PROVISIONS FOR PARTICIPATORY PLANNING LOCAL AREA PLAN

1.1.1 INTRODUCTION

Master plan 2021 defines Local Area Plan (LAP) as a plan of a ward/sub zone to be prepared and approved by the concerned local body. Municipal Corporation of Delhi has proposed the development of LAP for 33 wards. Every LAP will incorporate the views and local knowledge provided by people living in and around the area. Thus public participation is an essential element of LAP.

“Local area plan is by definition a plan based on the local needs and characteristics. Thus, it requires framing area specific objectives.” (Preparation of local area plans, request for proposals, Municipal Corporation of Delhi, 2005)

“Local area plan means the plan of a ward/sub-zone to be prepared by the concerned body.” (Master plan for delhi-2021, 2007)

“Local area plan means the plan of a ward/sub-zone of existing built up areas where redevelopment / renewal / rejuvenation etc. are to be done with public participation to achieve the ultimate goal of planned development at the macro level.” (Manual for preparation of local area plans based on mpd-2021, area planning unit, Delhi Development Authority, 2008)

1.1.2     STATEMENT ON LAP IN DIFFERENT DOCUMENTS

“It is prepared in consultation with the local community and members of the public. It sets out a strategy for the proper planning and sustainable development of an area. The plan seeks to provide a framework for how a ward/local area can develop. It provides some ideas as to how this development can be achieved, what new developments are needed, where public and private resource inputs are required, and some of the rules and regulations that will guide development in the ward” (Manual for preparation of local area plans based on mpd-2021, area planning unit, Delhi Development Authority, 2008).

“To address ground realities and formulate practically enforceable building bye-laws, it will be necessary to focus on much smaller areas with more or less uniform character and concerns. In other words, formulating area specific building bye-laws will require institutionalizing a third level of planning in Delhi whereby detailed, area specific, three dimensional local area plans and building bye-laws are prepared.” (Preparation of local area plans, request for proposals, Municipal Corporation of Delhi, 2005)

Thus, it is quite clear that Local Area Plan will be formulated to address the ground realities in consultation with public to develop and channelize development in accordance with the higher order plans

1.1.3     STAGES OF PLAN PREPARATION AND SCOPE FOR PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

Here, we will be discussing the various stages of the Local Area Plan and how public participation is feasible at the various stages proposed by the planning committee for local area plan.

Figure 4‑12 Stages of Local Area Plan in Delhi which is being followed

Source: Term of Reference of the Local Area Plan Preparation

1.1.4     Base Maps

 Here consultants have to generate upto date base maps on the base of SOI data, imagery, revenue maps, approved layout plans etc. Then generate supplementary upto date base maps of services, in terms of water, sewerage, drainage, electricity, fire etc.And then get base map approved by Monitoring Committee and WardCouncilor.

1.1.5     Mapping Of Secondary Data On Base Maps

  • On base map, superimposition of up to date MPD/ZDP land use proposals.
  • Mapping of heritage buildings, sites and landscapes of national and regional importance to be protected and those to be conserved as per the list of INTACH and/or MCD are to be done in this stage.
  • Mapping of approved BPL sites earmarked for in-situ upgrading/reconstruction.
  • Mapping of LalDora boundaries of urbanized villages if available is to be done.
  • Mapping of any other approved Land Use commitments is to be incorporated.
  • Get base map with above commitments approved by Monitoring Committee and WardCouncilor before its publication.

1.1.6     Draft Lap

  • Prepare draft ward level proposals (redevelopment wards, redensification wards, densification wards as the case may be) w.r.t MPD/ZDP, the 12th schedule of the CA Act’92, and other primary and secondary data as necessary.
  • Draft plan to incorporate land use proposals, permissible uses matrix and Development Control Regulations.
  • Weightage will be given to the consultative/ participatory process.
  • Draft plan will have to get passed by Monitoring Committee and WardCouncilor before processing under the DD Act’/MCD Act for further improvement.

