Best Practices are actions that have made a lasting contribution, improving the quality of life and sustainability of our cities. Over a short period of time, many Urban Local Bodies have come up with innovative ideas to manage urban infrastructure and amenities. Hence, Equi-City team aligning with its objectives conducted ‘Best Practice and Knowledge Sharing Forums’ on critical issues that can benefit Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC). These forums are expected to serve as a source of learning and sharing of experiences in urban development and capacitate officials of NMC. Following are the detailed information of Best Practice Forum conducted under Equi-City project by Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) and Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC).
Initiatives by IMC under Swachh Bharat Mission
The Equi-City team along with All India Institute of Local Self-Government (AIILSG) organised a Best Practices Forum for the sharing of best practices and knowledge-sharing among local authorities for improving efficiency in provision of civic services under the objectives of the Equi-City on January 3, 2020, at Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Training Centre, Nagpur. The forum aimed to strengthen the capacity building of the officials and up-gradation of skills of the NMC employees. The forum was conducted for the sector of Solid Waste Management of zonal officers and Sanitary Inspectors.
The forum commenced with the welcome note by Jayant Pathak, Regional Director, AIILSG, Nagpur after which Equi-City team greeted Syad Javed Ali Warsi, Solid Waste Management Consultant to IMC with memento. IMC has won Swachhta Award for consecutive 3 years 2017, 2018 and 2019. Indore generates over 1,115 MT of garbage daily and all of it is collected from the source, whether it is a household or commercial establishment. The door-to-door service started in January 2016 as a pilot project in two of the 84 wards in the city. It took almost a year to achieve 100 per cent door-to-door garbage collection. Indore, through its commendable efforts, has achieved segregation of waste at source at 100 per cent of its households and commercial units.
IMC took various initiatives under Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) for cleanliness of Indore from collection to recovery. Syad Javed Ali Warsi detailed all the aspects of Solid Waste Management in Indore and its implementation.
The citizens of Indore played a significant role in making the city neat and clean. The cleanliness scenario of Indore was changed by improved habits of the people and within a span of one year the IMC successfully sensitised citizens for segregation at source and not dumping garbage in open areas.
Community Empowerment through Innovative Governance by AMC
‘The Best Practice Forum, Community Empowerment through Innovative Governance’ by AMC was conducted for the Social Welfare Department for improving efficiency in the delivery of civic services. The Equi-City team conducted the forum on January 31, 2020, at Shri. Atal Bihari Vajpayee Training Centre, Nagpur.
The forum commenced with presenting a memento to Yogesh Maitrak, Director, Urban Community Development (UCD), AMC and the introductory address was delivered by Jayant Pathak. The Government’s Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM) aims to reduce poverty and vulnerability of the urban poor by enabling them to access employment opportunities by building strong grassroots level institutions for them. AMC’s effective implementation of the mission for the upliftment of urban poor posed a success story for NMC.
AMC took various initiatives such as Social Mobilisation & Institution Development Scheme, Self-Employment Program, Employment Through Skills Training and Placement, Shelter for Urban Homeless, Support to Urban Street Vendor and Capacity Building and Training. Yogesh Maitrak explained about the efforts taken by the corporation.
Shelter for Urban Homeless
National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM) aims at providing permanent shelter equipped with essential services to the urban homeless under the Shelter for Urban Homeless (SUH). AMC constructed adequate number of shelters under the project GHAR- Giving Home And Respect to ensure shelter along with food and medical care for the urban homeless. AMC has constructed and refurbished 32-night shelters in Ahmedabad where more than 3914 homeless people are utilising individual shelter and 53 families are utilising family shelters along with medical facilities started by the corporation. AMC has also started giving food to all homeless people which was inaugurated by Vijaybhai Rupani, Chief Minister, Gujarat on December 25, 2019.
SHG Enterprise under Social Mobilisation and Institutional Development
Social Mobilisation is not just the ‘formation’ of groups, but empowerment, financial self-reliance, and participation and access to government, its schemes and programmes for the urban poor. UCD follows Self Help Group (SHG) Enterprise Model with transparent process in its operation. Before entering into any ward or areas, UCD field staff members conduct a comprehensive survey to evaluate local conditions and potential for operations. After respective areas have been surveyed and selected for the operation, a projection meeting is conducted to introduce UCD, its vision, mission, and methodology. After selection of areas and projection meeting, interested women form a group Sakhi Vrund (Joint Liability Group) Formation. Once a group is formed, it begins Compulsory Group Training (CGT). CGT consists of hour-long sessions designed to educate woman on the processes and procedures of corporation and build a culture and discipline of financial literacy & credit counseling and are officially declared as women entrepreneur of the corporation after successfully completion.
All SHGs are using digital payment platform- Digital Sakhi for payments. They use the money saved for Girl Child Education of SHG family members.
Self-Employment Program
Incubation Centre for Micro Business Aspirant assists all the aspirants with mentoring, planning and execution of their start-up idea into a real business. SHG entrepreneurs are groomed with the necessary inputs on how to be a successful entrepreneur through workshops and seminars by eminent people and institutions. UCD has identified and certified 26,450 micro-business aspirants in various trades for economic empowerment of both men and women.
Employment through skills training and placement
After developing the identity proofs of homeless people, priority is given to developing their skills as per their ability. The unlimited opportunity of employment to Skilled Urban Homeless People will be provided by connecting them with “Aajeevika”. Aajeevika is a digital platform for the homeless where they can find endless opportunities for self-employment, earn their bread and butter, fulfil the needs of their families and get recognition in the society.
The efforts of Urban Community Development of AMC have resulted in many success stories. The 6 Area Level Federations of ULB Ahmedabad were selected for the Swachhata Excellence Award. From these six, Khodiyarnagar-Baherampura ward ALF got the Swachhata Excellence Award.
The innovations in the functionaries of DAY-NULM will definitely encourage all NMC officials and all those working in the sanitation and livelihood sectors to reflect upon these models and take up such programs to improve livelihoods of marginalised communities.