KOLKATA URBAN SERVICES FOR THE POOR (KUSP)

The West Bengal Municipal Act 1993 (hereafter referred to as “Act”) requires municipalities and municipal corporations (hereafter referred to as “municipalities” or “ULBs”) in the state to prepare Draft Development Plans (DDP) covering a period of five years and that addresses a range of municipal functions as laid down in the Act.These guidelines are intended to provide detailed guidance to the municipalities in the preparing their respective DDPs.

Some of the key principles guiding the preparation of the DDP are:

·         The DDP is a useful instrument for the ULBs for integrated planning and guiding balanced development. The DDP should seek to integrate and balance:

·         Needs of various sectors of ULBs functions (basic infrastructure services, primary health, public health, organisational requirements, etc.)

·         Needs of different stakeholders (different income and consumer segments, residents across different wards, etc.)

·         Financial resources potentially available from all sources with requirements

·         Organisational capacity with requirements

·         Capital investments versus requirements for improved operations and maintenance

·         DDPs should address the entire mandate of the ULBs and avail of the entire basket of financial resources available to them.

·         The Act requires ULBs to prepare DDPs for five year tenure, i.e. once every five years. Therefore, the preparation of DDP is not a one time exercise and thus can be continuously improved upon.

·         The plans and projects proposed in the DDP should be realistic and implementable, and yet require the ULB to stretch its financial, human resource and delivery capabilities.

·         Every stage of the DDP preparation process seeks participation by stakeholders. The suggested process believes that stakeholders are aware of their ‘own’ problems and issues, and bring an understanding of possible solutions based on intuition and experience. The suggested process backs up such participation with technical analysis and expertise in the process of preparation of the various plans.

·         The process of preparation of the DDP should be transparent and the document should be available to all. Thus, the ULB commits itself to deliver the stated plan and empowers the citizens to participate in the implementation of the plan.

In preparing this “first generation” DDP, it is important to note that there are likely to be some imperfections in the overall development plans. Such limitations may be in the nature of gaps in thematic integration of various proposals, and, linkages between the proposed development plan and the overall resource availability. In addition, gaps are likely to exist in various socio-economic and infrastructure datasets which may not be entirely addressed through the various surveys conducted, thus resulting on a greater emphasis on the use of secondary data, felt needs of the poor and perceived priorities of stakeholders for the purpose of planning.

In recognizing these imperfections, it is essential that the “first generation” DDPs focus more on the process of preparation of the plans that address short to medium term problems. In addition, the emphasis should be on identifying and prioritizing issues in a participatory manner, rather than only rely on detailed technical analysis. The important features in the process include:

·         Participation by and consultation with the widest range of stakeholders, building on existing grass root structures such as Ward Committees, NHG, NHC and CDS

·         Explicit attempts to assess socio-economic needs, especially of the poorest groups living in formal and informal settlements

·         Transparent system for prioritization of issues

·         Matching plans to projected resources. Financial projections must be realistic and affordable, from predictable funding streams.

The DDP Guidelines are intended to provide guidance to Municipalities in preparing these “first generation” DDPs. Book 2 provides detailed guidance on the overall DDP preparation process through all its stages and steps. It is envisaged that following the preparation of the first round of DDPs, Municipalities will progress to a more sophisticated development plan the next time. 

In order to support the process of preparation of the first round of DDPs, the Kolkata Urban Services for the Poor (KUSP) programme, will provide assistance to municipalities in KMA (except KMC) to prepare DDPs through technical and financial support. The Change Management Unit (CMU), established to oversee the initial stages of the programme, will provide and channelised technical assistance to the municipalities for preparing DDPs.