1.1.7     Final Lap

After considering draft objections/suggestions, prepare final LAP for acceptance by Monitoring Committee for processing through DD Act’57/MCD Act 57.

1.2       INFERENCES

Local Area Plan has been undergoing a phase of completion and the time has opportune to make a review of the planning practices undertaken in the name of participatory planning. The success and failure of a planning exercise has a strong influence on the subsequent planning process. After reviewing the whole process till the draft stage, it has been found that there is limited scope defined for participation in the planning document and in actual practice it failed short of the expectation of the people. The process adopted for involving the public seems more like the customary objections and suggestions process which is undertaken for higher order plans. The engagement of the public has be very limited and it stated after the plan got prepared leaving little scope for incorporation of the views of the public in the planning process. There was lack of efforts in informing public in an effective manner and subsequently involving them in plan preparation process. The interest of public is high in local area plans which will have direct impact on the future development and the provision of services and thus, people will be willing and participate more actively. There was provision for ensuring public consultation for the stakeholder’s participation but in very few cases there was any form of public consultation organized. There was no any monitoring provision by the monitoring authoring to monitor such meetings or workshops.

Shashikant Nishant Sharma

Urban Planner

{Courtesy: Sharma, S.N. (2012), Participatory Planning in Plan Preparation: A Case of Delhi, Graduate Thesis, Department of Physical Planning, School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi}

Strengthening Financial Resources of Urban Local Bodies

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Quote of the Day:

Victory is always possible for the person who refuses to stop fighting.

–Napoleon Hill

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons license.

RATIONALE FOR PARTICIPATORY PLANNING

Citizen participation is widely viewed as a key component in the planning process, and, for the most part, planners accept the notion that participation is important to producing enduring plans. Almost, all people agree that public participation is good but to what extent and how we can ensure that the participation taking place should be in good faith of the people and this very responsibility lies on the shoulders of a competent planner.

Participation mandates created and proposed by a competent planner and policy maker do affect local government attention to citizen involvement. Administrators need guidance for crafting citizen involvement requirements that will result in broad public participation in planning. Over time, the planners also stressed the need for better representation of the interests of disadvantaged and powerless groups in governmental decision making.  As stated by Diane Day (1997) collective decisions are more easily accepted by the individuals, and a sense of belonging in the community will be fostered. Burke (1968) asserts that citizen participants are sources of information and collective wisdom, the probability of public interests being served is achieved through public participation.

“The act of participation is held to be a form of citizen training, in which citizens working together to solve community problems not only learn how democracy works but also learn to value and appreciate cooperation as a problem solving methods” (Burke, 1968).

“It is much easier to change the behaviour of individuals when they are members of a group than to change any one of them separately. Secondly, individuals and groups resist decisions which are imposed upon them. They are more likely to support a decision and, equally important, more likely to assist in carrying it out if they have had a part in discovering the need for change and if they share in decision making process” (Burke, 1968). Thus, public participation can act as a behavioral change mechanism for inclusion of public in decision making.

Public participation can be an effective tool in supplementing the workforce in plan making and plan implementation process. There are many experts in an area and their knowledge and energy can be tapped efficiently if public involvement is carried out rationally and judiciously.

Cooption as a technique in public participation will help in harnessing the existing citizen groups for sanctioning the planning goals and objectives through absorbing new element or potential obstructions in decision making process.

It can be seen that many strategy for public participation can be tried to ensure effective and increased participation. There might be a need for adapting the various prevalent strategies according to the demand of the situation or the working environment.

