NGO Council welcome letter to Municipal Commissioner, Shri Jairaj Phatak: 10 May 2007
10th May, 2007
Shri Jairaj Phatak, I.A.S.
Municipal Commissioner
Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai
BMC Head Office
Mahapalika Marg, Fort
Mumbai 400 001
Dear Sir,
Congratulations and a warm welcome to you as the Municipal Commissioner of Mumbai!
I take the opportunity to introduce to you, the NGO Council, a network of civil society groups that aims to act as a representative body of the NGO sector and Civil Society in Mumbai.
The NGO Council, formed in August, 2005, comprises a mix of organisations with complementary expertise covering various causes and sectors. It currently consists of 84 organisations. It is an open group in which more members can be added.
The NGO Council provides a platform for interested and experienced individuals and organisations to engage constructively with the Government and others and vice versa in areas of mutual interest as identified by its member organisations. More details about the NGO Council are at https://www.karmayog.org/ngocouncil/.
MCGM has signed a historic MOU with the NGO Council. (Copy enclosed.) This was signed in December 2005 and announced in the Budget Speech by the Municipal Commissioner, Shri Joseph. The MOU explains clearly the need for and value of such an MOU.
In one of the meetings called by MCGM immediately after the Mumbai floods, the Municipal Commissioner approved my suggestion of forming an NGO Co-ordination Committee working closely with MCGM. This greatly helped in information flow both to and from MCGM, etc. (The NGO members of the NGO Co-ordination Committee were also later felicitated by MCGM. Copy enclosed.) Due to this smooth and effective working, an NGO Council was thereafter formed to interact with MCGM on different civic issues.
The first set of problems that were mutually identified to be looked into was Solid Waste Management as that was felt to be one of the root causes of the disastrous consequences of the floods. Over numerous meetings with MCGM officials, NGOs, commercial organisations, concerned citizens, etc., over an intense 4-month period, a set of Rules viz. the “Municipal Solid Waste (Prohibition of Littering and Regulation of Segregation, Storage, Delivery and Collection) Rules 2006 came into being and were notified on 1st March 2006. (Copy Enclosed.) These Rules (the first in the country even after the Supreme Court had issued guidelines in 1999) were a result of the collaboration with the NGO Council.With the intent of instituitionalising this type of collaborative partnership, MCGM proposed entering into an MOU with the NGO Council.
The process of framing the Rules was widely appreciated. (Newspaper Article copy enclosed.)
During the process of making the Solid Waste Rules, it became apparent that Mumbai could never be clean without the active participation of citizens, and, particularly, active and concerned citizen groups in various localities. It was thus decided to learn from the Advanced Locality Management and other initiatives to see what sort of structure would work. Accordingly, after another similar series of meetings with ALMs, NGOs, citizens, MCGM officials, the Charter for the MCGM – Local Area Citizen Group Partnership 2006″ was notified w.e.f. 1st April 2006. (Copy Enclosed.) We believe that this Charter is the paradigm for all cities in India for citizen-civic participation and interaction on a regular basis and in times of disaster -and would be pleased to give you a presentation on it.
The NGO Council was also instrumental in helping MCGM set up a Ham Radio network which proved to be very useful during the train blasts. (Newspaper Article Copy Enclosed.)
The NGO Council was also instrumental in setting up the first discussion meeting in MCGM of all those participating in the Dattak Vasti Yojana (Slum Adoption Program).
The NGO Council also initiated discussions with experts, NGOs, citizens, separately and along with MCGM officials on a wide range of civic issues.
From these, emerged meaningful and detailed recommendations for MCGM pertaining to hawkers, public health, stray dogs, toilets, zoo, etc. A citizen-friendly and holistic template for policies that MCGM issues in the future was also submitted. Each of these have innovative and practical ideas. These have not yet been taken forward with us by the concerned MCGM officials, and hence we look forward to taking these up at an early date. We shall send you a copy of each by separate mail, and we would be very happy to see dialog and action on these issues.
Citizens are a storehouse of practical knowledge, which can serve as extremely valuable inputs for useful specific and generic solutions for the myriad problems facing the city, which MCGM has an obligatory duty to resolve. We would be very keen to be involved in the formulation of policies and procedures, and their implementation, monitoring and feedback in each of the issues envisaged under the MOU.
The first review by MCGM of the implementation of the MOU is enclosed for your ready reference. The second review by the NGO Council is also enclosed.
