role of elected local representatives in social protection ...

ROLE OF ELECTEDLOCAL REPRESENTATIVESIN SOCIAL PROTECTIONSTRATEGIES FOR CHILDREN

Tel : +91 079 23230185 / 23230531 / 5366

Fax : +91 079 2322-5364

Email : [email protected]

UNICEF State Office for Gujarat

Plot No. 70, Sector-19, Gandhinagar 382 019,

Gujarat, India

REPORT TEAM

Research Team :

Ankur Sarin, Astha Agarwalla and Ishu Gupta, principal authors

Design Team :

Four Clowns

Production and Dissemination :

We are grateful to the UNICEF team for

providing both financial and technical

assistance to the project, especially to

Veena Bandhopadhyay for providing

the opportunity to conduct this study

and valuable feedback throughout the

study. We would like to thank several

people without whom this project

would have not been possible.

We greatly appreciate the efforts of

Drishya Nair, Archana Nair, and

Shashank Nair in providing excellent

field assistance. Navya Kanojia,

Archana Nair, Ayesha Kamkoriwala,

Ami Shah and Pranjal Dhaka for

unstinting contribution in accurating

the transcripts. We would like to thank

Nisha Vernekar, Ajaz Shaikh, Atiq

Syed, Harsh Mittal, Linda Annala and

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTKaran Singhal for helpful discussions

and feedback throughout the project.

We are also thankful to Mr. Niraj Dave

at IIM Ahmedabad for providing

administrative support through the

project. We are also grateful to

Shahnawaz Shaikh for his instrumental

role since the conception of the project

in providing insights and guidance

through the many stages of its

development.

Finally, we extend our thanks to all the

respondents who provided the time for

carrying out such lengthy interviews.

We hope that they see their insights

and experiences reflected in this report

and that this will be a useful resource

in helping the much needed support for

fulfillment of rights of all children.

ROLE OF ELECTED LOCAL REPRESENTATIVES IN SOCIAL PROTECTION STRATEGIES FOR CHILDREN


CONTENTS

01 Introduction 05

02 Design of the Study 07

2.1 Ahmedabad MunicipalCorporation

2.1.1 Committees as perBombay Provincial MunicipalCorporations Act, 1942

2.2 Study Sample

2.2.1 Sample SelectionProcedure

2.2.2 Sample Profile

07

09

10

10

12

03 Analysis and Findings 15

3.1 Engagement withSchemes and ProgramsTargeted at Child SocialProtection

3.1.1 Designated Role andAwareness of Councillors inSchemes and Programs

3.1.2 Claimed Space forMediation

3.2 Issues and Challenges

3.2.1 Capacity Building

3.2.2 Budgets & FinancialResources

3.2.3 IneffectiveDecentralization

3.2.4 Apathy TowardWomen

3.2.5 Political Motivation

3.2.6 Institutional Networks

15

15

18

20

20

20

21

22

22

23

04 Conclusions and Policy

Implications

24

Case Study : Engagementwith Schooling

Primary Education and AMC

Mediating with GovernmentSchools

Mediation with PrivateSchools

References

25

26

28

30

31

AMC Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation

AAO Assistant Administrative Officer

Area SabhaAS

Bombay Provincial MunicipalCorporation

BPMC

Bombay Provincial EducationCommittee

BPEC

Constitutional Amendment ActCAA

Community Participation LawCPL

District Planning CommitteeDPC

Jawaharlal Nehru National UrbanRenewal Mission

JNNURM

Municipal CouncillorMC

Member of Legislative AssemblyMLA

Member of ParliamentMP

Non-Government OrganizationNGO

Post GraduatePG

Public Private PartnershipPPP

Right to EducationRTE

School Management CommitteeSMC

School Board CommitteeSBC

Secondary School CertificateSSC

Urban Local BodyULB

01


LIST OF FIGURESFIGURE 1 : Structure of the AMC 08

FIGURE 2 : Structure of theAdministrative Wing of AMC 08

FIGURE 3 : Awareness aboutChild Protection Schemes 17

FIGURE 4 : Structure of theSchool Board Committee 26

FIGURE 5 : Reasons forPoor Condition of Government School 28

LIST OF TABLESTABLE 1 : List of Committees underthe Bombay Provincial MunicipalCorporation Act

10

TABLE 2 : Number of Councillors atAMC and the Sample

10

TABLE 3 : Dimensions of Variationin the Sample

11

TABLE 4 : Sample Profile 14

TABLE 5 : Designated Mediation Roleof Councillors in Social ProtectionProgram

16

TABLE 6 : Schemes and ProgramsRelated Mediation

18

TABLE 7 : Mediation with Schools 29

LIST OF TABLESANNEXURE 1 : Questionnaire 33

ANNEXURE 2 : Profiles of Councillors(Descriptive)

39

ANNEXURE 3 : Duties of SMCs 42

ANNEXURE 4 : RTI Application 45

Role of elected local representatives in socialprotection strategies for children

“Between the passage of legislation

and its actual implementation, lies an

entirely different political arena that, in

spite of its informality and

particularism, has a great effect on

the execution of policy”


The agenda of social protection should be at

the root of public services. However, public

services or rather their delivery have failed

the poor and the vulnerable too often, not

just in quality but also in access to them.

This is particularly true of services targeted

at children. While social protection

strategies often address the very

vulnerabilities that lead to children facing

risks of abuse, exploitation and violence, the

significance of paying attention to children

as a particular group is widely recognized.

Child protection policies and programs are

needed to provide a protective environment

for children, boost their development

progress, improve the health, education and

well-being as well as their evolving

capacities to be parents, citizens, and

productive members of the society (UNICEF,

2008). A democracy places critical roles

and responsibilities to elected

representatives in the formulation and

delivery of social protection program.

Carrying this understanding, in this report

we share findings from research undertaken

to understand the motivations and the

practices of locally elected representatives

- James C. Scott (1969)

in the implementation of social protection

programs targeted at children.

Many Asian countries including India, have

mandated decentralization of governance

through national statutes, with the

underlying assumption that it would lead to

better service delivery and social protection

outcomes in the last 30 years. In 1992,

India through the 74th Constitutional

Amendment Act (CAA), recognized Urban

Local Bodies (ULBs) as the third tier of the

urban government by assigning them

specific functions. While the motivation

might have been to encourage citizens'

choice and voice in the service provision as

well as monitor and discipline the providers,

in practice the legislation has failed by most

accounts to provide a participatory platform

for poor in service delivery chain.

This study explores the functioning of local

elected representatives in the arena of child

social protection by focusing on the formal

and informal interactions of Municipal

Councillors with the urban poor in the city

of Ahmedabad. With a population of more

than 7 million, Ahmedabad is the largest

city in Gujarat and the 5th largest in the

country. The Ahmedabad Municipal

Corporation (AMC) is responsible for

services such as primary education, health,

hygiene, transport, infrastructure

development, water supply. General

elections are held every 5 years to elect the

192 ward councillors in 48 wards of

ROLE OF ELECTED LOCAL REPRESENTATIVES IN SOCIAL PROTECTION STRATEGIES FOR CHILDREN ROLE OF ELECTED LOCAL REPRESENTATIVES IN SOCIAL PROTECTION STRATEGIES FOR CHILDREN

Ahmedabad city. These councillors

constitute the elected wing of the

corporation. For effective service delivery

and accountability, 15 special committees

are formed with ward councillors as

members with a separate powerful standing

committee at the top also consisting of the

elected representatives. Around 131,000

children study in 371 AMC-run primary and

upper primary schools and most of them

come from poor households, with the

principal body being the Municipal School

Board Committee.

In addition to the study of policy

documents, we use in-depth, semi-

structured interviews with 18 Ward

Councillors of the AMC. The selection of

councillors in the sample is based on

maximum variation criteria, distinguishing

the councillors on the basis of gender,

caste, and political affiliation. We used an

inductive method where each interview was

converted into a transcript, and from each

transcript, the patterns of experiences were

identified and listed. These patterns were

used to make comprehensive categories.

Using thematic analysis all the data was

identified that relate to the already classified

categories.

The study relied only on the information

provided by the councillors during the

interviews to assess their background and

resources. Only 3 out of the 18 respondents

are postgraduates, and 11 are graduates.

Rest have only finished their school

education. All the interviewed councillors

reported the compensation they receive

from AMC to be lower than their

expectations. While many male councillors

pursue parallel vocations, woman

councillors find it difficult to pursue an extra

vocation.

Most of the councillors express awareness

of the constituents and their problems in the

ward. The caste/religious identities of the

councillors seem to play an important role in

their day to day functioning and priorities.

Given their ambitions to climb up the ladder

and to prove their loyalty to the party lines,

we find councillors often toeing the

national/state agenda rather than locally

defined priorities. Councillors expressed the

belief that political parties realized the

importance of councillors and were also

keen to use them as bearers of their

ideology and implementers of their agenda.

Consequently, councillors constantly

negotiate tensions between 'upward'

accountability to their party bosses and

downward accountability to the citizens

they are elected by and represent.

The Municipal Corporation which seems to

be a highly organized structure from outside

starts looking more like an intractable jigsaw

puzzle with apparently several layers of

informality within the elected wing and

between the elected and the executive

wing. Councillors report using several

different ways to raise financial resources

and redress the grievances of citizens.

Depending on their social connections,

position in the political party, seniority in the

corporation and membership in the special

committees, municipal councillors were

found to be accessing resources for their

wards outside their fixed allocated budget of

Rs. 2.1 million per year.

While some Councillors spoke largely of

using their political and social networks to

expedite grievance redressal, most of the

councillors seem to rely on the

administrative officials to address the

grievances. The electronic complaints

registration system is also used by some

councillors to get information about

complaints received from their respective

wards. These complaints are then followed

up by the councillors as a mechanism to

demonstrate responsiveness.0302

Referring to the lack of training on

institutional processes and policies, most of

the first time councillors expressed their

struggle to understand the formal structures

of the corporation, and the informal political

and executive relationships that seems to

govern the corporation. Most of the new-

comers depend on their “seniors” or local

political mentors to understand the

procedures, with some resigned to the fact

that “the first term is only for understanding

the structure”. This is one of the primary

reasons for the lack of mediation by the first

term councillors to take up the concerns of

the local citizens.

All the councillors reported that creating

awareness and ensuring that people have

the requisite documents is their primary job

with respect to implementation of children

specific programs and policies. The

mediation role is further limited by non-

availability of information about policies and

programs. Many councillors report their

primary source of information to be citizens,

who approach them for help, often for

getting the required documents. The

exceptions are policies which are part of the

central agenda of the political party they are

affiliated to. In such cases, councillors

obtain information through party meetings.

Given the lack of formal institutional

mechanisms, it is not surprising that

councillors from the opposition reported

difficulty in accessing information about

state sponsored schemes. However,

regardless of political affiliation, the

institutional role of councillors in the

implementation of social programs and

policies, consequently largely seems to

remain limited to be channels for forwarding

grievances and assisting in the creation of

documents. Exceptional cases, when they

arise, seem to emerge from the personal

drive and motivation of councillors, as they

often do in the case of women councillors.

As per the national statute, 50 percent

seats are reserved for women. In our

sample, we find them more involved with

issues related to women and children as

compared to male councillors, who seem

more likely to see their role primarily around

issues of physical infrastructure. However,

most women councillors reported facing

discrimination from officials, fellow party-

men, and even citizens they represent,

limiting their ability to work effectively.

Some key recommendations are :

1) Need for capacity enhancement:

More investment in systematic

Case of Schooling

Access to basic education is recognized as

one of the core elements of the social

protection floor in any country. In

Ahmedabad, the AMC is tasked with the

implementation of Primary education. For

this purpose, the AMC has created a

separate committee, the School Board for

administration of the primary schools. The

committee has a separate annual budget of

Rs 6.71 billion for running the primary

schools. The members of the committee are

nominated by the municipal councillors. The

councillors are also directly involved in the

functioning of schools through School

Management Committees (SMC).

Awareness of their responsibilities and

potential of these roles varied among the

councillors. However, even among those

well informed about their role in schooling,

almost all councillors reported their primary

role as councillors to be limited to water,

sanitation and roads. Aware of the issues

with the public schools and anganwadis, the

councillors carry out sporadic, piecemeal

mediation for public schools and

anganwadis. Some of them participate or

organize awareness campaigns for private

school admissions under RTE act.

ROLE OF ELECTED LOCAL REPRESENTATIVES IN SOCIAL PROTECTION STRATEGIES FOR CHILDREN ROLE OF ELECTED LOCAL REPRESENTATIVES IN SOCIAL PROTECTION STRATEGIES FOR CHILDREN

0504

involvement become a reality and

potentially participatory spaces such

as Area Sabhas function as

mechanisms to promote public

accountability.

3) Addressing apathy towards women

councillors: Women councillors can

be bearers of social change.