Some of the benefits of the public participation can be enumerated as follows:

  1. It can enhance the quality of planning by creating processes that are more democratic and equitable. The poor often have little, if any, voice in government decisions. Consultation and dialogue between local government and interest groups representing the poor can give the latter more voice and influence over decisions.
  2. Participatory planning encourages the poor to be more responsible for, involved in and aware of their role in local governance. It can help reduce potential conflict and build local people’s feeling of ownership in the government’s plan.
  3. Participatory planning can result in programmes that are better and more efficient. By consulting the poor and giving voice to their concerns and needs, the resulting actions are more likely to be relevant and appropriate to the conditions they face. For instance, simply consulting people about their daily schedules can help government provide services at times when people are likely to make best use of them.
  4. Participatory planning can increase the transparency of governmental decision making. This allows citizens to understand how and why the local government is making certain decisions. It is also a way of holding government members accountable for what they planned to do. It can improve mutual understanding and trust between the poor and local government.
  5. User involvement raises awareness and is particularly important to enable an “informed choice”, and for the proper operation of on-site systems, as neglecting their needs and preferences can result in the non-use of the system with users reverting to open defecation.
  6. Working with a participatory planning approach improves motivation, learning and self-realization, feelings of ownership and self-esteem, and the possibility that the identified problems and solutions will truly reflect the felt needs of the stakeholders.

Citizens can be used as instrument for the attainment of specific end of development and in other we can say that public participation can be an strategy for mobilizing the government in framing or sanctioning development projects. Sometimes, public participation can be used as instrument for stability, educational tool for changing and modulating attitude, supplementing staff, cooperation for development.

After having gone through the various benefits and the rationale for enhanced public participation in planning process, it will be wise to study some of the negative aspects of the participatory planning process from the next section.

Shashikant Nishant Sharma

Urban Planner

{Courtesy: Sharma, S.N. (2012), Participatory Planning in Plan Preparation: A Case of Delhi, Graduate Thesis, Department of Physical Planning, School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi}

Need for Participatory Planning in Plan Preparation

Delhi is a large city-state with area of 1483 sq km and a population of 16.7 millionwhere more than two third of its area as urban. Rest of the area is fast urbanizing.For a city like this the planning process is challenging and magnitude of problems is enormous. It should be noted that Municipal Corporation of Delhi initiated projects of preparation of ‘Local Area Plan’ for 36 wards through various planning consultants to address planning issues and problems on identifying the ground realities.Development in Delhi is guided by the Master Plan 2021 and various Zonal Development Plans. The increase in urban population as a whole and increased migration to Delhi has led to a number of planning and development issues as land are a scarce resource in Delhi bounded by other states having their own development controls and guidelines. In order to counter the ill-effects of urban problem diagnosis and rational planning model, the planners and policy makers of Delhi started to engage public in various states of planning and plan implementation in various forms and degrees. The engagement of public in planning has stated long back in 1962 when the first Master Plan for Delhi was prepared. Even after 50 years of planning for people the planners and policy makers thought for evolving planning with people approach in planning and this culminated in Delhi in the form of concept of Local Area Plan. In 2005, pilot project for the preparation of Local Area Plan got initiated and got completed and the result was not satisfactory and again in 2010 pilot project for the preparation of Local Area Plan started and by 2012 it got completed. It should be noted that Delhi is one of the Indian city to have a Master Plan and Zonal Plans for guiding and controlling the urban growth and development. The need of the people and demand for the development goes hand in hand and this lead to the participation of the public in the plan making process so as to entertain their grievances and make them partner in the development.

Public participation can be materialized only when the public is capable enough to express his views and empowered to participate in the working of the local governance and this was envisaged by the policy planners long ago. In this direction, the enactment of 73rd and 74th amendment to the Constitution is noteworthy. The amendments were made to ensure decentralization of planning, planning at local level initiated to empower local people to take action and participate in various stages of plan preparation and plan implementation. This very act led to the planning and development by local bodies by themselves.

