Jan 9: Minutes of ALM meeting held at
Karmayog Office
Below are the minutes of the
ALM meeting on Monday, Jan 9, at Karmayog Office
These will be soon forwarded to
BMC as NGO Council recommendations. So please give your comments asap.
Thanks. Vinay
ALM = Advanced Locality Management
Each of the words are important.
1. Advanced = An ALM
should be able to take on any / all the activities listed in the Jan
6 BMC-ALM agenda.
2. Locality = How to
define 'locality'? Actually it should be an area which is easily understood
in common parlance e.g. Nariman Point. In any case, the minimum
size should be a lane. It can not be one building or a couple
of buildings. For the sheer reason that when one is thinking of a
system for an entire city, the number of entities have to be a manageable
number assuming the system works.
3. Management = It implies
going beyond complaining and reporting and requesting. It is necessary
to have a joint system with BMC at all levels till the problem is
resolved. That means going beyond monthly ALM or fortnightly LACC
meetings. It also means that the Action Taken Reports should be appropriately
minuted at various levels of the BMC hierarchy, and periodically reviewed
in joint BMC - NGO Council - ALM meetings.
4. Time and Level for resolving
ALM issues:
BMC should again make a formal affirmation
of the Citizens Charter which states what civic problem will be resolved
in how much time period and who in BMC is responsible for doing so.
Nodal Officers should be appointed so
that every ALM has to basically deal only with that Nodal Officer.
Generally, there would be 1-2 Nodal Officers per ward.
Unresolved complaints should also be dealt
with at the following levels:
a) fortnightly -- Councillor Ward level
b) fortnightly -- Ward Level ---
if not resolved
c) fortnightly -- at Addl M C level
--- if not resolved
d) after a month -- at M C level
Minutes to be maintained along with Action
Taken Report. Nominees of the NGO Council to be included at each level.
For some specific type of complaints e.g.
new encroachments, new illegal constructions, there should also be
a fast track resolution mechanism.
At levels b) and c) -- existing BMC internal
procedures can also be changed, if needed.
At levels c) and d) -- BMC policies
can also be changed, if needed.
5. Role and Responsibilities and
Authority of an ALM, the residents, and the BMC vis-a-vis each other
= This has to be mutually agreed upon.
a) ALM and
BMC: For this, ALMs have to be true representatives of their
locality.True representation can be either by having duly-elected
office bearers or by there being one representative of each Coop Housing
Society. In return, ALMs have to be formally acknowledged and empowered
(discussed later).
b) ALM and
Residents: For this, ALMs have to have duly-elected office
bearers. On the flip side, Residents have to follow what such a duly-elected
ALM says.
c) Residents
i.e. Citizens and BMC: For BMC, it is part
of it's obligatory duties. For Citizens, it's the various rules, procedures
and fines that BMC promulgates from time to time.
Accountability of an
ALM to be also defined.
Responsibilities of an
ALM to be also defined.
6. Funds for an ALM to
carry out the various activities and fulfill its various responsibilities:
There are 3 sources of funds:
a) from BMC:
ALMs to be empowered to act as 'Agents' of BMC and collect fines from
offenders. This, however, does not absolve BMC of its duties. ALM
can also involve the BMC or Nuisance Detectors.
b) from Residents:
ALMs to be empowered to collect agreed-upon fees from the residents.
(There is a High Court order enabling this.)
c) from Corporate
Sponsors, or via fund-raising events, etc.: ALMs are free
to do so. Except if Corporate Sponsors need to publicise their names,
they have to follow standard norms which have to be set.
7. Various Levels of Engaging
with BMC:
Criteria:
a) ALMs to be manageable in number in
each meeting level
b) Issues to be manageable in number in
each meeting level
c) Generic problematic issues to be reviewed
for systemic solutions at appropriate decision-makers level
d) Specific unresolved issues to be reviewed
and decision taken at appropriate level
e) Issues to be plugged into existing
BMC committees -- else new committees be formed
f) Issues and policy decisions be publicly
shared
Solutions:
for a) and b) --- fortnightly meetings
at LACC level - one benefit is that it involves the concerned Councillor
also.
for c) and d) -- monthly meetings at Ward
level
for e) e.g. LACC
8. Possible Legal Entity for an
ALM:
a) Co-operative Society
-- ALM then has to follow the accounting, management, legal, and statutory
norms. The Registrar of Co-operative Societies becomes the monitoring
agency for such things rather than BMC. Specific Model Bye-laws to
be made. These could be done in conjunction with the RoCS so that
an ALM Co-operative Society can be a distinct type of a society, just
as a Housing Society is a distinct society.
b) Trust with the Charity
Commissioner -- Problem is that Elections are not mandatory. So not
ok.
c) Informal Group as
present -- Can not be a recommended way for a City.
9. Review of the working of ALMs,
BMC, and BMC-ALMs:
a) ALM's working can be reviewed
by third-party NGOs. Accountability issues to be also looked into.
b) BMC working can be reviewed by ALM
committee
c) BMC-ALMs working can be reviewed by
a joint BMC-ALM committee.
Nominee of NGO Council to be included
in each.
10. Potential Problems / Issues:
a) What if all residents / CHS's are not
willing to be members of an ALM?
One thought: Should be made compulsory
by BMC once an ALM is formed.
b) What if more than one ALM seeks to
state a claim for a locality?
Please revert with your views.
Thanks and Regards
Vinay
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