However, there is need for

mandated spaces for women

councillors in policy making and

mediation. Our findings suggest that

women councillors are typically

closer to social issues related to

women and children and can

potentially become champions of

social protection strategies. Need for

training programs for groups

previously kept out of power before

reservations is well recognized

(Hassim, 2014). Further, the need

for specific training programs for

capacity building of women is also

established in the literature. These

programs, on one hand, are required

to enhance the capacity of women

councillors to take up women related

issues, and on the other hand, would

help in challenging gender hierarchy

and subordination of women

(Jakimov, 2017). Our findings

support this need for specific

programs for male councillors,

sensitizing them for attitudinal

change post reservation, with more

women now working in the system.

knowledge up gradation with proper

training programs throughout the

apprenticeship of municipal

councillors is needed for effective

decentralized policy implementation.

Continuous skills up gradation

programs are required for municipal

councillors to adequately respond to

the needs and demands of their

constituents.

2) Institutional strengthening for

meaningful decentralization: There

appear to be two structures

prevailing in Indian ULBs that are not

yet in sync with each other. The

prior ULB structure with standing

and special committees and other

semi-governmental agencies, and the

new decentralized structure as per

the 74th CAA involving Ward

Committees and District Planning

Committees do not seem to talk to

each-other. The functional

responsibility largely lies with the

statutory and special committees,

with their members occupying

privileged institutional positions. On

the other hand, institutions created

under the 74th CAA, Ward

committees, Area Sabhas and

District Planning Commissions

remain informal and customary,

without any functional and fiscal

powers. Since these statutory and

special committees are instrumental

in policy making and implementation,

political parties often appear to use

committee memberships as reward

mechanisms. If the decentralization

agenda has to be meaningfully

pursued, the role and powers of

Ward Committees, and Area Sabhas

needs to be formalized and

enhanced. Only then would citizen

participation and community

01 Introduction

India's failure in eliminating basic

deprivations is often attributed to the

inadequacy of public involvement in basic

education, health care and social security.

This lack of involvement reinforces the

effects of inequality and distorts political

priorities (Dreze & Sen, 1999). Children

constitute the most vulnerable segment as a

result of these failures. Their needs and

capabilities for fulfilment of those needs

differ from those of adults. The

consequences of non-fulfilment of those

needs are more far-reaching as well (Roelen

& Sabates-Wheeler 2012; Sabates-Wheeler

et.al. 2009). Social Protection strategies

and programs especially designed for

children, encompass schemes directly

impacting children's access to education

and health, as well as playing a positive role

in protecting children from abuse and

violence (UNICEF, 2008). However, despite

their importance, the fact that children are

largely voiceless in the policy process (for

example, excluded from the electoral

process), implies that social protection

programs safeguarding them are often the

most neglected and poorly implemented.

thIn India, the 74 Constitutional Amendment

Act (CAA) mandated the formation of Urban

Local Bodies (ULBs) to take on a

developmental character with direct thaccountability to citizens. The 74 CAA also

prescribed the constitution of Ward

Committees within municipalities to promote

direct participation by citizens and

accountability to them. Elected local ward

representatives are imagined to be key

actors in the process by serving as the voice

of their constituency, accounting for the

diversity of the constituencies and also

being more accessible to them.

In this report we share results from research

undertaken to understand the motivations

and the practices of locally elected

representatives in mediating in the

implementation of social protection

programs targeted at children. Given the

importance of schooling in social protection

strategies, we highlight the role

representatives play in the governance of

schools in particular and the schooling

experiences of their constituents more

generally. Drawing on our findings, we

suggest means of creating more robust and

participative channels for mediation through

the elected representatives.

The Municipal Councillors are the first tier of

elected representatives, elected at the ward

level and constitute the elected wing of the

Municipal Corporation. As representatives of

a ward (population of 120,000-150,000),

they are supposed to work towards the

welfare and represent interests of the

municipal area they are representing. While

the importance of local representatives has

always been emphasized, their roles and

responsibilities were formally enhanced with

the passing of the 74th Amendment Act

(1992). Touted as a defining moment in the

history of Indian democracy, the

amendment gave local urban governing

bodies a constitutional status with a view to

strengthen the reach of democracy at the

local level. It was a process of centralized

decentralization wherein, the central

government directed the state governments

to design, generate and assist in setting up

local self-governments in urban and rural 1areas .

With increased functional responsibilities

and powers, councillors should have

become an important element in the formal

chain of factors responsible for success of

social protection schemes. While several

studies have tried to look into the

effectiveness of councillors in ensuring

social outcomes in developed countries,

studies in the developing country context

remain limited. Most of these studies focus

on limitations of social protection policies.

For example, studying the feasibility of

social protection schemes in developing

countries, Bastagli (2012) finds lack of

financial resources, implementation details

and political economy as prominent reasons

for low coverage and ineffectiveness of

social protection schemes. Studies on roles

and responsibilities of local elected

representatives are limited. The present

study attempts to augment this body of

literature, specifically with reference to child

protection strategies.

programs in India, we focused on related

themes, featuring the capabilities and

functions of councillors, such as urban

poverty (Wit, 2016), decentralization(I. S.

A. Baud & Wit, 2009; Chattopadhyay,

2012), exercising citizenship (I. Baud &

Nainan, 2008; van Teeffelen & Baud,

2011), political aspects related to urban

service delivery, specifically with respect to

roles of local elected representatives

(Berenschot, 2010) and women

representatives (Hassim, 2014; Jakimow,

2017). Further to understand the

institutional role envisaged for municipal

councillors, details of the Bombay Provincial

Municipal Corporation Act (1949), and

Gujarat Provincial Municipal Corporation Act

(1949) were studied. To understand the

intended decentralization in policy making

and implementation process, documents

related to Community Participation Law

under the Jawahar Lal Nehru National Urban 2Renewal Mission were also taken into

account. We set the context of the study in

the next section, by detailing out the

structure of Ahmedabad Municipal

Corporation, followed by discussion on the

methodology adopted for sampling.

In this report, we study the role that

Municipal Councillors play in programs and

policies designed to provide social

protection to children. Further, we

document how representatives describe

formal and informal means of mediating in

the implementation of these programs,

especially those related to schooling. We try

and understand the background,

motivations, interests and capacities of

these elected representatives and how they

interact with institutional and political

factors in influencing the role Councillors

play in affecting social outcomes for

children in their constituencies.

We focus on elected representatives in the

Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC).

The structure of local governments varies

significantly from state to state and even

cities within the same state have defining

institutional histories and cultures. Given the

very limited knowledge and discussion

about elected representatives in the

literature so far, our study is exploratory in

nature with the primary purpose being to

initiate a longer term, more systematic

inquiry that can be supported with greater

resources and a longer period of time.

Given these objectives and limitations of

resources, we focus only on representatives

of one city and rely primarily on qualitative

methods. Semi-structured questionnaires

were used to interview a sample of elected

representatives from AMC. The

questionnaire was prepared after an

extensive literature review. Since there is

dearth of studies directly dealing with roles

and effectiveness of local elected

representatives in social protection

06

ROLE OF ELECTED LOCAL REPRESENTATIVES IN SOCIAL PROTECTION STRATEGIES FOR CHILDRENROLE OF ELECTED LOCAL REPRESENTATIVES IN SOCIAL PROTECTION STRATEGIES FOR CHILDREN

02 Design of the study

07

1 A few important aspects of the amendment that paved the way to institutionalize the process of decentralization are: (i) Article 243 S provides for further decentralization of municipalities, by dividing them into territorial constituencies called Wards. (ii) Article 243 T, states that there must be electoral reservations for SC/STs according to their respective population in the constituency. It mandated that a minimum of 1/3rd seats must be reserved for women councillors, which was later increased to 50%. (iii) Article 243 W outlined 18 subjects including town planning, sanitation, roads, water supply, health and education amongst others. They were state subjects that had to be handed over to the municipalities for more decentralized management and governance. (iv) Article 243 X gives a state the power to authorize municipalities to levy, collect, and appropriate taxes, duties, tolls and fees, and provide for making such grants-in-aid to the municipalities from the Consolidated Fund of the State. (v) To enable the municipalities financially, article 243 Y mandates the constitution of a Finance Committee every five years to provide recommendations for sharing resources between the state and the municipality.

2.1 Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation

The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation,

founded in July, 1950 is de facto headed by a

Municipal Commissioner, appointed by the

Government of Gujarat and is an officer of the

Indian Administrative Services (IAS). The

Commissioner is the administrative head and

the most important statutory function of the

Commissioner is to execute the resolutions of

the council and its committees.


The AMC controls over 467 square

kilometres and serves 5.58 million people

(Census 2011). The area is divided under

six zones and each zone is further divided

into wards. There are 48 wards and each

ward has 4 elected representatives

(Councillors). A Deputy Municipal

Commissioner supervises each zone with

ward officers working under them at the

ward level (See Figure 1 and Figure 2). The

Mayor, who is an elected councillor, heads

the council and is selected by the party with

the largest number of councillors. The

elections to the Municipal Corporations are

conducted under the guidance, direction,

superintendence and control of the State

Election Commission and are held every five

years. In Gujarat, unlike the rural elections,

formal party membership or identification is

allowed for candidates contesting urban

local elections.

Box 1: List of Special Committees at AMC

List of Special Committees at AMC

1. Town Planning And Estate

Management Committee

2. Transport Committee

3. Housing Improvement And

E.W.S. Aavaas Yojana

4. Water Supply And

Sewerage Committee

5. Revenue Committee

6. Roads And Building Committee

7. Legal Committee

8. Health And Solid Waste


9. Material Management And

Purchase Committee

10. Hospital Committee

11. Mahila And Bal Vikas

Kalyan ommittee

12. Recreational Cultural And

Heritage Committee

13. Veterinary Hospital


14. Bechardas Davakhaana

15. Staff Selection And

Appointment Committee

2.1.1 Committees as per Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporations Act, 1942

The AMC follows the Bombay Provincial 3Corporation Act (BPMC Act) , 1949. Part

3AA of (Section 67) of BPMC Act makes a

distinction between the policy making and

policy implementation processes. Policy

implementation is supposed to be carried

out by the administrative wing and the

policy making process is supposed to be the

function of elected wing through different

committees. The Corporation may constitute

as many Special and Ad-hoc committees as

considered necessary for the exercise of any

power on discharge of any functions.

Currently, the AMC has 15 special

committees for effective communication

with administrative wing and

implementation of policies (See Box 1).

In the organizational hierarchy the Standing

Committee is the most powerful committee of

any Municipal Corporation. A Standing

Committee consists of 12 councillors elected

by all the councillors from among themselves.

The Commissioner is obligated to respond to

any requests for information by the Standing

Committee on projects and programs

operating under the Municipal Corporation.

Table 1 below provides details of the

committee structure as under the Bombay

Provincial Municipal Corporation act (Gujarat

second amendment act, 1993). Any work

that entails an expenditure of more than Rs.

2 million is to be placed before it. Then

there are special committees looking after

specific functional areas of the Corporation.

There are 15 special committees, including

the Transport Committee, which is

statutorily defined under the Bombay

Provincial Municipal Corporation Act, 1942.

The number of member councillors varies

across committees.

08 09

Figure 1: Structure of the AMC

Administrative WingElected Wing

MayorAhmedabad

Municipal Corporation

School Board

Recreation Culture and Heritage Committee

Municipal Commissioner

City Engineer

Medical Officer of Health

Municipal Chief Auditor

Municipal Secretary

Deputy Commissioner

Assistant Commissioner

Deputy City Engineer

Assistant City Engineer

Technical Supervisor

Government of Gujarat

Ward Councillors (192 i.e. 4 in each ward)

Deputy Mayor

Transport Manager

Statutory Committees

Standing Committee

Transport Committee

Other Committees

Women and Child Welfare Committee

Staff Selection and Appointment Committee

Revenue Committee

Legal

Water Supply and Severage Committee

Road and Building Committee

Material and Purchase Committee

Health and Solid Waste Management Committee

Town and Estate Planning Committee

Hospital Committee

Housing and EWS Committee

2 For details of the Mission refer to: http://mohua.gov.in/upload/uploadfiles/files/1Mission%20Overview%20English(1).pdf

Figure 2: Structure of the Administrative Wing of AMC

Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation

Municipal Commissioner

Deputy Municipal Commissioner

City Engineer

Special City Engineer

Additional City Engineer (Zone)

Assistant Municipal Commissioner

Head of Department/Manager

Assistant Manager

Source: Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation Website, accessed at

https://ahmedabadcity.gov.in/portal/jsp/Static_pages/amc_admin_wing.jsp 3Accessedat: http://www.janaagraha.org/asics/report/Bombay-Provincial-Municipal-Corporations-Act-1949.pdf

Where n is the sample size, and k is the

number of dimensions. Following this, for a

sample size of 24, we could use a maximum

of 5 dimensions along which we have tried

to be representative. Our sample was

selected to be representative across the

following five dimensions: 1) gender, (2)

caste, (3) religion, (4) membership in

different committees and (5) political

affiliation. While there are other factors that

might determine councillor behaviour and

background, prior literature points to these

as being more prominent. For instance,

there is a long standing body of literature

focusing on role of women in politics and

the cultural change they bring in the

government processes and systems

(Hassim, 2014; Jakimow, 2017). Caste

and religion have also found mention among

the factors considered for studying political

effectiveness of leaders. It is established in

the literature that sub-caste identity forms

the candidature of councillors at local polls,

leading to larger claimed spaces for

mediation by citizens. This further leads to

greater provision of public goods to these


sub-caste groups (Munshi & Rosenzweig,

2008).