Planning at lower level cannot be comprehensible before knowing about the decentralization. Decentralization can be perceived as a process of devolution of power, responsibilities, functions and finances to the local bodies. The primary objective of decentralization programs is to improve resource allocation and service delivery by bringing decision making process closer to the citizens. Participatory planning is part of the decentralisation process and it aims to identify the critical problems, joint priorities, and adoption of various socio‐economic development strategies for the development and welfare of the community. As stated by Olthelen (1999), participatory planning is the initial step in the definition of a common agenda for development by a local community and an external entity or entities. Over the period, this initial step is expected to evolve for the parties concerned towards a self‐sustaining development planning process at the local level. The great authors have presented their views on the need for greater public participation and the nature of such participation for optimal utilization of the aspirations and the expertise of the local people for whom planning is being carried on.

Arnstein often quoted article “Ladders of Citizen Participation” that “the idea of citizen participation is like eating spinach: no one is against it as it is good for you”. But question arises whether citizen participation is serving some purpose or it is just for custom in planning exercise. There is considerable confusion about what looks like in practice, and little consensus about what exactly citizen participation is supposed to be accomplish (Day, 1997). Kweit and Kweit (1981) assert this confusion is mirrored in the attempts empirically evaluate citizen participation programs. Furthermore, Catanese (1984) states that the problem with the public participation is that, it is difficult to know how to carry it out effectively because there are no specific goals. But I will take public participation in one field say Urban Planning they it might be somewhat easy to devise some mechanism for assessing the public participation.

Participatory planning involves conducting planning with the involvement of a number of people. These people can be a whole range of different stakeholders, and it obviously depends on the nature of the thing we are trying to develop or refine, and the context as to who should be involved. The role of the consultant in this process is that of facilitator and coach.There is a general consensus for increasing public participation in the process of planning and development and this has been substantiated time and again by a number of national and international policy making bodies. In this regards we can see the provisions of the Indian Constitution and United Nations sponsored Millennium Development Goals.

Citizen participation is a part of our constitutional provisions and democratic heritage. People should share in decisions affecting their destinies. People participation, involving the constituents in the politico-administrative and planning processes, means their needs and aspirations are heard and mainstreamed in the development agenda. Empowerment of citizens and their involvement in the decision-making processes, from central to local level, is regarded as vital for supporting pro-poor policies, improved service delivery, poverty reduction, and the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The participatory role of civil society groups with government and planning agencies has evolved over recent years. Citizens groups, Community based organizations (CBOs) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have become active participants in national and local development planning activities and the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies, programs, and projects. People participation should starts at the grassroots level and should work in harmony for fostering needs-based local planning activities.

Shashikant Nishant Sharma

Urban Planner

(Courtesy: Sharma, Shashikant Nishant (2012), Participatory Planning in Plan Preparation: A Case of Delhi, Graduate Thesis, Department of Physical Planning, School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi)

Sustainable Development Strategies and Approaches

Abstract— This paper on sustainable development strategies and Approaches is an attempt to get a holistic view of the sustainable development and how this can be achieved through the integrated development approach at various levels. The paper starts with understanding the definition of the sustainable development and they the author attempt to analyze the sustainable development strategies and approaches at different levels. Starting with building and moving towards sustainable neighbourhood and then towards the sustainable urban and regional areas is a good attempt to get an overall approach to the sustainable development rather than thinking about the different links and missing out the final goal and objectives of the sustainable development. Readers will find this article to get the overall picture that emerges after the continued efforts at different levels, international, national level, regional, neighbourhood and building level in such a lucid manner that any non-technical person can easily understand the concept of the sustainable development and various prevalent sustainable development strategies and approaches.

Note: For Quoting This Article


Sharma, S. N. (2013, October). Sustainable Development Strategies and Approaches. International Journal of Engineering & Technical Research, 1(8), 79-83.

Sharma, S. N. (2013). Sustainable Development Strategies and Approaches.
Sharma, S. N. (2013). Sustainable Development Strategies and Approaches.