During the 2007 MCGM Elections, Congress and BJP invited comments from the NGO Council for
manifesto suggestions. We invited citizens to respond. These responses were forwarded to the parties. We too prepared a set of 10 recommendations for any political party. We are enclosing a copy as we do believe that it will greatly help MCGM if these are implemented.
After the MCGM elections, we invited citizens to give suggestions for improvements in the electoral process based on their experiences. The responses were high in quantity and quality. We compiled these and sent a set of recommendations to the Chief Election Officer.
The Anti-Corruption Bureau, Maharashtra, has launched a Mumbai – Pact Against Corruption program along with the NGO Council. (Copy Enclosed.) Amongst other objectives, one is to recommend systemic improvements in policies or procedures of various government organizations. We hope that, in your tenure, this will be one specific joint initiative that you will take up.
I would like to take the opportunity to introduce https://www.karmayog.org/ also. Karmayog, the currently convening NGO of the NGO Council, is a website connecting citizens, civil society organisations, media, corporates, and government officials and organisations by online and offline methods. It acts as a platform and a bridge to all those Indians who wish to do their bit to improve their locality, city and country.
Less than 3 years old, the Karmayog website contains more than 16,000 pages having information on nearly 100 resource sections on different civic and social issues, an online directory of 5000 NGOs all over India including nearly 900 in Mumbai. There are also more than 1000 registered volunteers based in Mumbai alone. There is an active discussion group wherein 7800 people have shared 23,000 concerns, opinions, ideas, news, etc. till now. We reach out to another 40,000 people to whom we send useful information from time to time.
As an example, when we read that MCGM intended to set up Education Advisory Boards in each ward, we asked educationists and NGOs to contact MCGM if they were interested. Several responded positively writing directly to MCGM. Many informed us too as can be seen by the 55 displayed in www.karmayog.com/municipalschools/bmceduadvboard.htm
We, at Karmayog, have shared our experiences and insights recently. This is displayed in the ‘About Us’ section of the site. I take the opportunity to enclose a copy as it explains our context and I feel that it may make interesting reading for you also.
Karmayog has also recently developed some very easy and useful software. One, for example, is for citizens to report about cleanliness in their area and give details about who is causing littering or nuisance, what can be further done to prevent or reduce it, etc. This was for the voluntary “Cleanliness Task Forces” in the erstwhile Municipal Solid Waste Rules of 2006.
We also have prepared a very easy form for citizens to fill and MCGM officials to respond to regarding any complaint, feedback, or suggestion that a citizen may have for any MCGM related activity anywhere in the city. This form, accessible from the Home Page of our site, is called SATYA (Suggest an Action to Transform Your Area). (Copy Enclosed.)
We shall send you copies of some SATYA forms filled in the past so that you can judge the usefulness and potential of this initiative. This was planned to be put up on the MCGM website as a joint initiative under the MOU but that has not happened yet. We plan to regularly forward to MCGM forms, which citizens fill so that you can ensure that MCGM does take appropriate steps to resolve problems or improve the situation.
The Karmayog website proved to be extremely useful during the Mumbai Floods as one can see from the Flooding section at www.karmayog.com/floods/flooding.htm. (Copy Enclosed.)
Our software for people to inform about their problems and needs, and for others to offer services, materials, money, etc. is completely developed. We have also developed a downloadable ticker through which people can continuously receive information immediately on their computer desktop as the information is uploaded (like in the bottom of several TV channels.) During times of any emergency, we would be pleased to co-ordinate with MCGM to disseminate information through this.
All the documents and points stated above are in https://www.karmayog.org/
I take the opportunity to briefly introduce myself. I am a B.Tech. (with Distinction) from the Indian Institute of Technology, Powai, and an MBA from Harvard Business School. I come with the clarity and conviction that, in a democracy like ours, lasting solutions to societal problems can only be found through the collaboration and involvement of citizens and citizen groups.
We believe that what we bring to the table is unique. And that we are in a position to deliver tremendous value.
MCGM has the power and the potential to make Mumbai a world-class city and we look forward to opportunities to working together with you and MCGM to achieve this goal.
The NGO Council looks forward to being called for a meeting with you at your convenience so that we may introduce ourselves, share our views, and hear yours.
Sincerely Yours,
Vinay R. Somani
Convenor
NGO Council
Encl: as above