Specifically, the dimensions applied for the

present study along with the possible

categories in each dimension are as

following:

(I)Gender – Male (M)/Female (F)

(ii)Caste – General (G)/Reserved Category ®5(iii)Religion – Hindu (H)/Muslim (M)

(iv)Political Affiliation – Ruling Party

(RP)/Opposition Party (OP)

/Independent (I)

(v)Committee Membership – Member

(CM)/Non-Member (CN)

This gives us a possible range of 48 type of

respondents; for example: M-G-H-RP-CM

represents a male Hindu councillor, from

general category, and ruling party, who is

member of a special committee.

Since there is just one independent

councillor in AMC, our possibilities were 6limited to 33 . Out of these 33 possibilities,

7we selected 24 . Table 3 below presents the

details of the sample on the dimensions.

As the sample was small and each case

could be completely different from the

other, we followed a method called

“maximum variation sampling” (Patton,

2002) to purposefully pick a wide range of

cases to get the desired variation on

dimensions of interest. Simple Random

sampling in case of such a small sample size

could have led to a totally non-

representative sample, not allowing us to

capture the characteristics of the population

(all the ward councillors in this case).

Therefore, we chose to resort to maximum

variation sampling.

The maximum variation method warrants

identifying the dimensions of variation. A

quick rule of thumb for deciding upon the

number of dimensions is to first fix the

sample size, and then apply the following

formula.

k n = 2 ;

2.2.1 Sample Selection procedure

10 11

4 th thGujarat Assembly elections were held on 9 and 14 December, 2017. Many councillors reported to be busy in election related work in months preceding the elections.

Table 1: List of committees under the Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporation Act

* As per Bombay Provincial Municipal Corporations (Gujarat Second Amendment Act)

Name of the Committee Composition

*Standing Committee

*Transport Committee

*Special Committees

*Joint Committee

Twelve members

Twelve members, Chairperson of the Standing Committee shall be a member of the Transport Committee

Special Committee of the Corporation to be appointed by the vote of

not less than to thirds of the councillors

Joint committees for joint transactions

with other local bodies

2.2 Study Sample

Out of the 192 ward councillors (4

councillors in each of the 48 wards), we

initially selected a sample of 24 councillors

(See Table 2). However, we were able to

interview only 18 of them. Four councillors

could not be traced with the contact details

available to us and two refused to give

interviews citing their busy schedule in the 4period of the study .

Table 2 : Number of Councillors at AMC andthe sample

6

6

5

12

48

10

24

192

18

Zones WardsCouncillors

(AMC)

Sampled

Interviewed

Total

(Population)

5 There is representation of only 2 religions in council of AMC as per current list.

Table 3: Dimensions of variation in the sample

1: Number of councillors in the opposition include one independent councillor.

Male Female Ruling Party 1Opposition Reserved Category

(Caste Based)

Muslims

Number of Councillors in AMC

Sampled

Interviewed

96

12

9

96 142 49 23 19

12 18 5 3 4

9 12 5 3 4

The interviews were carried out from

September 2017 to December 2017. An

extensive questionnaire was prepared based

on themes that emerged from prior literature

(See Annexure 1). The questionnaire

contained questions covering personal

information and motivation, knowledge of

community, roles and responsibilities as

regard to social protection in the ward,

education related mediation, local policy

making, committee memberships, political

and bureaucratic linkages, need for training

and orientation, specific experiences of

women councillors. Apart from these

questions, respondents were encouraged to

share more details and examples where

relevant. Interviewers also recorded any-

other experiences and anecdotes that were

1312


2.2 .2 Sample Profile

Table 4: Sample Profile

The ruling party has been in power in

Gujarat for the past 15 years.

Representation of political parties in AMC is

similarly lopsided. There is only one

independent councillor out of 192, and a

majority belongs to the ruling party with

142 councillors. The sample drawn for the

present study attempts to ensure

representation of the largest opposition

party, and also the independent councillor.

Political affiliation seemed to play an

important role in a councillor's abilities to

mediate in program.

Most councillors were active in politics,

typically student politics, prior to becoming

councillors. The councillors that have come

up via other routes of public engagement

6(2X2X2X2X2) + 1 independent councillor7Some categories turned out to be empty, there is no Muslim

councillor from the ruling party. Similarly, seats won by

Muslim councillors are all under General category. Therefore

out of 32, 12 categories (Male/Female – General/Reserved

category – Muslim- Ruling Party – Member/Non-member) turn

out to be empty. For the rest of 20 categories, we selected 24

councillors, with more than 1 councillors in some categories,

namely Male-Hindu-General-Ruling-Committee Member and

Female-Hindu-General-Ruling-Committee Member.

There is no public information available on

the educational background, wealth and

legal record of the municipal councillors.

Even the list of municipal councillors and

their contact details were removed from the

AMC website during the Gujarat Assembly

Elections. An RTI request was made to the

State Election Commission to get these

details but we did not get a response even

after a reminder was sent (Annexure 4). We

are not the first to encounter the

bewildering opacity in the governance of

urban local bodies, with Patel et al (2016)

and Wit (2016) referring to systemic

corruption as possible reason for the

secrecy of the information and informality

within the system.

Given this, a significant contribution of this

report is to describe the background of the

elected representatives and the wards they

represent, as shared with us. We do not

present individual information on measures 8such as income, and economic status here .

We only briefly discuss the broad themes

emerging through the narratives. In

Annexure 2, we summarize some of the

defining characteristics of each of the ward

councillors we spoke to. While there are

several commonalities that emerge, there is

also a fair amount of diversity between the

councillors. We provide details of their

background and some of the ways they

distinguish themselves from each other to

describe the diversity they represent.

Table 4 presents these basic details. We

maintained equal representation of both the

genders in the sample, following the 50%

reservation of seats for women.

Politically Affiliated Organisation

Committee Membership

Education

SSC

Graduate

Post Graduate

Political History

Student Politics

Through Family

NGO

None

Chairperson

Member

None

Other Occupation

Business

Legal Advisior

Private Schools

NGO supervisor

Association

Coaching

None

4

11

3

8

4

4

1

1

3

8

7

5

1

1

1

1

1

8

Gender

Male

Female

Ruling

Opposition

Independent

Re-elected

Yes

No

9

9

11

1

6

8

10

Party

8We did not ask specific questions about income and

economic status, as we were apprehensive that it might

make respondents uncomfortable and prejudice their

responses to us

Political affiliation and background

thus shared by the respondents.

All the interviews were recorded with

permission from the respondents, and

detailed word-to-word transcripts were

prepared.

For analysing the responses, we followed

inductive method of analysis (Thomas

2006). After familiarizing ourselves with the

data, by reading and re-reading the

transcripts several times, we developed

codes for important features of data that

were relevant for answering each question.

These codes were then reviewed and

collated into possible themes, and data

related to each theme were separated out,

and reviewed. The thematic analysis was

used to catalogue the data into three major

themes analysing the common experiences,

recurring activities and conversation topics.

The next section presents a brief sample

profile, followed by the detailed findings in

the next section.

appear to be limited in number. It is

interesting to explore the methods they

employ or the circumstances that lead them

to connect with the citizens in their

respective areas. 13 councillors said they

were associated in some manner with a

political party prior to being elected as

councillors. While eight of them were active

in student politics (four of them further

worked for party affiliated organizations),

and always aspired to enter the political

arena in their lives, four of them were

influenced by a close family member active

in politics. One councillor worked for party

affiliated organizations.

Only five councillors were not directly

associated with the political parties prior to

their becoming a councillor. Of these, four

identified that they were working with social

groups or Non-Governmental Organizations

(NGOs) and entered the field of politics (as

an elected councillor) to further carry the

agenda they had been working on.

The educational background as well as

financial status of the interviewed councillors

varies. Three out of 18 respondents are

postgraduates, 11 are graduates. Rest have

only finished their school education.

While we do not have specific evidence on the

financial background of councillors, the

diversity in financial well-being was palpable

during the interview process, as we

interviewed most of the councillors at their

homes.

Given the short tenure, nine councillors

cont inue to work in the i r prev ious

professions. Some of them have reported

financial support through family. All the

interviewed counci l lors reported the

Education and Occupation

1514


As mentioned earlier, the study seeks to

assess the motivation, capacity, resources,

and designated roles of elected ward

councillors in furthering government

programs for child social protection. We are

interested in how these get manifested

using both formal and informal mechanisms.

To this end, we first discuss their

awareness levels and engagement with

policies and programs of the government

designed to provide social protection for

children.

The engagement that councillors have with

programs is likely to depend on the program

design and the designated role it envisages

for locally elected representatives, the

resources and information available to them

as well as their motivation. These factors

are inter-related and it would be hard to

identify which factors precede the other.

We try and understand how these factors

relate and influence the engagement of

councillors in the specific case of schooling.

03 Analysis and Findings

3.1.1 Designated role and awareness of

councillors in schemes and programs

identify the designated role of councillors in

implementation. We could find a mentioned

role for councillors in only two programs,

namely the Integrated Child Development

Services (ICDS) program and Urban Health

Centres (Table 5).

ICDS is a centrally designed scheme, run by

the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare,

since 1975. The program provides food,

preschool education and primary health care

to children under six years and their

mothers, through local centres known as 9'Anganwadis' . At the Corporation level, the

scheme is implemented through Mahila and

Bal Vikas (Women and Child Development)

Committee of AMC, which has councillors

as members. Any councillor can raise

request for infrastructure development of an

Aanganwadi centre in her ward through the

committee.

When asked, all the councillors claimed that

they are aware of the presence of

Anganwadis in their wards. However, we

found limited instances of mediation by

councillors in the functioning of these

Aanganwadis. One councillor said they

intervene through providing financial help

and frequently inspect the facility. One

senior female councillor even claimed that

she ensured the construction of a new

building for an Anganwadi in her ward on

corporation land, shifting it from an earlier

rented place.In general, female councillors

seemed to be more aware of the functioning

of Anganwadis, and feel that the work

Anganwadis do is valuable for new mothers

We assessed the currently running child

specific schemes and programs at AMC to

Out of the 18, 10 councillors are serving their

first term. Eight are re-elected and of those

three are serving a third term. 11 of the

counc i l lo rs in our sample a re a lso

members/chairpersons of various committees

at the corporation level, like material and

purchase committee, women and child

development committee, legal committee and

standing committee. Our interviews suggest

that councillors draw much power and

suppo r t t h r ough t h e se comm i t t e e

memberships, as they get visibility and access

to senior officials.

9https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrated_Child_Developme

nt_Services

Experience and Committee membership

3.1 Engagement with Schemes and

Programs targeted at Child Social Protection

The effectiveness of councillors in

implementation of child protection schemes

and programs is undoubtedly dependent on

their awareness about the programs, their

designated roles in the scheme, and their

motivation, as they have to work on them

through both formal and informal

mechanisms.

compensation they receive from AMC to be

lower than their expectations, often pointing

to the examples of other Corporations like

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation where

the remunerations are believed to be higher.

Several women councillors also reported

having to rely on their husbands/families for

financial support. The fact that they have to

continue to pay attention to their family

responsibilities along with juggling their work

as councillors implies that they are unable to

pursue extra vocations, unlike many of their

male colleagues.

1716


Urban Health Centres are under the National

Urban Health Mission, run by the Central

Government. These centres are responsible

for providing primary health care to the

citizens of a ward. Several other health care

related schemes are also run through these 10centres These centres are run and managed

by the 'Hospital Committee' of the

Corporation, where councillors are members.

Institutionally, any councillor can demand

opening of an urban health centre in her ward

based on need assessment. However, only 3

councillors claimed to have done so. Not

surprisingly, councillors expressed limited

awareness about the functioning of health

centres in their wards.

For other schemes and programs run by

AMC, we studied program documents to

understand their design and designated

responsibilities. We could not find a

designated role for councillors in any of the

other programs. As the first tier of

democratic representation, it is astounding

to know that councillors are not given any

they are able to do so effectively is likely to

be constrained by their own limited

information about the programs.

Given their claimed roles, we examined the

extent to which councillors are aware of

child protection schemes and programs by

asking them about their awareness levels of

12 child protection schemes. These are

schemes that were being implemented by

the AMC. In addition to gauging their

awareness levels for such schemes, we also

inquired about their sources of information

and the roles they played in implementing

them.

While the initial response about their

awareness of the scheme was recorded as

a 'Yes' or 'No', we expected respondents to

be reluctant to express complete ignorance

about initiatives they might be expected to

know intimately. For instance, when asked

Figure 3: Awareness about child protection schemes

about Right to Education for one of the

questions, a councillor said “Yeh kya nayi

baatein bol rahe ho” (what are these new

things you are referring to). Some of them

even chose to redirect the questions to their

staff or take somebody else's support from

their office at the time of the interview. We

found that if a councillor was familiar with

the scheme, she or he typically spoke more

about it, sometimes offering further details

about it or how they would participate in its

implementation. Hence, when interviewing

respondents, we waited and also recorded

whether they chose to elaborate on any of

the schemes. These responses are reported

in Figure 3 above.