To Read Full Article Please 

DISTANCE DECAY EFFECT

The intensity of the interaction between a city and its neighbouring towns and villages declines rapidly with distance from the city. Thus, people from nearby villages, within a distance of four to five kilometres, may commute daily to the city for work, shopping, education or entertainment. Farther away, a decline in the number of people commuting to the city (in both absolute as well as relative terms as well as in the frequency of movement of individuals to the city is noticed. Beyond a certain distance, which varies from city to city and is dependent on modes of transportation, daily movements are replaced by weekly or even irregular movements until ultimately such movements to the city become rare or absent. Apart from the effect on daily or periodic commuting to the city, the effect is also seen in the distribution of goods and services from the city to the surrounding villages. Similarly, the quantum of milk, vegetables, flowers and so on, coming to the city from the villages is also subjected to distance decay. Similar effect will be noticed in case of hospital patient’s or students attending school. The distance decay effect extends from the city to the outer limits of the city region. At this point the quantum of interaction becomes insignificant.

THE CITY AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Though the social distance between urban and rural elite is substantial, Indian cities today play a major role in changing the social and economic environment of the villages. There is greater interaction between the city and the village than ever before and this interaction continues to increase. The city today serves as focal point for development in education and health and even for rural development. The spread of banking from cities to the rural areas was a remarkable achievement of the 1970s. In the process, rural wealth has been mobilized for development. The role of cities and small towns in bringing about the Green Revolution cannot be denied. The city is seen as a key element in regional development planning in India today. The city region is an area around the city over which the city exercises a dominant influence in relation to other neighbouring cities of equal importance. The structure of a city region is complex. It consists of a series of area of influence and area of dominance, apart from sets of smaller city regions which nest within it. There are three basic notions in relation to the structure of the city region which will help you in understanding it better.

INDIRA AWAAS YOJANA

Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY) was launched during 1985-86 as a sub-scheme of Rural Landless Employment Guarantee Programme (RLEGP) and continued as a sub-scheme of Jawahar Rozgar Yojana (JRY) since its launching from April, 1989. It has been delinked from the JRY and has been made an independent scheme with effect from January 1, 1996. 

OBJECTIVE:

The objective of IAY is primarily to provide grant for construction of houses to members of Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes, freed bonded labourers and also to non-SC/ST rural poor below the poverty line.

TARGET GROUP:

The target group for houses under IAY will be people below poverty line living in rural areas belonging to Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes, freed bonded labourers and non-SC/ST subject to the condition that the benefits to non-SC/ST should not exceed 40% of total IAY allocation during a financial year. From 1995-96, the IAY benefits have been extended to ex-servicemen, widows or next-ofkin of defence personnel and para military forces killed in action irrespective of the income criteria subject to the condition that (i) they reside in rural areas; (ii) they have not been covered under any other scheme of shelter rehabilitation; and (iii) they are houseless or in need of shelter or shelter upgradation. Priority be given to other ex-servicemen and retired members of the paramilitary forces as long as they fulfill the normal eligibility conditions of the Indira Awaas Yojana and have not been covered under any other shelter rehabilitation scheme. The priority in the matter of allotment of houses to the ex-servicemen and paramilitary forces and their dependents will be out of 40% of the houses set apart for allotment among the non-SC/ST categories of beneficiaries. 3% of the funds have been earmarked for the benefit of disabled persons below poverty line. This reservation of 3% under IAY for disabled persons below the poverty line would be horizontal reservation i.e., disabled persons belonging to sections like SCs, STs and Others would fall in their respective categories.

IDENTIFICATION OF BENEFICIARIES: 

District Rural Development Agencies DRDAs) / Zilla Parishads on the basis of allocations made and targets fixed shall decide Panchayat-wise number of houses to be constructed under IAY, during a particular financial year and intimate the same to the Gram Panchayat. Thereafter, the Gram Sabha will select the beneficiaries restricting its number to the target allotted, from the list of eligible households, according to IAY guidelines and as per priorities fixed. No approval of the Panchayat Samiti will be required. The Panchayat Samiti should however, be sent a list of selected beneficiaries for their information. This amendment in the IAY guidelines shall come into force with effect from 1-4-1998. 

