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Charter
for the MCGM - Local Area Citizen Group Partnership 2006 (Summary)
w.e.f. 1st April 2006
Vision: “Citizen groups to be formal partners of
MCGM through a sustainable institutional mechanism in micro-planning,
monitoring, implementation, awareness creation, and feedback so
as to help MCGM better fulfill its mandatory obligations towards
providing civic services and infrastructure, finding optimal solutions
for various civic related matters, as well as assisting MCGM in
its role in disaster management in every local area.”
Definition: An LACG is a group of owners or occupiers
of residential, commercial and/or institutional premises of a defined
geographical area, who have come together and are recognised as
formal partners by MCGM to enable better delivery of civic services
and provision of civic infrastructure in that area.
Geographical area: The 227 Councillor Wards will
be divided into approximately 2000 LACG units, each covering 5000
to 10000 persons. These maps are available at the Ward Office
and online. The boundaries can be changed in discussion with LACG
applicants and owners/occupiers of that area.
Activities: LACGs can be involved in survey, planning,
implementation, awareness creation, monitoring and feedback relating
to various civic issues that pertain to their locality. These include
suggestions to MCGM, joint working with MCGM, communication to and
from citizens or MCGM, etc.
Proviso: Involvement of the LACGs in any of the activities does
not, in any way, absolve MCGM of fulfilling its obligatory responsibilities.
Engagement Process:
a) all complaints from citizens and LACGs after June 1, 2006, received
at the ward via phone, fax, letter, email, internet form will be
entered into a central computerised system by the Complaint Officer
b) Unresolved complaints will be taken up at successively higher
meetings till resolved -- Councillor Ward meeting, Ward meeting,
Zonal meeting, Head Office meeting, etc.
c) Affected citizens, citizen groups, complainants, experts, NGOs
and Associations representing interests of hawkers and slum dwellers,
etc. shall be invited to relevant meetings to ensure that their
point of view is adequately taken into account and recorded.
d) Preparation of the Meeting agenda, recording of Joint Minutes,
and preparation of Action Taken Reports will be done by the Nodal
officer and a nominee of the LACGs / NGO Council. These will be
maintained and shared publicly and submitted to the concerned LACG,
appropriate levels in MCGM, and the NGO Council.
e) Urgent Civic issues will be resolved via a Fast-Track method
of engagement.
Note: Similarly, procedures will be made for monitoring, reporting,
feedback, and suggestions.
Support by MCGM:
a) appointing Nodal Officers for each of the 227 Councillor Wards,
from MCGM employees at the Ward level to act as contact point for
citizens for information, guidance, feedback on MCGM related matters,
and assist citizens in recording and redressing complaints irrespective
of whether there is an LACG in that area or not
b) appointing Deputy Municipal Commissioner (General Administration)
as the Chief Nodal Officer to ensure that the citizen complaint
/ suggestion mechanism as well as other systems required for the
LACG Partnership function smoothly
c) instituting process for resolving civic issues and implementing
solutions via the Nodal Officers and through meetings at Councillor
Ward (fortnightly), Ward (fortnightly), Zone (fortnightly), Additional
Municipal Commissioner (monthly), and Municipal Commissioner levels.
(The Local Area Citizens’ Committee (LACC) circular no. AMC / C
/ 8178 / gen. dated 22.11.04 will become null and void from 31 May
2006 as LACC meetings will be replaced by the Councillor Ward meetings.)
d) actively assisting LACGs in activities and providing them in-kind
support
e) joint mapping of the LACG area regarding all government civic
infrastructure and resources as well as civil society resources,
and reporting to relevant MCGM and Government departments and displaying
it publicly
f) informing in advance about MCGM’s proposed activities such as
plans and programs for that area
g) providing Enforcement Squads / Nuisance Detectors when required
by LACGs
h) paying LACGs for carrying out assignments / responsibilities
/ implementation of local schemes
i) authorising LACGs to act as Agents of MCGM for various purposes
including to collect and keep administrative charges or user
fees in lieu of penalties from offenders as specified in the relevant
Rules / Guidelines, or schemes approved by MCGM.
j) sharing publicly all information, minutes, Action Taken Reports,
etc.
k) instituting an Apex LACG Committee comprising the Municipal Commissioner,
all Additional Municipal Commissioners, Chief Nodal Officer, 5 NGO
Council representatives, and 5 LACG representatives, to oversee
all aspects and ensure smooth and effective functioning
Registration Process:
a) To apply for Registration of the LACG, a citizen group must make
an application via a standard form (available at the MCGM website
and at the Ward Office).
b) If an applicant is willing to cover the entire geographical area
demarcated for that LACG area, then that applicant will be preferred
for registration as the LACG for that area.
c) If, however, the geographical coverage area that an applicant
is willing to cover is less than that of the demarcated LACG area,
then one or more non-overlapping applicants may be selected and
given Provisional Registration as LACG(s) for that area, if found
suitable.
d) Applications for LACG formation will be received over a period
of two months initially, which is the familiarisation period. Thereafter
approved LACGs will be given Registration within one month, by the
Nodal Officer.
e) In case of more than one application to form an LACG for the
same area, the applicant LACGs will be encouraged to form a combined
LACG. Failing which the selection of the LACG for the area will
be on the basis of record of credentials e.g. of constructive activities
in the area that led to any civic improvement. Reasons for
choosing one applicant over another will be made public.
f) On completion of the 2 month familiarisation period, new applications
for LACG formation may be submitted but will not be processed for
a further period of 4 months for any area.
Note: It is hoped that all ALMs will apply for registration
for LACGs for part or full LACG areas. Those ALMs that don't register
as LACGs can continue to interact with BMC for their focus areas
like all other citizen groups.
Functioning
of LACGs:
a) All
occupiers / owners of premises in an LACG area will automatically
be members of the LACG of an area and will be governed by the internal
functioning of that LACG including payment of a monthly contributory
amount to the LACG for its functioning as may be decided by the
members.
b)
The
LACG Committee must conduct a public meeting of all citizens in
their area at least once in 3 months.
Review
of the Partnership:
a)
Individual
LACGS will be reviewed yearly via their own six-monthly reports,
and open house meetings of owners/ occupiers
b)
LACG
members will review meeting effectiveness and quality
c)
Apex
LACG Committee
will annually review MCGM’s support to LACGs; citizen response
and participation; etc.
d)
Reviews will be publicly shared
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