In general, councillors showed higher

awareness of schemes which are centrally

run, and have been running for a long time,

like the ICDS and Mid-day meal schemes.

Another observation was that while most of

the councillors could recognise the

schemes, they could not provide details

about many of them. This difference

prompted us to ask about their sources of

information about these schemes.

The limited knowledge that councillors have

about programs is perhaps not surprising

given that none of the councillors spoke of a

systematic process to inform them with

program details. Instead, informal processes

seem to govern who knows what. Not

surprisingly the more experienced

councillors displayed a lot more information

about the policy process and details of

specific programs. For instance, the four

newly elected councillors expressed

unawareness regarding the exact

procedures and channels to be followed for

grievance redressal and raising concerns

across all schemes. Five councillors, all from

the ruling party reported that they receive

information regarding the state schemes

from the party, while also receiving

instructions and guidelines regarding

implementation. These schemes are

typically aligned with the ruling party

ideology and priorities and not necessarily

and their infants. However, instances of

corruption in the functioning of Anganwadis

were also cited. One male councillor referred

to Anganwadis as 'the place where kids are

fed fodder', citing an example of a case

where extremely low quality wheat was

distributed among the children registered

under the Anganwadi, while the actual

stock meant for them was being fed to

animals

specific roles in the implementation of both

central and state government run programs.

Upon asking, councillors claimed that their

role is limited to information dissemination.

The councillors perceive their primary role in

implementation of corporation run schemes

to be limited to information dissemination;

they do not report playing any role in

designing or planning stage of these

schemes. However, the extent to which

10 http://nhsrcindia.org/sites/default/files/Draft%20-%20Roles%20Responsibilities%20and%20Management%20-%20UPHC%20under%20NUHM.pdf

Table 5: Designated mediation role of councillors in social protection program

ICDS

Designated Role in Policy Implementation Mediation Claims

Implemented through ‘Mahila and Bal Vikas’Committee of the Municipal Corporation.

Any Councilor can raise request forinfrastructure development of an Aanganwadi Center.

Implemented through Hospital Committee of the Municipal Corporation. ward Councilor can request funds for building an Urban Health Centre.

No Specific role assigned for the ward councilor.

UrbanHealthCenter

OtherScheme

Scheme

l Awareness about Anganwadis (18)l One Councillor said they Mediate through

providing financial help and frequently inspect the facility.

l One senior female councillor ensured construction of new building for Anganwadi.

l However, instances of corruption in the functioning of Anganwadis were also cited.

l 3 Councilors claimed to start an Urban HealthCentre in their world

l No designated role, discussed later

Swachh Bharat Swachh Samaj

Mukhyamantri Kanya Kelwani Nidhi

School Sanitation Program

Anganwadi

Mid-day Meal

Kunwarbai nu Mameru

Saraswati Sadhna

Sabla

Vidya Lakshmi

Kishori Shakti

Dikari Yojana

Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidhyalay

Sukanya Samridhdhi

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

Number of Councilors reported to be aware of scheme Elaborated on the scheme

1918


Table 6 : Schemes and programs related mediation of them actively take initiatives to reach out

to beneficiaries, others passively address

the needs of only those who approach

them. However, the systemic impact of this

function appears to be largely unidirectional:

officials rely on authentication done by

councillors, but they do not approach

councillors for any information that would

be helpful in program implementation. The

exception was a three-term councillor, who

reported that officials often seek information

from him regarding the status of

implementation of schemes in the ward.

Some councillors also suggested that they

try to ensure that targeted beneficiaries are

able to secure benefits they are eligible for.

Thus apart from information dissemination,

which they actively undertake, they also try

and ensure that people are able to negotiate

the formal institutional processes to receive

eligible benefits. For instance, one councillor

said that she motivates people to pay up

their property taxes, which is a requirement

under many schemes to avail benefits.

Another councillor reported issuing identity

cards to people who do not possess the

required documents. These initiatives are

typically dependent on individual initiative of

the councillor. One senior councillor (re-

elected for a third term) mentioned a

specific initiative by the Corporation, which

provides a single window facility for

beneficiaries to get their documents made

and attested, provided they have certain

minimum required documents in place. This

facility is run on specific days in different

wards. Information regarding the dates and

timings are sent to the councillors from the

Corporation. However, most of the

councillors seemed either unaware of this

facility or do not take active part.

Eight councillors reported helping accelerate

the delivery of benefits, by intervening

–formally or informally – to reduce

bureaucratic delays. Six of them reported

to have used formal channels to mediate

(for example, by formal communication to

concerned officials), whereas two used their

own social networks with the officials to

also reported running “Public Service

Centres” on their own expense. These

“Centres” were tasked to provide support to

citizens and to ensure higher visibility within

the community, through paid staff.

Those active with NGOs and other

community organizations use these channels

to spread awareness. Two councillors

reported use of social media for information

dissemination. The councillors often collect

information and forms through each-other,

or party colleagues and distribute them in

wards. Anganwadis, tuition classes, local

self-help groups etc. are also used as

platforms to increase awareness, and

distribution of documents.

The other role councillors reported playing in

scheme implementation included filtering,

identifying beneficiaries and verifying their

information. Officials rely on documents

verified by the councillors for disbursement

of benefits related to schemes. Functioning

styles differ across councillors. While some

mediate. Most of the councillors feel that

the process of getting the desired benefits

becomes lengthy due to design faults.

Requirements of gathering the desired

documents and getting them verified is

burdensome for the beneficiaries, both in

terms of time and money.

Active mediation by councillors can help

the intended beneficiaries by reducing

transaction costs. One councillor reportedly

arranged a lawyer to provide affidavits for

beneficiaries of a scheme, in less than the

market price. Likewise, one councillor

arranged for a mediator to reduce the

transaction cost of visiting different

Government Departments and Corporation

offices. However, the mediator charged

extra money from the intended beneficiaries

and duped them at the end. The main

motivating factor described by councillors

seems to ensure electoral popularity.

However, there are no systemic provisions

because of which councillors are required to

mediate for all the beneficiaries. It is only

through the complaints received, do they

exercise their institutional and social capital

to help the complainants as and when they

consider appropriate and desirable.

The Councillors do sometimes try to alter

the design of the scheme at their level, but

these attempts are very brief and only at

their ward level. For instance, one councillor

arranged for extra funds through Corporate

CSR activity to supplement the stock of

Infrastructure (benches and water purifiers)

to be delivered to schools in her ward.

Another councillor spent funds from her

MCLAD to hire rickshaws to make public

“People often do not have

documents required to get benefits

of scheme. I give them the Identity

proof (Pehchan Patra) from my

side. That I know these people for

the last 5 years. I write this and

give it to them. Where it is valid

it's good.”

- A female councillor fromthe ruling party

those most in need in their constituencies.

Four councillors mentioned receiving

brochures from the Corporation related to

different schemes. However, when asked to

see them, the brochures were largely of

Central or State schemes. And these were

generally given by the political parties for

schemes being prioritised at the state and

national level.

Four councillors reported that they try to

look out for scheme related information by

reading about them on social media/

newspapers/ television typically or other

word of mouth communication, when

approached by citizens from their respective

wards with request for mediation.

Most of the councillors claimed that they

take up information dissemination

initiatives actively and effectively. 9

councillors informed that they take special

efforts to ensure information spreads across

the intended beneficiaries. Some councillors

3.1.2 Claimed space for meditation

Source of Information Fetched through external sources (Newspaper,

social Media, internet)

Corpora�on

Party channel

Through the ci�zens who approach for media�on

5

4

5

54

6

5

*Role in implementation

Document Verifica�on

Informa�on Dissemina�on

Grievance Redressal

Fasten the delivery of benefits

Altering the design of the scheme for more local benefit

Reducing the transac�on costs

Poli�cally mo�vated schemes

Lack of proper planning in informa�on dissemina�on

Design flaws

Irregulari�es in implementa�on due to corrup�on and non-professional a�tude

Reasons for ineffectiveness

of schemes*

No Role

9

1

8

2

2

4

3

6

8

(*Total of responses exceeds 18 (the total number of interviewed councillors), due to mul�ple responses by each respondent.)

2120


Successful mediation in the implementation

of programs appears to largely be a function

of the time the councillor has spent in the

service, institutional power she/he receives

as part of any committee and the contacts

she/he establishes through party affiliation

or own networks. As the councillors gain

experience, their understanding of the policy

process increases, as also their connectivity

3.2 Issues and challengesCouncillors draw financial power from

Committee Memberships, as these various

committees are empowered to take financial

decisions. Although we were not able to

access any formal documents on this, a key

executive involved in the implementation of

programs shared that there are two kinds of

3.2.2 Budgets & Financial Resourses

service announcements to generate

awareness about schemes. However, we

find reports of these attempts to be

sporadic and on the councillor's own

account, often turn out to be ineffective or

costly.

Councillors themselves seem to be aware of

the ineffectiveness of government run

schemes. Nine councillors expressed

concerns over design and implementation of

these schemes. The main reasons cited

were design flaws and irregularity in

implementation due to corruption and non-

professional attitude of officials. Many

councillors believe social protection

schemes designed for vulnerable sections

suffer from serious design flaws, in

particular by imposing high transaction

costs on these very groups. The documents

required to prove the legitimacy and

eligibility of the beneficiary are described to

be complex and cumbersome. Many times,

poor families do not have such documents,

and the cost of getting them in terms of

time, efforts and money is believed to be

high compared to the benefits offered.

Other issues, such as lack of proper

information and corrupt attitude of officials

add to the woes of eligible populations,

according to several of the councillors.

Many councillors claimed that general

attitude of officials in the system is that of

apathy and disinterest. Despite the

cynicism, two councillors from the

opposition party accepted that officials do

value honesty, they know who is corrupt

among the councillors, and help those who

are not.

There is a clear need for enhancing

awareness about the roles and

responsibilities that councillors have as well

as increasing knowledge of available

resources. These can potentially be

accomplished with capacity building and

training programs. While 11 councillors

reported receiving brief training by the

corporation, it seemed to be limited to help

them develop their budget writing skills.

Even these, the councillors felt, were

insufficient. In fact, seven councillors

reported being completely unaware of any

such trainings. Most of the councillors feel

that training needs to be provided for

information and awareness about various

schemes and their roles and responsibilities

in implementation of these schemes. Only

six councillors are aware of a booklet

claimed to be given to all councillors by the

corporation, and only two of them are aware

of the contents of the booklet. However, 12

out of 18 councillors said they were given

training by the party they are affiliated to,

upon their election as a councillor. In a

separate question, when asked do they think

councillors should be trained by Party, seven

councillors felt that training by party is

essential, as they have to carry forward the

party's agenda.

3.2.1 Capacity building

budgets that are prepared and used for any

development, restoration or repair project.

These are: Capital Budget and the

Councillors' budget. The executive shared

that Municipal Engineers, ACE, Assistant

Engineers and the Ward Councillors prepare

the Capital Budget annually for Town

Planning projects. It is an estimate of the

amount of funds required to carry out these

projects. He mentioned that the role of the

ward councillors is limited as we just

'consult' them on the issues that the ward

might be facing. He further mentioned that

the other kind of funds come from the

councillors budget. The councillors are given 11an annual budget of Re. 2.1 million each

that is supposed to be used for various mini-

projects in the 'societies' like development

of parks, repair of sewage pipes, electric

lines, roads etc. Quite often the ward

councillors often pool in their allocated funds

if the cost of the project exceeds the

amount of Rs. 300,000-400,000. The

procedures for expenditure were described

as follows:

(I) For projects with less than Rs.200,000,

tenders are forwarded by Deputy Municipal

Commissioners (DYMC).

(ii) For projects worth Rs.2,00,000-

5,00,000 tenders come through the

Commissioner (without the involvement of

committees or any other statutory authority)

(iii) For larger projects, worth more than

Rs.500,000 the budget is prepared by

DYMC and City engineers. The budget then

goes to standing committee for approval

according to the estimated budget, after 12which the General Board reviews and

approves it. Post approval, the tendering

process starts. The tenders are then

forwarded to the Commissioner and the

implementation process begins.

The general board meets on a monthly basis,

standing committee on a weekly basis and

special committees fortnightly. The meeting

are held to approve budget proposals

11 One senior councillor from the ruling party told us that

this amount generally increases by 5-10% each year.

12The General Board is the supreme body of the

Corporation constituted by elected members from each

wards. Please refer

https://ahmedabadcity.gov.in/portal/jsp/Static_pages/corp_

elec_intro.jsp for more details.

with officials, thereby increasing their

effectiveness in mediation. We discuss

some of these institutional enablers and

issues related to them in the section below.

submitted by the executive head i.e.

Municipal Commissioner.

During interviews, political affiliation and

connections were repeatedly mentioned as

important factors in budget allocations.

Although we have no way to verify this,

councillors from the opposition party

frequently reported discrimination against

their wards in the allocation of resources.

3.2.3 Ineffective Decentralization

thIn conformity with the 74 CAA, state

legislation has provided for Ward

Committees to increase the participation of

elected representatives in speedy decision

making and grievance redressal. The Ward

Committees are part of a three tier structure thenvisaged under the 74 CAA for large

cities, comprising of Ward Committees,

Zonal Committees and then the Corporation.