PRIORITY IN SELECTION OF BENEFICIARIES:

The order of priority for selection of beneficiaries amongst target group below poverty line is

as follows:

(i) Freed bonded labourers

(ii) SC/ST households who are victims of atrocities

(iii) SC/ST households, headed by widows and unmarried women.

(iv) SC/ST households affected by flood, fire, earthquake, cyclone and similar

natural calamities.

(v) Other SC/ST households.

(vi) Non- SC/ST households.

(vii) Physically handicapped.

(viii) Families/widows of personnel of defence services / para-military forces, killed

in action.

(ix) Displaced persons on account of developmental projects, nomadic seminomadic

and de-notified tribals, families with disabled members and internal

refugees, subject to the households being below poverty line.

ACHIEVEMENTS:

Year

Expenditure

(Rs. In Crores)    

Number of

houses built

1985-86

1986-87

1987-88

1988-89

1989-90

1990-91

1991-92

1992-93

1993-94

1994-95

1995-96

1996-97

1997-98

1998-99

1999-2000

2000-2001*

57.93

149.18

235.37

149.65

188.50

213.07

263.01

238.81

481.00

500.38

1,166.36

1,385.92

1,591.48

1803.88

1907.63

991.66

51,252

1,60,197

1,69,302

1,39,192

1,86,023

1,81,800

2,07,299

1,92,585

3,72,535

3,90,482

8,63,889

8,06,290

7,70,936

8,35,770

9,29,679

4,98,496

Total 

11,323.83 

67,51,727 

INFERENCE:

Under IAY, during 2005-06, 15.52 lakh houses were constructed against a target of 14.41 lakh houses and during 2006-07, against the target of 15.33 lakh houses, 14.98 lakh houses were constructed. In the financial year 2007-08, 19.92 lakh houses were constructed against the target of 21.27 lakh houses. Again for 2008-09, 18.04 houses have been constructed as on date. Thus over last four years 68.46 lakh houses have been constructed which is more than the target set under Bharat Nirman.

LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE FRAMEWORK

1. Objectives

  • To study the existing institutional setup and financial status of the city administration and the participation of various organizations / agencies involved in plan formulation.

2. Governance

Governance is the exercise of economic, political and administrative authority to manage a countries affairs at all levels. It comprises the mechanisms, processes and institutions through which citizens and groups articulate their interests, exercise their legal rights, meet their obligations and mitigate their differences.

Governance may also be defined as the institutional structures, policy and decision making processes and rules (formal and informal) related to issues of public concern which determine:

· How power is exercised

· How decisions are taken

· How citizens have their say

3. Legislative Setup

3.1 Structure of governance in India

India has a 3 tier government structure. The lowest tier i.e. the local bodies has been introduced recently as compared to the other two.

The 3rd tier is provided for in the 73rd and 74th CAA 1992.

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3.1.1 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992

 

The Act provides for decentralization of planning and governance in rural areas. It also provides for constitution of democratically elected Panchayats at 3 levels, preparation of plans for Economic development and Social justice, implementation of schemes for the same. Constitution of state finance commission – Setup to review the financial position of the Panchayats and make recommendations regarding the split of revenue between the state and the local bodies and other recommendations.

3.1.2 74th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992

It provides for decentralization of planning and governance in urban areas and the constitution of ward committees in municipalities to carry on the developmental works.

 

3.2.1 ‘Master plan’ means the master plan prepared and approved for any urban area in accordance with the stated provisions.

 

3.2.2 Power of the state government to order preparation of master plan: “the state government, by order, can direct that in respect of and for any urban area in the state specified in the order, a civil survey shall be carried out and a master plan shall be prepared, by such officer or authority as the state government may appoint for the purpose.”

