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Urban Governance Initiatives: Management Support for Good GovernanceIntroduction | Institution Building for Good Governance IntroductionManagement capabilities of the municipalities need to be enhanced in order to make their participatory developmental efforts more sustainable. Above all, limited management capabilities of the municipalities characterized by big dearth of qualified technical and professional manpower often restricts achievement of desired impacts from municipal development projects. With the introduction of Local Self-Governance Act 2055 (1998) and its regulations 2056 (1999), municipality's roles and responsibilities have seen tremendous expansion. The Government has enacted the Local Self-Governance Act, 1998 to encourage decentralized local development, including optimal use of local resources, capabilities and development opportunities. The municipalities have been empowered to operate as autonomous organizations, creating opportunities for self-management. Moreover, municipalities need to be strengthened as professional and self sustained organizations, capable enough to take a leading role in planning, co-ordination and management of the municipal level development activities. In order to enhance their capabilities for all facets of good governance, RUPP has extended management support to the partner municipalities on the following important fronts.
Institution Building for Good GovernanceSocial Capital Formation | Socail Mobilization | Social Mobilization Chart | The Process | Tole/Lane Organization | Tole Development Plan Formulation | Tole Development Plan Implementation | Savings | Manuals and Guidelines | Public Auditing | Public Hearing Social Capital FormationThe implementation of RUPP activities starts with social capital formation at three different levels (1) The central or macro level; (2) The Municipality and VDC or meso level; and (3) The community or micro level in the municipalities/urban centers, and rural market centers. It is a continuous process aimed at translating the concept of Programme at the grassroots level. Creating a necessary level of awareness about the Programme concept, strategy and output to all concerned institutions and community members at large remains the central objective of this process. Therefore, appropriate initiatives are undertaken by RUPP aimed at institutionalizing the process at all levels of its implementation. Implementation of the Programme at the municipalities/rural market centers (market zone) level is challenging and requires participatory decision making through the involvement of all concerned agencies and stakeholders. Therefore, institutional arrangements have been worked out to mobilize the supports of all concerned stakeholders. For each municipality and RMC, separate Implementation Management Committee (IMC) is formed to support the implementation of Programme activities. A Management Committee (MC) of Municipal Partnership Development Fund (MPDF) at the municipality level is constituted to coordinate the activities, provide policy guidance as well as monitor Programme activities. The personnel of the Municipalities and VDCs, including the elected representatives, are mobilized to facilitate and implement Programme activities. The MC of MPDF chaired by the Mayor includes members from several other key sectors like Deputy Mayor, Executive Officer, Secretary of DDC, one female representative from Municipal Board or Council, local chapters of Chambers of Commerce and Industry, NGO federation, leading commercial banks, representative from VDC, two TLO representatives including one female member and other line agencies. Municipalities further ensure their commitments by sharing the financial resources for Programme implementation in the municipality. At the micro level are the general populace (community) of the municipalities and the RMC's. The participation of the people is ensured through the formation of Tole/Lane Organization (T/LO) which develop and implement Tole Development Plan and programmes, work out Enterprise Development Plans for poverty alleviation which involves development of enterprises that undertake production, distribution and marketing of goods and services for both the rural and urban markets. The communities are organized into self-managed enterprises in the form of micro-enterprises, companies, self-help groups and profit making business entities. Successful creation of TLOs at the community level, their growing strength in terms of more institutionalized base as well as municipalities recognition of these institutions as the grassroots level institutionalized entity are invariably a sign of strong social capital formation of the Programme. Among other things, TLO's have also sensed the need for creating resource bases and accordingly have started regular savings in the form of Tole Development Fund (TDF). The resources thus created are utilized for lending purpose to the TLO members as well as to finance development activities in the form of development of Tole level infrastructure. RUP Section established in all partnering municipalities are entirely responsible for the implementation of the Programme at the municipality level. Section Chiefs lead the RUP Section while