To further decentralize the policy making

process, under the Jawaharlal Nehru

National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM),

in 2006 the Union government enacted a

Community Participation Law (CPL) for

states to follow in order to avail funding

through the Central Government and Public

Private Partnerships (PPPs). The envisaged

objective of the community participation

was to deepen democracy and facilitate

socio-economic growth for pro-poor

initiatives through constitution of Area

Sabhas , with one Area Sabha envisaged for

one to five polling booths in a ward. The

Government of Gujarat mandated the

constitution of Area Sabhas as per the rdresolution dated 3 February, 2012, of the

Urban Development and Urban Housing

Department. As per the resolution, there

shall be three Area Sabhas in each ward,

2322


Role of women in local governance has

increased multi fold with 50% reservation of

seats for them in the council. When

interviewed, women councillors appeared

closer to child development agenda. Five

(four of whom were women) councillors

expressed that women related better with

issues linked to women and child protection.

3.2.4 Apathy toward women

In a bid to rise within the party line, and

prove their loyalty to the party, the

councillors then follow the national/state

level agenda, and local issues are often side-

lined. National political parties are too often

allowed to overshadow the local issues and

agenda that should be dominating in local

elections. Councillors become the foot-

soldiers for the policies and programs

designed at the higher levels, as parties

depend on local representatives for

implementation. Six councillors accepted

that their functioning style is greatly

affected by the directions given by the

party. One councillor explicitly stated that

exhibiting his abilities to his electorate

serves as his primary motivation to mediate

in programs on behalf of his constituents.

Political affiliation, in turn, increases the

effectiveness of mediation, through contacts

and connections. Eleven councillors

accepted that political affiliation matters in

getting the work done. A female councillor

cited that she is very close to a senior party

leader at the state level, and therefore can

always get the Commissioner and other

senior bureaucrats to hear her demands out,

3.2.6 Institutional Networks

“I have good connections in Police

department, so I even help people

solve their personal grievances”

- A ruling party councillor

Institutional networks are important for

councillors to expedite the grievance

redressal process, and also to initiate

infrastructure creation, up-gradation works,

since councillors have limited role in

executive over-sight, and actual policy

making, their effectiveness in mediation is a

function of institutional connect they can

form and maintain. We asked the councillors

about the nature of their institutional

connection with the executive arm of AMC,

or with the State Government.

Ten out of the 18 councillors reported being

well connected institutionally, either through

their party linkage, or through their

own/family linkage. Caste/religious identities

also play a major role in forming these

linkages. These linkages become important

for councillors to showcase their

effectiveness as problem solvers. They also

accept that they often use these

connections to by-pass the official channel

or to fasten the mediation process. Only

five, all first time councillors, feel that they

are not sufficiently connected to reach out

to officials/department personally for work.

They have to rely on the formal grievance

redressal channel, which is inefficient and

slow due to corruption and apathy of

officials.

comprising of 9-21 members, including one

councillor as the chairperson and rest

selected from eminent citizens from the

ward.

thThe 74 CAA laid down clear guidelines for

the constitution of Ward Committees with

the Councillors as its chairman. Ward

committees were to contain representatives

from all the Area Sabhas within the ward,

with Ward Councillor acting as the

Chairperson of the Ward Committee.

Although the status of Ward Committees

and the role of Councillors in them is a

subject matter for a more systematic study,

our efforts suggest that to the extent that

ward committees are operative, they are so

without the participation of local residents.

For instance, no councillors who we spoke

to were aware of the Area Sabhas. Nine

councillors said they know ward committees

exist, but were not clear about functions

and responsibilities of the same. Even after

repeated requests researchers were not

allowed to participate/observe ward

committee meetings citing “confidentiality”

as the reason.

'Ben Che, to shu karwana che?

(She is woman, why to take her

seriously?)

- A female councillor sharing the views of male officials regarding female councillors/officials.

3.2.5 Political Motivation

We found women councillors more likely to

report and take cognizance of children

relates issues. One female councillor shared

that awareness about specific institutional

mechanisms addressing gender issues is

low. For instance, she cited the low

awareness about a team of women working

with the Police department, whom she

frequently asks for assistant in case of

women related issues.

Many female councillors recognized that

they face discrimination, from officials, from

fellow party-men, even from people whom

they are representing. Many women

councillors shared their experiences and

anecdotes about how it becomes more

difficult for them to ensure grievance

redressal given their gender.

and often fulfil them. Political affiliation

with the ruling party is an important source

of connections and power. Six councillors

feel that municipal officials favour the

councillors from the ruling party, as often

they have connections with national and

state level ministers and senior politicians.

Committee membership increases the

institutional networks significantly. Eight

councillors accepted that membership of

special committees increases the

effectiveness of mediation through increased

information availability. Seven among them

feel that committee meetings give them the

platform to connect and follow-up with

officials. They feel officials also respect the

demands of committee members as they are

perceived to be influential among the

political arena. Councillors also accepted

that these committee memberships and

chairperson positions are used by the party

as rewards to loyal workers.

2524


Education and other child protection

strategies remain low on the councillors'

agenda, which is driven by more visible

physical infrastructure needs. Systemic

channels for mediation in education are

limited. Sporadic attempts of education

related mediation are plenty, but they are

more an evidence of civic spirit and

individual motivation of the councillors, than

the success of institutional mechanisms.

Our findings from the study lead to the

following policy implications:

Current capacity enhancement through

training programs is sketchy, as reported by

the councillors. Most of them have reported

awareness about Party trainings. However,

only a few were aware of the trainings and

material provided by the Corporation. Most

of the re-elected councillors reported that

they have learnt by doing in the first term.

Therefore, more investment in systematic

knowledge up gradation with proper training

programs throughout the apprenticeship of

municipal councillors is needed for effective

decentralized policy implementation.

Continuous skill up-gradation programs are

required for municipal councillors to

adequately raise demand of locally

generated/reported needs.

Need for capacity enhancement

The two structures prevailing in Indian

ULBs: one, the statutory ULB structure with

standing and special committees as well as

other semi-governmental agencies, and the

new decentralized structure as per the 74th

Institutional strengthening for

meaningful decentralization

CAA involving Ward Committees and

District Planning Committees do not seem

to talk to each-other. The functional

responsibility largely lies with the

committees formed as per BPMC Act,

empowering members in achieving the

mediation outcomes. Ward committees,

Area Sabhas and DPCs remain informal and

customary, without any functional and fiscal

powers. The role of councillors at the ward

level, therefore remains limited as channels

of grievance forwarding. Since the

statutory and special committees are

instrumental in policy making and

implementation, political parties use these

committee memberships as reward

mechanisms for performance. If the

decentralization agenda has to be

meaningful, the role and powers of ward

committees, and Area Sabhas should be

enhanced. Only then will citizen

participation and community involvement

become a reality.

04 Conclusions and Policy Implications

Institutional roles and political

mediation

Political mediation, though not desired in the

ideal sense, has become an important

feature of the local governments. Inability of

the state to provide services efficiently and

lack of resources to fulfil needs of its

citizens have made the state vulnerable to

the dynamics of political mediation. It is

difficult to engage the councillors in

anything which is not driven by the party,

since they draw motivation from the

political power. There is need to build

accountability mechanisms and regulatory

checks to limit the percolation of political

agenda into local issues.

Addressing apathy towards women

councillors

Women councillors can be bearers of social

change. However, there is need for

mandated spaces for women councillors in

policy making and mediation. Our findings

suggest that women councillors are typically

closer to social issues related to women and

children and can potentially become

champions of social protection strategies.

Need for training programs for groups

previously kept out of power before

reservations is well recognised (Hassim,

2014). Further, the need for specific training

programs for capacity building of women is

also established in the literature. These

programs, on one hand, are required to

enhance the capacity of women councillors

to take up women related issues, and on the

other hand, would help in challenging

gender hierarchy and subordination of

women (Jakimow, 2017). Our findings

support this need for specific programs for

male councillors, sensitizing them for

attitudinal change post reservation, with

more women now working in the system.

Case Study : Engagement with Schooling

The main emphasis of the present report is

to find out the role played by councillors in

implementation of child protection strategies

at the ULB level. In this regard, the

discussion in the previous sections has

pursued a broader scope of understanding

the role of councillors in policies and

programs of social protection through the

c Given apabilities these councillors possess.

its importance, we also specifically probed

the role councillors play in schooling in

greater depth. I we were n this section,

interested in not only understanding how

they function in roles that they are explicitly

mandated to play but also the informal

mediation they engage in.

Almost all the interviewed councillors

accepted that physical infrastructure related

issues such as sewerage, water, roads and

solid waste management make up for most

of the complaints they receive. It is

perceived that the responsibility of

Municipal Corporation is towards provision

of these physical infrastructural facilities,

and role of the councillors is primarily to

ensure adequate provisioning of these

facilities in their respective wards.

Councillors also believe that people are not

aware of the role and responsibilities of the

Corporation in providing education and

health services. Most of the complaints

councillors receive related to education are

limited to high fee being charged by private

schools. Most of the councillors are aware

of poor quality of education being provided

in the Government schools. However since

the parents sending their children to such

schools are either ignorant of or

disinterested in improving the quality, they

do not reach out to the councillors for any

improvements.

The extremely limited engagement with

schooling that councillor's report is not

surprising given that that they prioritise

education only after the basic facilities like

water, healthcare and sanitation. All

councillors reported getting preoccupied

with civic works. This may also be aligned

with what their constituents want. For

instance, while speaking to a councillor

participating in an awareness campaign on

RTE a constituent complained, “Peevanu

paani nathi, bhanva nu su karvana che?”

(There is no water to drink, what will I do

with education?)

Role of councillors in provision of education

as a tool for child protection is divided into

direct provision of infrastructure, quality

improvement initiatives, mediating with the

functioning of private schools, institutional

“Nagar-Nigam ka matlab hai – Nal,

Guttar aur Rasta” (Municipality

means water, sewage and roads)

- A ruling party councillor

2726


School Board Committee

For the administration of primary

education, School Board Committee (SBC)

is constituted and has remained to be the thauthority even after 74 amendment. As

per the Bombay Primary Education Act,

1947, the State Government has to

appoint 2-3 of its officers in School Board

Committee. In case of Ahmedabad,

District Education Officer is the only

officer appointed by the state in school

board committee (Yearbook, 2017). The

other members in the committee are

elected through voting by the elected

municipal councillors (See Figure 3). As

the minimum education qualification

required to be a member of SBC is primary

Figure 4: Structure of the School Board Committee

School BoardCommittee(chairman vice-chairmanand Members)

School Board Administration

Deputy A.O. Deputy A.O.

Assistant A.o.

(North Zone)

Assistant A.o.

(South Zone)

Assistant A.o.

(West Zone)

Assistant A.o.

(Central Zone)

Assistant A.o.(UrduZone)

Assistant A.o.

(HindiZone)

Assistant A.o.

(Legal)

Assistant A.o.

(Administrative)

Departments :Ÿ ModernŸ Education/TrainingŸ Scout guideŸ Pre-primaryŸ DispatchŸ Store verificationŸ Medical TreatmentŸ welfareŸ PensionŸ ScholarshipŸ CashŸ G.P.F.Ÿ Establishment

Administrative Officer (A.O.)

Coordinator Modern Education(Training Department)

13Source: Ahmedabad School Board website: History Section; Accessed at: http://amcschoolboard.org/history.html; History Section of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation Website shows that a Municipal Committee was formed in the city in 1834 and regular Municipal administration introduced in 1858; for details see https://ahmedabadcity.gov.in/portal/jsp/Static_pages/history.jsp

Supervisor Teachers

Principal

Teachers

Students

Assistant A.o.(East Zone)

school certificate, so the political parties

are allowed to nominate people outside of

the council. For the members from SC and

ST community, the minimum education thqualification is class 4 .

The SBC Chairperson scheduled our

interview with the Assistant

Administrative Officer (AAO) after multiple

requests were made by the researchers to

him over the period of four months.

Explaining the selection of SBC, he said

“the committee is composed of members

elected by councillors. They hold elections

and choose the members of the SBC.

There are 15 members in the committee.

Currently, there are 11 members from

ruling party, three from opposition and a

District Education Officer. The election

process is similar to the Rajya Sabha

elections. The Councillors choose the

members directly. After the

implementation of RTE under article 21,

education became a fundamental and

justiciable right and hence, our delegated

responsibility becomes more.” In a

committee of 15 members only two are

women, despite women having 50 percent

reservation in the Corporation.

During interviews, councillors appear to be

less informed about the functions of the

board. Seven councillors feel that they do

not have any role to play in the board.

Only one councillor said that they have a

role to play in electing members of the

board. One councillor feels that councillors

are over-worked with their ward related

duties, school board is beyond their scope.

One councillor admitted that the

membership of the board is used as

political rewards for ruling party workers,

and most of the selections are politically

motivated. Opposition party councillors

claimed that the board is ineffective.

However, some councillors from the ruling

party cited instances when they directly

approached the chairperson of the school

board for provision of physical

infrastructure in school, and the demand

was successfully fulfilled.