 

3.2.3 Content of the master plan: the master plan shall define the various zones into which the urban area for which the plan has been prepared may be divided for the purposes of its improvement and indicate the manner in which the land in each zone is proposed to be used. Serve as basic pattern of frame work within which the improvement schemes of the various zones may be prepared.

 

3.2.4 Procedure of plan preparation:

Before preparing any master plan officially, the officer or authority appointed shall publish a draft of the master plan, and make a copy available for inspection and inviting objections & suggestions from every person before such date as may be specified. Such authority shall also give reasonable opportunity to every local authority to make any representations with respect to the master plan. After considering all objections & suggestions that may have been received, the authority shall finally prepare the master plan.

3.2.5 Approval of master plan:

Every master plan shall, as soon as maybe after its preparation, be submitted to the state government for approval in the prescribed manner. The state government may either approve the master plan without modifications or with such modifications as it may consider necessary or reject it with directions for the preparation of a fresh master plan.

 

3.2.6 Constitution of trusts: the state government may, by notification in the official gazette, establish a board of trustees to be called the ‘improvement trust’ of the place.

 

3.2.7 Constitution of trusts: the trust shall consist of, Chairman, such number of other persons, as may be determined by the state government for each trust.

 

 

3.3.4 Procedure of plan preparation & approval:

Before preparing any master plan officially, the municipality shall publish a draft of the master plan, and make a copy available for inspection and inviting objections & suggestions from every person before such date as may be specified. The municipality may, if it considers appropriate, constitute an advisory committee to consider the draft plan before it is given final shape. After considering all objections & suggestions that may have been received, the municipality shall finally prepare the master plan and send it to the state government for approval and after receipt of approval of the state government finally sanction the plan.

 

3.3.5 Implementation of the plan: after coming into operation, the municipality may initiate such action for implementation of the plan as may be deemed necessary, subject to the provisions of the act. Any master plan prepared under the provisions of any other law for the time being in force prior to the commencement of this act, shall be deemed to have been prepared under the provisions of this act.

 

3.3.6 Review of plan: it the state government or municipality at any time within ten years from the date on which a plan comes into operation is of the opinion that the revision of such plan is necessary, the state government may direct the municipality to revise or the municipality may of its own motion undertake revision of such plan.

 

3.3.7 Declaration of development areas: as soon as may be after a plan comes into operation, the municipality may, with the approval of state government and by notification, declare any area in the city to be a development area for the purposes of this act.

4. Line Departments

Electricity, irrigation, PHED, PWD, etc. are termed as line departments. They comprise of nominated/ appointed members. Their major role as of now is in the form of providing physical and social infrastructure. However, there is no inter-department co-ordination as of now.

5. Observations

The process of master plan preparation as of now, primarily involves the town planning department. The involvement of other organisations and agencies is limited to objections & suggestion. The District Planning Committee is presently concerned only with the preparation of district development plans. They do not have any major role to play in town level development plans. Under the municipalities act, 2009 the responsibility for the preparation and implementation of the master development plan rests with the municipal board. Further the municipal board is expected to distribute the responsibilities for implementation to the various line departments at the city level. It will also act as the coordinating body between them.

6. Finance

The income of municipality is generally from government grant in aid, chungi, house tax and other small cesses. Lalsot has also received financial aid under schemes like Nehru Rozgar Yojna and Swarnajayanti Shahri Rozgar Yojna. Revenue: the main sources of revenue include, land revenue, motor vehicles passenger and goods tax, exise, stamp duty registrations and stamps, sales tax, entertainment tax, registration of vehicles fee.

7.1 Grants and Aids:

  • National finance commission

  • State finance commission

  • Swarnajayanti shahri rozgar yojna

  • Mla fund

  • Government special aid

  • Other aid

  • Octroi compensation

8Conclusions

The current process of planning is very isolated and limited in terms of inter department co-ordination. It would be a good idea to redistribute the powers and responsibilities such that the process can be made hierarchy friendly and more efficient.