budgeting and maintenance of accounts. The Bill also calls for the constitution of a Ward Finance Committee to prepare the annual budget and a report on the financial transactions and a Ward Information and Statistics Committee to compile, maintain and update information pertaining to the economic scenario, land use and infrastructural developments and requirements.
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