“School board is a very large

committee. It is not possible for a

councillor to be involved in it

because it comprises of many

schools and it would be very

tedious for a councillor to look after

each and every school in it. A

councillor already has a lot work to

handle in his/her ward.”

- A senior female councillor

from the ruling party, serving

her third term

School Management Committees (SMCs)

After Right to Education Act, 2009, role of

municipal councillors increased further with

the formation of School Management

Committees (SMC) in each school. Under

section 21 of the said act every government

school has to form a 13 member SMC to

develop school development plan and look

after the regular functioning of schools. In

Gujarat, among the 13 members, one

member is the local municipal councillor

with nine parents of children studying in the

same school, a teacher, a local educationist

and a mason. Being part of the council, the

local municipal councillor can directly raise

the needs of school with the SBC.

Talking about the SMC, the AAO said SMC

has a lot of powers. They have regular

meetings every three months and have an

annual budget and agenda. They work

accordingly. They even get a repairing grant

of Rupees 12,500. They are given multiple

other grants too. If there is any other

expenditure also, they direct it to us and we

arrange for funds through the state

government for them. On the question of

the requests made in the previous year by

the SMCs, he maintained silence and could

not cite any significant example. The duties

of SMC are given in Annexure 3. Our

findings suggest that SMCs are closer to

councillors. 12 out of 18 councillors are

members of SMCs in their respective wards.

Often they are nominated by the parents,

Principals or fellow councillors on these

The municipal government of Ahmedabad

is responsible for primary education and

also for the most basic needs such as

water supply, drainage, health, road

transport etc. of the people residing under

jurisdiction. The administrative officer of

the Municipal Corporation administers the

primary education while the state

government keeps control over the

academic decisions such as textbooks,

curriculum, etc. The state has devolved its

responsibility for the administration of thprimary education (till class 8 or age of

Primary Education and AMC

role as envisaged through Schools

Management Committee and School Board,

and roles and responsibilities of councillors

as per various schemes designed at the

local/state level.

14) in municipal schools to the

Ahmedabad Municipality, as far back as 131882 .

2928


committees. However, only eight out of

these 12 have admitted to attend meetings

regularly. However, none of the eight could

elaborate on the nature of discussions in the

meetings. One councillor said meetings do

not take place. Another councillor said she

was not even aware that she is member of

an SMC. It was only during a function,

when the media persons asked the Principal

of the respective school about the

councillor's presence on the SMC, it was

revealed to her that she is a member.

Only nine councillors are aware of the role

of SMCs in functioning of schools and only

three senior councillors who have been re-

elected for multiple terms feel that these

bodies are effective in addressing issues

related to education. 11 councillors, when

asked about the SMCs, confused it with

School Board Committee at the first go.

Apart from the formal channels of SMCs

and School Board, councillors act on

complaints related to schools, directly

received by them. They also visit the

schools frequently and are aware of the

problems therein. Sometimes they take

initiatives by themselves to solve these

problems.

8 councillors claimed that they visit public

schools in their wards frequently. 10 out of

18 councillors accepted that the condition

of public schools in their respective ward is

poor, quality of education imparted there is

inferior to that of private schools. We asked

them about evidence of poor condition, two

councillors cited prevalence of child labour

and apathy of teachers and administration

towards children in public schools in their

wards. While most of the councillors

maintained that Government provides all the

necessary facilities, and infrastructure in

these schools is usually in place, five

councillors complained that infrastructure

and facilities provided at these schools is

also of inferior quality and not sufficient.

When asked about reasons, teachers'

apathy and lack of professionalism is cited

as the main reason for poor quality of

education at these schools. Also, since

these schools cater to children from

backward and marginalized social classes,

ignorance of parents is also cited as a major

issue.

Three councillors also raised issue of

jurisdiction of public school. Some schools

are under Nagar Panchayats, as the areas

they are located in, are recently declared

Awareness about conditions of schools urban, and have come under the purview of

the Corporation. There is no notification for

schools governed by Nagar Panchayats

earlier to be transferred to Corporation. This

creates delays and mismanagement,

whenever the councillors receive a

complaint about the functioning of the

school and want to interfere.

When asked, what they do about the poor

condition of school they are aware of, most

of the councillors resort to the formal

channel for raising concerns regarding the

above issues. 12 councillors claimed that

they frequently write to the board or the

Commissioner about the poor quality of

schools and problems faced by all the

stakeholders. However, the Assistant

Administrative Officer (the designated

administrative authority) of the School

Board did not have any recollection of

receiving complaints through the councillors.

Only 3 councillors said they resort to more

informal channel of approaching the

authorities directly. Rest of them expressed

ignorance.

Figure 5: Reasons for poor condition of Government school

Table 7: Mediation with Schools

Provision of Physical Infrastructure

Provision of basic infrastructure for

education such as opening of new schools,

maintains of buildings, provision of water

tanks, books etc. lead to improvement in

quality of education imparted to children in

the ward. Our research results show that

these attempts are sporadic, and depend

more upon volunteerism of the councillors.

As eminent citizens, councillors are often

invited in schools. It is mainly through these

non-institutional visits that they get

information about problems in schools.

14Total 8 councillors have said that they provided such facilities at schools in their respective wards. These councillors have used multiple sources of funding for providing different type of infrastructure at several occasions, therefore the numbers do not add up.

Reasons cited for poor condition of Government Schools

Mediating with Government Schools

Lack of Focus of the Government onEducation Related Issues

Non Competitive Public Schools

Teachers apathy and non-professional attitude

Lack of teachers (Less Numbers)

Lack of interest among parents and conductiveenvironment for children

Need for english medium school

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Mediation with Government/Private schools

Visits Schools FrequentlyYesNo

Provided physical infrastructure/facilities at schoolsYesNo

Helped in qualitative improvement in schoolYesNo

Took initiatives for betterment of Girl children in schoolYesNo

Arranged for scholarship/fee rebate in Private SchoolsYesNo

Accepts that condition of Government School is worse than Private schoolYesNo

Raised concern about the poor condition of schools to authoritiesYesNo

Helped in arranging funds for opening up of new Government SchoolYesNo

Raised concern about the poor condition of schools to authoritiesYesNo

5 councillors have reported that they have

taken up the initiative to get new school

opened in their wards. These schools are

funded by the Corporation. One of the

councillors approached the School Board,

the committee at the corporation level

looking after education sector, for funds.

Construction of new Government schools

810

108

126

513

810

513

315

99

126

3130


8 councillors have reported to have provided

facilities such as water tanks, sport

equipment, books etc. for the public schools

in their wards. 3 councillors have used their

own Municipal Councillor Local Area

Development fund (MCLAD) for provision of

water tank, library and increasing the sitting

space in one of the Government run

schools. These initiatives are either

complaints based, or arise out of

observations of the councillors as they are

invited to visit schools as guests on specific

occasions. One councillor approached

corporate houses to get CSR funds for

provision of water tank in one of the

Government run schools in her area. 3 more

councillors reported to have used non-

conventional sources such as their own

contacts, for funding school infrastructure.

3 councillors have reported to have used

their own money in donating ceiling fans, 14plates and water tanks to schools .

Provision of related infrastructure

There is this school…. from where

I got a request stating that there

were no female faculties in the

school in 7th and 8th standards.

Because there were teenage girls in

those standards it was necessary

that they had a presence of female

faculty in those grades. When I got

to hear about this, I constantly

worked on it for two months until I

found a female faculty. We got two

lady faculties for that school.

- A female councillor from

ruling party

Other quality improvement initiatives

Some councillors (5 out of 18 interviewed

councillors) have undertaken some sporadic,

piecemeal quality improvement initiatives in

school. Two councillors provide scholarships

and gold medals to students for

appreciation. These are funded through

social connect of the councillors, based on

their own efforts. One councillor approached

the Chairperson of the school board directly,

to convert an existing school into an English

medium school. 3 out of 18 councillors

reported organizing awareness campaigns

for private school quota admissions under

section 12 1 (C) of the RTE Act, 2009.

Women councillors are more sensitive

towards safety issues of girls in school.

Three women councillors have taken up

specific issues related to safety of girls in

schools. One female councillor received a

complaint that a particular school in her

ward does not have a female faculty. She

acted upon the complaint, and ensured that

two female faculty members were recruited

there. But all these initiatives are driven only

by civic spirit of the councillor. All these

women councillors are from the ruling party.

They feel they are well connected

institutionally to raise these issues directly

to higher officials.

Almost all the councillors accepted that the

only complaint they receive regarding the

functioning of private schools is that they

charge a higher fee. The councillors act

upon this complaint only through social

connections (9 interviewed councillors

accepted to have taken up this cause).

Either they write to the school requesting to

lower down the fee for the complainant, or

they arrange for funds through their

connections for the complainants. None of

the councillors said that they take this iss

schools is a problem for parents. He claimed

that it is due to this reason his school

provides scholarships to 18-20% children

from deprived backgrounds.

responsibilities of councillors. However, on

ground physical infrastructure tops the

priorities of the administration and the

councillors. Mediation in provision of

education is still a function of demand by

citizens and personal motivation and civic

spirit of individual councillors. Demand for

mediation is low, as education sector is

greatly commercialized and market driven

solutions leave little space for mediation.

The vulnerable sections of the society,

which are unable to be a part of the market

based education system, are ignorant of

their rights for demanding mediation.

Increasing awareness among parents and

ensuring effective functioning of area

sabhas and other spaces created for real

citizen participation, can lead to better

outcomes in education related mediation.

Mediating with private Schools

Conclusion

Decentralization, with devolution of greater

fiscal and functional power, has

perfunctorily enhanced the roles and

Decentralization, with devolution of greater

fiscal and functional power, has

perfunctorily enhanced the roles and

References

Bastagli, F., European Parliament, & Directorate-General for External Policies of the Union. (2013). Feasibility of social protection schemes in developing countries. Luxembourg: Publications Office. Retrieved fromhttp://dx.publications.europa.eu/10.2861/11066

Baud, I., & Nainan, N. (2008). “Negotiated spaces” for representation in Mumbai: ward committees, advanced locality management and the politics of middle-class activism. Retrieved from Environment and Urbanization, 20(2), 483–499. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956247808096124

Baud, I. S. A., & Wit, J. D. (2009). New Forms of Urban Governance in India: Shifts, Models, Networks and Contestations. SAGE Publications India.

Berenschot, W. (2010). Everyday Mediation: The Politics of Public Service Delivery in Gujarat, India. Development and Change, 41(5), 883–905. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7660.2010.01660.x

Broockman, D. E. (2013). Black Politicians Are More Intrinsically Motivated to Advance Blacks’ Interests: A Field Experiment Manipulating Political Incentives. American Journal of Political Science, 57(3), 521–536.

Burden, B. C. (2007). Personal Roots of Representation. Princeton University Press.

Chattopadhyay, S. (2012). Decentralized Urban Governance: Participation and Accountability in West Bengal’s Municipalities. Environment and Urbanization ASIA, 3(1), 185–202. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1177/097542531200300110

Dreze, J., & Sen, A. (1999). India: Economic Development and Social Opportunity. Oxford University Press. Retrieved from https://ideas.repec.org/b/oxp/obooks/9780198295280.html

Grose, C. R. (2005). Disentangling Constituency and Legislator Effects in Legislative Representation: Black Legislators or Black Districts? Social Science Quarterly, 86(2), 427–443.

Hassim, S. (2014). Persistent Inequalities: A Comparative View of Indian and South African Experiences of Local Government Quotas for Women. Politikon, 41(1), 85–102. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1080/02589346.2014.885674

Jakimow, T. (2017). Empowering Women Parshadsin Dehradun Municipal Council. Economic & Political Weekly, 52(23), 121.

Munshi, K., & Rosenzweig, M. (2008). The efficacy of parochial politics: caste, commitment, and competence in Indian local governments. National Bureau of Economic Research.

Patel, S. R., Georgiadou, Y., Universiteit Twente (Enschede), & Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation. (2016). Socio-spatial order of neoliberal Ahmedabad. ITC, Enschede.

3332


Patton M.Q. (2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods. 3rd Sage Publications; Thousand Oaks, CA.

Rallings, C., Thrasher, M., & Denver, D. (2005). Trends in Local Elections in Britain, 1975–2003. Local Government Studies, 31(4), 393–413. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1080/03003930500136725

Roelen, K., and Rachel Sabates-Wheeler. (2012). "A child-sensitive approach to social protection: serving practical and strategic needs." Journal of Poverty and Social Justice 20 (3): 291-306.

Sabates-Wheeler, R., Devereux S., and Anthony Hodges. 2009. "Taking the Long View: What Does a Child Focus Add to Social Protection?" IDS Bulletin 40 (1): 109-119.

Scott, J.C. (1969). Corruption, machine politics and political change. American Political Science Association, 63(04), 1142-1158.

Annexure1 : Questionnaire

Profiling of Urban Elected Representatives

For their role in the provision of social protection schemes for children

Section 1: Personal Information and Motivation

Name:

Gender

Designation:

Address:

Contact Details:

Alternate Mobile Number

Academic Qualification

Board/ University Division Medium

High School

thClass 12

Graduation

Post-Graduation

Other

Experience

Which year were you first elected?