appropriate numbers of duly qualified support staffs are available to coordinate its activities. In the course of Programme implementation, Section Chief coordinates with local authorities, line agencies, private sector organizations and other related stakeholders as well. The Programme at present implemented in 35 municipalities including 15 municipalities where the Ministry of Local Development and respective municipalities replicated the Programme with their own resources.Social MobilizationSocial mobilization is the backbone of overall Programme implementation strategy. Under the working modalities of RUPP, social mobilization process precedes Programme interventions before undertaking any of the components of the Programme. The process starts with the selection and allocation of spatial unit i.e. wards and TLOs to social mobilization process. Social mobilization process get people organized to work together since they live in close proximity with each other and share common interests for community development. Certain level of mobilization leads to maturation of the communities to establish them into a broad-based and multipurpose TLO. This activity commences at the Tole/Lane level to establish it as a decentralized planning unit and which is not possible at the ward level. Formation of TLO unites the local people and therefore enhances their confidence to meet any challenge, which they would normally hesitate from facing on an individual basis. Bringing local people under one platform of TLO has several ramifications on Tole level development initiations and income generating activities. Social mobilization is being carried out as an institutional base for implementing Programme activities by the municipalities and the Rural Market Centres guided by the concept of achieving sustainable developmental targets through people's participation. Also, it facilitates to a great extent, the mobilization of local resources, creates conducive atmosphere for local development, helps in empowerment of women, decentralized local governance and provides an institutional mechanism for the empowerment of the communities at largeThe ProcessThe process ensures active participation of all households of TLO without any discrimination whatsoever. Larger participation facilitates the implementation of Programme activities and simultaneously ensures equal distribution of benefits to a wider section of the population. With the completion of first dialogue where formation of TLO takes place, second dialogue begins with the identification and selection of activities. The TLO then actively participate in the formulation of Tole Development Plans (TDP) which is further linked to Participatory Municipality Development Planning process and Enterprise Development Plans (EDP). The process has now been successfully internalized with implementation of Programme activities at the grassroots level. All the wards in the Phase I, II and III partnering municipalities have been covered by social mobilization process. Tole/Lane OrganizationOne of the basic functions of TLOs is to develop Tole Development Plan (TDP) in order to address the local problems. In other words, this is the ground level institution for developing plans and programmes for community level socio-economic infrastructure development. TLOs are formed through rigorous process of social mobilization therefore are matured to undertake Tole level development activities at different fronts. The matured TLOs are further linked with development process of municipality leading to Participatory Municipality Development Planning process. Under the same planning concept, each and every TLO prepares Tole Development Plan (TDP) with active involvement of local communities and other local stakeholders as well. Tole Development Plan FormulationThe planning process starts with filling up of the project proposal form and list out their development needs according to priority of the communities. The individual list of each problem is collected and discussed with Tole members to avoid any form of duplication. The fresh list revised after discussion is further examined to make sector wise list of the problems. Looking at the resource constraints, sector wise prioritization is done to ensure the selection of problems based on the real need of the communities. A complete participatory approach is adopted and hence extended discussion with and among the members takes place before making any list of prioritized problems. These forms are then forwarded to the ward level-planning meeting. The meeting analyze and discuss the programmes listed in the project proposal form and sort them out into two categories: one is a list of programmes that the ward can manage/implement from its own resources, and the other for which it needs municipality level support. The meeting then endorses and recommends prioritized plans for the next fiscal year and forwards the list to the town council for approval. Subsequent to the review from the municipal council and further short listing, the plans are then forwarded to Ilaka level Planning Workshop for integration into District Development Plan. The second phase starts with more attention towards solving the listed problems. The list of prioritized problems further analyzed in greater detail to