Number of years in active service (as an elected representative

Any other professional experience

Number of years in social engagement

Section 2: Knowledge of Community

What is the population of your ward?

Thomas, D. R. (2006). A General Inductive Approach for Analysing Qualitative Evaluation Data. American Journal of Evaluation, 27(2), 237–246. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1177/1098214005283748

United Nations Children Fund. (2008). Child Protection Strategy. New York: UNICEF.

Van Teeffelen, J., & Baud, I. (2011). Exercising Citizenship: Invited and Negotiated Spaces in Grievance Redressal Systems in Hubli–Dharwad. Environment and Urbanization ASIA, 2(2), 169–185. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1177/097542531100200203

Vries, C. D. (n.d.). You Have Got Mail! How Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivations Shape Constituency Service in the European Parliament, 30.

Wit, J. de. (2016). Urban Poverty, Local Governance and Everyday Politics in Mumbai. Taylor & Francis.

3534


How would you describe the people and groups in your ward? Their social backgrounds? Occupations?

What are the primary concerns of people in your ward?

Who do you think are the most vulnerable sections in your ward? The ones who you think need the most help and support?

What kind of protection and help is provided by city government to these vulnerable sections? Can you give some examples of programs or schemes?

Can you describe some of the things you do to enable the deserving people get benefits?

Section 3: Roles and Responsibilities as regards to provision of social protection in the city/ward

What do you think of the situation of public health care and education in your ward?

How much attention is given to them by the Municipal Corporation?

Perception of Role

Are you satisfied by the role that the Municipal Corporation plays in social protection of children?· Yes.· No, Administrative or political incapability)· No, should be moreCan you give some specific things that the Corporation could

Do you think girl children in your ward are more vulnerable? Why would you say so? What more should the

corporation being done?

We have often found that people are not aware of programs and policies. Do you agree? Whose responsibility is to spread awareness of different policies? What steps have you taken to spread awareness or do you think that would not be the role of a councillor?

We have found that people approach ward councillor to register their grievances. Do you agree?

How important is your role in solving grievances of people?

Section 4: Scenario in Education

How many municipality and private schools are there in your ward? (enter number separately)

How would you rate the performance of municipal schools in your ward? How do you compare them with those in other wards? How do you compare them to private schools in your ward?

Are you aware of Gunotsav? Do you play any formal role in that?

Do you think there should be some role of councillors in Gunotsav?

Awareness on Schemes

Are you aware of child development schemes such as:o Vidhya Lakshmi Yojanao Mukhyamantri kanya Kelwani Nidhio School Sanitation Programmeo ICDS (Aanganwadi)o Mid-day mealo Kunwar Bhai Nu mameruo Saraswati Sadhna Yojana

o Kishori Shakti Yojanao Dikri yojanao Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidylayao Sukanya Samridhdhi Yojanao Sabla Schemeo Other ___________________________________How did you come to know about these?

Where else do you get information about condition of child education in the Ward/city/state, Govt. policies addressing it and their outcomes?

School Management Committee

Are you a member of any SMC in any school of your Ward?o Yeso No

If Yes, (If No, skip to the latter part of this section)

How were you selected or elected?

How frequently do you attend the meetingso Once in a montho Once in two monthso Nevero Whenever calledo Meeting does not take place

Rate yourself on the awareness of your role in SMC on the scale of 1 to 10.

(1-Know very little, 10-Know Comprehensive)

As SMC member are you aware of these roles? (Tick whatever applies)

Roles Yes or No

Monitor the working of the school

Formulation of School Development Plan

Monitor the grant by local authorities

Informing stakeholders about RTE and explaining their duties

Ensure implementation of sub-section (K) and (G) of article-24 and article -28 of RTE

To monitor, no other non-education duties other than these described in thesection-27 of RTE Act-2009

Ensure nominations and regular presence of all the children of nearby area of the school

Monitor norms and criteria for the school

Bring to the notice of local authority about any violation of right to education

Prepare scheme to identify requirements of children deprived from education

Monitor on identification of differently abled children and ensure their participation

Monitor implementation of Mid-Day Meal scheme for children in the school

Prepare annual accounts of income and expenditure of school

Take up construction, maintenance and repairing works of school building by public participation and supervise / monitor them

Observe that financial fund received in School development / improvement program is properly utilized

Do other members ac�vely take part in SMCs mee�ngs? (Why/Why not)

If No,

Have you ever heard of any SMC?

3736


Has any school approached you to be a member of its SMC?

What do you think are the roles of SMC?

Status of Schools

In your ward, what do people prefer to choose between private schools and public schools? Why? Do you visit nearby schools on invitation/ for any other reasons? Details

Status of Schools

How will you rate govt. schools in your ward as compared to other wards?o Way bettero Bettero Equally Goodo Equally Bado Worseo Much Worse

Who do you think is responsible for this?

Any specific initiative taken by you to improve status of education in your ward?

Section 5: Spaces for citizen

Have you heard of Community Participation law? Details?

Have you heard of Area Sabha?

Is there any in your ward?

How many people approach you daily with their problems? General nature of problems (details)

What kind of schemes gets more popularity?

Are there any specific schemes which have your role in grievance redressal? Mention Schemes

How do people in general approach you?· Individually· In groups· Through your local associates· Through NGOs· Referred by officials· RWAs· Others

Which method is generally more effective?

What initiatives you have taken to ensure continuous communication with people?

We have observed that a lot of local group work with ward councillors, how do you perceive them?· Are they interference to democratic process· Assistance

Do these volunteer groups help in solving these grievances or highlighting them?

Does reach out in terms of solving grievances help in deciding seniority among the network of ward councillors?

Section 6: Committees

There are two types of committees, standing committee and special committee, how does these differ w.r.t your participation?

Are you a part of any of the committee(s)? Mention all the committees

Which committee? Why?

School Board Committee

How is this committee different from other committees?

Why none of the ward councillor participate in school board committee?

Do you think municipal schools have sufficient funds?

Would you say that as non-members, the councillors have a say in the financial allocations and usage offunds by the school board?

Would you like to propose any changes in the current working style of the board?

Do you participate in policy decisions related to child education in the city in anyway?

Section 7: Local Policy Making

Do you participate in local policy making in AMC on issues related to child development and education?

Are you satisfied with the current practices in local policy making, what changes would you suggest

What do you think makes a policy or program successful/popular?

If yes,

What is your role in that committee?

How does it help as a councillor if you are a part of any committee?

How are the members of these committees selected/elected?

If No,

Would you like to be a part of any committee?

Is citizen participation important in policy making?

Have you heard of Community Participation law? Details?

Have you heard of Area Sabha?

Is there any in your ward?

Section 8: Political and Bureaucratic Linkages

How is your relationship with the bureaucratic wing (Officials)?(a) Cordial/Friendly(b) Functional – we discuss only work matters(c) Distressed – I have difficulty reaching out(d) At odds – They would not listen to my grievances/requests

What do you think is the reason for above?

3938


How is your relationship with other councillors from your own party? Are they more/less effective than you?

How is your relationship with other councillors who are members of other political parties

Do you feel your affiliation with your current political party helps in increasing/reducing effectivenessof your role as a councillor

Which form of training would you prefer? And why?(a) Distribution of information brochure(b) Round-table discussions(c) Class-room training (for 2-3 days)(d) Any other form (please specify)

Do you raise issues related to the development of your ward in your party meetings

How important do you think is your role in the larger political and bureaucratic context?

Section 9: Need for Training and Orientation

Did you get any training when you were elected as a councillor?

Do you think training programs are helpful in increasing awareness?

What are the issues around which a newly elected councillor should be trained?

Section10: Only for Women councillors

How much time could you give to your role as a councillor on a day to day basis?(a) 4-5 hours daily(b) Less than 1 hour daily(c) Need based – attend meetings/participate in other activities only on as and when basis(d) Just sign the documents as required

Who helps you with your Councillor duties?(a) Husband/Father/Son(b) Any other family member/friend(c) Some person from the community/caste group(d) I do not need help

Do you participate in board/committee/public/corporation meeting?

Why women councillors participate less in such meetings?

Is there any kind of hesitation in participation because of the presence of male councillors?

How do male councillors perceive your role as female councillors?

Do you feel women from the community are more open in sharing their problems with

you and other women councillors than with male councillors

Do you think women can relate better to problems of child development?

What are your future aspirations after completing your term?

Annexure 2 : Profiles of Councillors (Descriptive)

Code Profile

C1

Councillor from the ruling party, a loyal party worker and owns his own business. His

ward is in the outskirts of Ahmedabad and became part of AMC in 2010. The area is

undergoing massive infrastructure development with malls and apartments. Going

through the news reports, water is a major issue in this ward and even access to

education was a concern in 2015 elections. Water tankers come to most of the societies.

Population of Patels is more than 57% in this ward. He could get a grant of 1.5 crore

from AMC to start an English medium school in his ward as he felt the need for English

medium education. Not aware of the Right to Education Act and his role in SMC, he

believes that people in Gujarat are business oriented and don't take education very

seriously. He has been active in student politics and has been an active party worker.

With very high social connect, he maintains a 'Jan-Sewa Kendra' (Community Service

Centre) with paid staff to manage the office. He claims to be highly reputed among the

local officials and police. Having a very conventional approach to solving issues, he takes

up issues of people only when reported. Despite heading an important committee in the

corporation, he has low awareness of different state and local policies.

C2

Councillor from opposition, serving her first term and holds a postgraduate degree in

Law. Her mother has been a councillor for many years previously from the same party. In

2008, her ward was included under Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation jurisdiction and

ceased to exist as a separate civic body. Over the years it has developed as a residential

area for Public Sector Undertaking company's officials. This ward is a hub of private

schools, colleges and universities. Contaminated water supply and lack of basic facilities

in the government schools are major concerns in the ward. The schools in her area are

deprived of basic facilities such as watchman, drinking water cooler and cleaners. She

cited the jurisdiction of government schools under the District Panchayat Education

Committee as one of the reasons for apathy towards schools. She raises funds from the

CSR funds of the private/public firms in her ward for improving infrastructure in the

schools. Mentioning discrimination against the councillors from opposition as the

impeding factor in her ward, she works through cordial relations with the zonal officers.

She focuses on infrastructure development in her ward and considers herself as close to

people.

C3

Councillor from opposition, serving her first term. She joined politics as her father had an

option to let any of his female family member to contest elections. Congested roads, lack

of community halls, construction over pipelines and shattered government schools are

the major concerns of her ward. She is also concerned about the safety of girls in her

ward as there are some spaces where boys gather and create nuisance. She believes that

municipal councillor from opposition is no different from general public as their requests

are ignored. She follows the conventional approach of registering grievances of people in

her ward and depends on male counterparts for solving major concerns. After becoming

councillor she feels respected in the society and see a larger role of herself in the society.

4140


C4

Councillor from the ruling party, serving her first term she joined the party as her family is

associated with an organization affiliated with the party. She also had interest into social

service since childhood. She use to work in an NGO before joining politics. Her ward has

most of the population from other states working as labourers in the nearby factories.

The OBC dominated ward has issues of contaminated water supply, illegal slums, liquor

and poor sanitation. Giving credit to the state government initiatives, she said public

education is of high quality in Gujarat but people feel ashamed to send their kids to

government schools. She takes help from her husband in carrying out the corporation

related works. She has good political linkages within party and got a budget of 5 crores

for development of a lake in her ward.

15AMC currently looks after schools only in 40 out of 48 wards.http://indianexpress.com/article/india/gujarat-40000-students-of-govt-schools-deprived-of-basic-facilities-4903750/

C5

A three-term independent councillor from a ward in the walled city, he is considered as

people's person in the ward. He has been a dedicated worker for the last 20 years in his

ward and understand the local dynamics really well. Seems to be especially concerned

about women and children issues, he addresses a lot of personal concerns of families as

they trust him for finding solutions. He is a member of two committees in the corporation

and share good rapport with the executive officers. With not much attention to public

schools, he believes there are issues with basic facilities which should be addressed first.

He uses his social connections for organizing prize distribution events to motivate

children to study more and helping the needy ones get fee rebates in private schools.

C6

A very motivated councillor from the ruling party, serving her fourth term. Her ward has a

majority of population from Muslim and Patel communities. She comes from a backward

community and feels to be subordinated for her caste identity. She has been closely

working with the government schools in her ward, for developing new infrastructure

through Public Private Partnership and girl's safety. She focuses on self-help groups for

women and keeps herself updated with all the state and national schemes for women.

She spends most of her time in the zonal office and take help from her family to manage

people who come home with their grievances. Water is a major concern in most of the

communities, as they get water through tankers.

Councillor from the ruling party, serving her first term. Her area was merged in 2015 and

given a 'municipality' status. It is expected to witness more urban settings to develop

due to its proximity to the highway. It has a majority of middle class families living in

closed colonies spotted by chawls and slums where mostly migrants and the poorer

communities reside. She runs her own business and feels frustrated in the informal

structures. She works with young women for better menstrual hygiene and promotes

safe waste disposal techniques.