inquire about every concerned aspect to come out with final project formulation. The project document thus prepared at this level in general includes issues like; people's need and their aspirations, existing potential of the area, its environmental impact, and potential funding sources. Project documents developed under different sectors are once again prioritized and made final picking for initiating implementation at grassroots level. In order to ensure sufficient availability of fund to implement the selected project, resource analysis is done and hence possible financial support is garnered from different line agencies, local authorities, INGOs, NGOs and CBOs. The final implementation also seeks linkage development with related agencies operating at the local and district level to canalize the resources and also to avoid the duplication. It is the best example of bottom-up approach towards planning process, which simultaneously strengthens the horizontal as well as vertical linkage to the related agencies. The process further strengthens the local participatory and transparent governance system and also improves the efficiency of investment decision and unleashes the underestimated human and financial potential of grassroots people and institutions. Tole Development Plan thus created serves as a basis to allocate Seed Grant support by RUPP as well as other resources directed for development of the particular Municipality and RMC. RUPP has showed some tangible impacts and outcomes in the process of sustainable development. Partner municipalities have developed confidence in the participatory planning process and the concept of the Programme. Most of the partner municipalities have completed relocation of Support Organization offices within the Municipality premises as part of the Programme internalisation process. RUPP can now be seen as integral part of the municipality office in their organization chart.Tole Development Plan ImplementationSeed grant is one of the key elements of integrated package of RUPP that directly contributes to development of socio-economic infrastructure (community level infrastructure projects) at community level. Seed grant interventions initially were primarily intended for bringing cohesiveness in social mobilization process as well as helping communities undertake developmental activities by mobilizing resources from varied sources. In later stages of the Programme implementation, this Programme component has become an important part of Participatory Municipality Development Planning (PMDP) process. TDP at the Tole level with the help of seed grant has become an entry point for PMDP. TDP prepared by the community assesses the need for seed grant. RUPP encourages investment on economic rather than social infrastructure that contributes to improved rural urban linkage. The Programme support only plays a role of seed money while all other concerned authorities are mobilized to bring their contribution and commitment for successful completion of project on time. Community contribution and involvement is assured in every case to create ownership and secure sustainability. A flexible approach is taken in the identification of the initiatives to be undertaken, while the decision-making process as well as management is under clear ownership of the communities with support from other local institutions. Enhancement of economic infrastructure, such as market facilities, vegetable collection centers, feeder roads, suspension bridges and ropeways, etc. that facilitates the community-based enterprises are indispensable to strengthen the rural-urban linkages and thus, is the focus of the Programme. RUPP therefore makes conscious efforts to mobilize the resources of the government, local authorities, banks, trust funds, private sector organizations, donors and other industries in this regard. The support delivered to TLOs is mainly on grant basis while RUPP give special consideration to those projects that demands money on returnable basis. The exact loan period is worked out on mutual basis. The percentage share of resource mobilization in most of the seed grant cases from various sources and peoples participation is very high. Programme support under seed grant has been successful in making tremendous impact towards enhancing rural urban linkage. Infrastructures like; haat-bazaar, link bridges, irrigation facilities and canals, link roads and culverts, vegetable collection centers, vegetable market sheds, milk chilling centers, community halls, children welfare centers, etc are few examples that are undertaken at the field level. Construction of small bridges and link roads has linked many rural areas to the major market center while construction of hat-bazaars have facilitated the organized and systematic selling of agricultural products at regular basis. So far the Programme has supported 1,930 different community level infrastructure projects under seed grant benefiting more 300,000 households. The TLOs are very successful in mobilizing the resources of government, line agencies and other sources in developing such infrastructures projects. To date, out of the total investment, TLOs successfully mobilized 78% from other resources where as 22% is the seed grant supported by the Programme. Apart from the TDP process to strengthen the PMDP process in municipalities, RUPP provides other support packages as well to enhance the management and planning capabilities of the municipalities. One such example is the support to 10 municipalities to prepare a digital municipal resource map based on GIS including TLO boundary. The map is expected to help the municipality to allocate its resource in equitable manner to all its TLOs and wards. The Programme is also supporting selected municipalities in the preparation of their periodic plan, implementation of Integrated Property Tax for revenue generation.SavingsCommunity saving is one of the essential aspects of social mobilization that works as a glue to keep the members together. Saving generated by individual members are the assets of TLO and is the first step towards their self-reliance. Saving thus mobilized at grassroots level is called 'Tole Development Fund' (TDF). The generation of capital through savings is of paramount importance towards viability and thereof sustainability of TLO and are also used in supporting micro-enterprise creation at the households or Tole level. The TLOs lend money to its members at a rate of profit, which satisfies local credit needs and at the same time contributes towards development of Tole level infrastructure. In the beginning, due to its urban nature, RUPP faced difficulties in introducing saving concept in the partner municipalities. The total savings amount has reached more than Nepalese Rupees 179 million. Monthly savings rate of the TLOs varies from NRs. 5 to NRs. 100 per member. These funds are being utilized for Tole development as well as lending to the TLO members to undertake different types of enterprises. Till date, 80% of total saving has been mobilized/invested among the TLO members. Social and Public Auditing Guideline Municipal Financial Management Capacity Assessment Guideline On the demand of the municipalities, the Programme has supported to prepare the guidelines to assess the municipal financial management capacity. The guideline includes the indicators for identifying the capacity of the municipality in financial management, the pros and cons of existing financial management and the recommendations for enhancing the financial management capacity of the municipalities. TLO Coordination Committee Guideline TLOs have become very active in overall municipal development activities and are recognized as the grass root organizations (beyond ward offices) to support the municipalities for participatory planning, monitoring and decision-making. Different interaction of the TLOs at ward level has realized the formation of the TLO Coordination Committee (CC) to make the TLOs sustainable, more active and effective. Some of the partner municipalities have already formed a TLO CC whereas others have requested the Programme for support. To fulfill the request of partner municipalities, the Programme has prepared a TLO Coordination Committee Guideline with reference to the experience of the municipalities where some strides have already been taken. Integrated Property Tax The Integrated Property Tax (IPT) guideline prepared by the Programme for the Ministry of Local Development (MLD) was very effective in the revenue collection of the municipalities. Many of the municipalities have initiated implementing IPT using the guideline. There is a high demand of the guideline from different municipalities. Realizing the effectiveness of IPT in revenue collection, the Programme has supported to revise and publish the updated Integrated Property Tax guideline as per the request of the MLD. The Programme with the objective of enhancing transparency of partner municipalities and build confidence with the communities supported to Public Auditing from community level infrastructure projects. During this quarter, the Public Auditing conducted in Pokhara, Byas, Lekhnath, Tikapur and Khandbari municipalities. With the objective of institutionalizing Public Auditing in the municipalities, the Programme in consultation with the MLD prepared Social and Public Auditing Guideline in this quarter. Before finalizing the guideline, it has been tested in Pokhara, Byas and Lekhnath conducting Public Audit of five different projects (i) Naya Basti Goreto Bato Construction Project managed by Naya Basti TLO, (ii) Thani Community Hall Construction Project undertaken by Thani Community Consumer Group, (iii) Public Sewerage and Community Library/Reading Centre managed by David Falls TLOs, (iv) Road Pavement and Drainage Construction Project in Janapreeya Marg Ward number 6 & 7 undertaken by Consumer Group of the same ward, and (v) Kalika Chowk - Jal Dharee Dada Thum Sadak Nirman Project financed by Kaski DDC. The project was managed by Kalika Chowk - Jal Dharee Consumer Group. The public audit helped to convince the community on transparency during the construction period. It was found that all the above-mentioned projects were well managed and completed very economically, timely and successfully. The piloting of Public Auditing was conducted from November 18-23, 2006 in Pokhara, Lekhnath and Byas Municipalities. Similarly, in Khandbari, the Public Auditing helped in conflict resolution in the construction of Suspended Bridge.
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