C7

Councillor from the ruling party, serving her first term. She comes from a socially

backward community and strongly feels the need of uplifting of her community. She

herself is a postgraduate and promotes herself as an example in the community to

promote education. She is promoting the culture of sports in the public schools and has

led to conversion of public school grounds into formal sports classes in the evening. She

raises money through charity for sports equipment in the public schools. She contested

from a reserved seat and has been closely associated with a right wing religious

organization through her husband. She believes corruption as the primary reason for

continuous degradation of public schools and anganwadis.

C8

C9

He is educated in boarding school and graduated from foreign university, chose politics

as his career. Comes from a very elite background and maintains a separate office for all

the councillors of his ward from affiliated party. Belong to the opposition party, he claims

his space and use the vigilance committee to maintain the quality of work. His ward has

one of the largest slum in the city and he believes role of councillors is to be the voice of

poor people. He himself owns private schools and consider public schools are in poor

condition to send anyone's children. Also, he organizes health check-up camps for the

people of his ward with the help of corporation.

C10

Associated with the opposition political party for past many years, he has held important

positions within the party. Councillor maintains a 'Jan-Sewa Kendra' with full time

supporting staff with his own money. He also feels discriminated by the corporation for

belonging to the discrimination but claims his space through local support from the

community. He himself own few private schools and offer free education to 20 percent

children as he also could not attend school many times for not being able to pay the

school fees. He also uses his social connections to get people rebate in other private

schools. His ward has the highest number of mosquito breeding sites. In this ward alone

some 3,422 homes were found with indoor mosquito breeding sites. Water is a concern

in the ward. He recently got budget approved for a primary health care centre as people

had to travel for 6 k.ms for basic health care facilities.

C11

Councillor from the ruling party. Her ward is part of the old city that is often referred as the 'walled city'. A large portion of the population stays in slums. There has been a history of communal violence between Muslims and Hindus. Sanitation and Health are major problems. She use to work for an NGO before joining politics and comes from a very humbled background. She was offered to contest election by a local politician. She associates herself to a specific community and works to uplift the society. Not much interested in working for education, she works for solving drainage issues and give regular water supply in her ward.

She is from an Urban area, mostly well-off families live there. A majority of people come

from the Patel community, Patidars (people from Saurashtra, North Gujarat, Banaskantha

and Sabarkantha). She comes from a Hindu right wing religious organization, full time

party worker and an alert politician. Highly aware of the local and state schemes, works

with a big team for implementation of different scheme especially related to women.

Schools in her area does not come under AMC and lacks basic facilities. Does not bother

much about public schools, she feels English medium schools are necessity for children

to perform better in life. Depends on her local team to address the grievances and

operates from her home to register grievances of people.

C12

Majority of the voters belong to Dalit or Muslim community. Have issues regarding

sanitation, poor roads. It was declared as SC constituency after 2008 delimitation

process. She is a party worker and does not relate herself much to the corporation

works. Resides in EWS quarters, she represents socially disadvantaged groups but does

not actively mediate for their issues. Following the party lines, she uses rhetoric against

ruling party for everything. Bothered about the crisis of basic facilities in her ward, she

uses her personal allocated budget for water supply network and road paving in localities.

C13

C14

Young, first time councillor from a backward caste, making his space with in the ward politics. Consider the role of municipal councillor as the most important if compared with MPs and MLAs to cater to the vote banks. Goes against the party lines to serve his community and secure his place as a main stream politician and

4342


representative of his caste. Only councillor who uses the data from complaints received

through digital platforms to follow up on status of the issue. Concerned about the

environmental issues in his ward, he is promoting the use of bicycles for local

commutation. Consider the sale of illegal liquor as a major threat to safety of schools, he

believes everyone is a voter so stay away from this particular issue.

A mainstream politician holding an important post in an important committee. He has an

in depth knowledge of the deteriorating urban public health care system and works for

the betterment of the same. He considers public healthcare system as the most

important concern for the marginalized people as private hospitals are inaccessible for the

poor. He has helped starting a new anganwadi in his ward and coordinates with other

fellow councillors for spending more money on infrastructure development.

C15

Young, first time councillor from opposition party and very active in the student politics.

Innovative with his approach, he started 'coffee with Councillor' to directly reach out to

the ward he represents. Closely associated with education campaigns, he believes in the

need to rebrand the government schools for better demand. Frustrated with the complex

system, he uses political volunteers for effective campaigns around the local issues.

C16

A passive councillor who heads a huge private association of businessman, very

disengaged with the local issues. Lives in the same ward and only if the complaint is filed

by a local resident. Does not relate much with the corporation but considers himself as

important in the state elections. Does not bother much about education and does not

relate himself to the issues related to women and children. Most of his personal allocated

budget is spent on infrastructure development in the localities of specific community.

C17

Sportsmen, councillor from industrial area and a full time party worker. Connects with

the local people through his local party workers and share good relation with the local

officials. With major focus on water supply network in his ward, councillor helps people

in accessing documents through his office space. Despite having an interest in sports, he

has not been able to promote the culture of sports in the ward citing 'lack of space' as

the reason. Does not relate himself in any way to the education mediation initiatives, he

believes that private schools are catering to the need of education in his ward.

C18

While visiting schools, one of the principals of a municipal school gave us two SMC training modules “SMC Training Module by Gujarat Primary Education Board, August 2012” and “SMC Empowerment Booklet by SSA and Gujarat Primary Education Board in collaboration with UNICEF”. Most of the information has been taken from these manuals originally written in Gujarati and translated into English with the help from a team of volunteers. We also collected all the notifications issued by the state govt. regarding SMCs since 2012 and some of the information is taken from that as well.

Annexure 3 : Duties of SMCs

1. Monitor the workings of the school1.1. Take care of attendance of teachers and students1.2. Talk with teachers regarding difficulties and come up with solution

2. School Development Plan must be formulated by SMC2.1. Must have a clear vision about the future of the school2.2. It must plan the activities of the school such as celebration 26th January, Parent teacher meetings etc.2.3. Physical infrastructure2.4. Must look after educational and other facilities

3. Monitor the grants by local authorities3.1. Grants must be used appropriately.3.2. They must form a committee which decides how the grants are to be utilized and decisions of this meeting must be the guide of how the grants are to be utilized.

4. Informing Local Community and stakeholders about RTE and explain duties: 4.1. Members of SMC to act as a bridge between the school and local area.4.2. Explain people in the vicinity about the Right to Education4.3. Discuss RTE in other functions (meetings) of area.4.4. Persuade parents to let their child come to school if he/she is not enrolled in school.4.5. Try to get support for development of primary education of area from local governing body.

5. To ensure implementation of sub-section (K) and (G) of article-24 and article -28 of RTE:5.1. As per law of RTE, working hours must be 8 hours from Monday to Friday, 5 hours on Saturday and in standard 1 to 5, min 4 hours and in 6-8 min of 5 hours must be classwork.5.2. Must ensure teachers must be present during working hours of school. 5.3. Must ensure completion of curriculum5.4. Must talk with principal if necessary5.5. Talk about teacher attendance, their educational work and syllabus in SMC

6. To monitor, no other non-education duties other than these described in the section-27 of RTE Act-2009

6.1. If not possible to give proper time to teaching due to non-educational activities then the teachers must discuss the matter with principal.6.2. If any teacher found doing non-educational activities at the cost of pupil's education then complaint can be lodged.6.3. If necessary, try to talk to the higher local authorities also.

7. It will ensure nominations and regular presence of all the children of nearby area of the school. 7.1. If child is regularly absent, then go to their home and convince their parents about the importance of education.

4544


7.2. Provisions to be made so that the senior students of the school of must get their juniors along with them to school.7.3. If there is a particular area where students are absent regularly then visit that area and organize parent-teacher meetings with 4-5 members of SMC and explain to them the importance of education.

8. It will monitor norms and criteria for the school 8.1. As per law of RTE, if there are 60 pupils in class 1-5 then 2 teachers, if 61-90 then 3 teachers, 91-120 then 4 teachers, between 121-150 the 5 teachers and above 150 then five teachers plus head teacher. Pupil-teacher ratio must not exceed 1:30 8.2. For 6-8 class, at least one teacher per class so that there shall be at least one teacher for- I. Science and Mathematics, ii. Social Studies iii. Languages. At least one teacher for every 35 children.8.3. At least 1 class for one teacher. There should be separate toilets for boys and girls, facilities of drinking water, ground and library must be provided.8.4. Working hours of teachers must be at least 45 per week.

9. It will bring to the notice of local authority about any violation of right to education 9.1. Corporal punishment must not be given to any pupil. 9.2. If given, then must report to the principal.9.3. If pupil eligible for financial help, then he must get it and for that schools must take care of it for completion of form, where to submit form and as soon as school receives money, must be given to child immediately.9.4. Discuss about the financial help for student needs in meetings of SMC and monitor them

10. It will prepare scheme to identify requirements of children deprived from education10.1. Despite a lot of efforts if students aren't coming to school, then SMC must identify the reasons and any specific needs and try to satisfy that along with education so that education can be imparted properly.10.2. If there are some children who have never gone to school or dropped in between then enrol them in schools according to their age. Arrange special training programmes for these students.

11. It will monitor on identification of handicapped children and ensure their participation:11.1. Handicapped pupils must get complete elementary education11.2. Right of disabled children to study with other normal students and it must be done in a way that they don't feel inferior11.3. Disabled children might face issues such as hearing or visual impairment or physical immobility etc. in which case the government must provide them with hearing aid, visual aid or wheelchair.11.4. Provision for resource teachers for handicapped students. This teacher must talk with students and parents and give them guidance and the SMC must monitor that.

12. Monitor implementation of Mid-Day Meal scheme for children in the school.12.1. Pupils must get hygienic food every day in school12.2. School are to prepare lunch meal as per the menu12.3. Food must be hygienic and of good quality12.4. Pupils must get sufficient amount of food.12.5. Calculated how many people every day are taking benefit of this scheme and if found that some pupils aren't taking the benefit then talk to their parents 12.6. Register the exact number of students who are taking meal in the register of supervisor12.7. Frequently taste the meal and if any suggestions, give it to supervisor12.8. Make sure that pupils clean their hand before every meal.12.9. Make sure that without any discrimination of caste, religion, gender and financial status all pupil must sit together and take lunch. It is purpose of MDM, pupils must understand the importance of equality which is one of the purpose of the scheme.

13. Prepare annual accounts of income and expenditure of school.

13.1. It will have to maintain separate accounts for the money to be received by School Management Committee to perform its duties under the act and show them to audit every year. 13.2. The accounts prescribed in above serial number (13) and (14) have to be signed by chairman / vice-chairman of School Management Committee and submit before the local authority in one month of its preparation.

14. To take up construction, maintenance and repairing works of school building by public participation and supervise / monitor them.

14.1. For construction and repairing and maintenance school gets funds from SSA, the educational dept. Or any other govt. Dept. and at same time there are other donors who give donations, it is the responsibility that the funds must be used appropriately.14.2. Must ensure that the construction materials are of good quality, must be sufficient and must be used appropriately. 14.3. Also take help of people who are not members of the SMC but they are acquainted with the construction, repairing etc.

15. To observe that financial fund received in School development / improvement program is properly utilized

15.1. The materials are purchased by inviting competitive rates from the merchant offering lowest rate and if is used in a qualitative and economic manner as per the school requirement and scheme guide for the benefit of school.15.2. For development of school, school is given regular grant from SSA and apart from this grant for the classes, toilets and MDMs, various grants are given to school regularly15.3. Materials used for construction must be of good quality and that good quality material must be bought at an appropriate price from the nearest supplier.15.4. Regarding the technical and financial information regarding construction, must follow guidelines given by SSA.

16. To execute other work prescribed by the State Government or Director (Primary Education) or State Project Director (Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan) or District / Nagar Sikshan Samiti.

Several activities under RTE are monitored by SSA, Prathmik Shikshan Nyamakand, Zilla Shikshan Samiti or Nagar Shikshan Samiti have various kinds of activities at state level so that all children from area enrol in school and take education till 8th standard. SMC must co-operate in those activities.

Annexure 4 : RTI Appication

RTI Application under section 6 (1) of the RTI Act, 2005

To,

The Commissioner,

State Election Commission

Gandhinagar.

Gujarat.

Name of Department: State Election Commission

Name of Applicant: Ishu Gupta

Address: G5, Computer Centre, IIM-Ahmedabad, 380015

Subject: Affidavit filed by the elected ward councillors (corporator) for 2015 Ahmedabad

Municipal Corporation

Dear Madam/Sir,

As cited above I, Ishu Gupta, a resident of Ahmedabad and being a citizen of the Republic of

India, would like to know the following information from you, under Section 6 (1) of the Right to

Information Act, 2005.

Question: The copy of affidavits filed by the 192 elected ward councillors for the Ahmedabad

Municipal Corporation elections in 2015.

Sir, I have sent an I.P.O. of rupees Twenty as RTI application fees according to the RTI rules,

2005. If any further fees are required as per the rules of the RTI Act, please inform me of the

same.

I request the responses to be in English and prefer to receive the information by email

([email protected]).

Kindly provide the information as soon as possible, within the time frame stipulated under the RTI

Act, 2005.

Date 11 October 2017

role of elected local representatives in social protection ...

Documents

Transcript of role of elected local representatives in social protection ...