The State government is gearing up to introduce ward-level governance for taking administration to the doorstep of people in urban local bodies.
It has accordingly decided to introduce the new system in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation to begin with, and expand it to other local bodies subsequently. Municipal Administration Minister K.T. Rama Rao directed the officials concerned to work out modalities for introducing the new system of governance before this month-end.
He said the introduction of new system would ensure that residents need not go the circle or zonal offices of the corporation for redressal of their grievances. They could instead register their complaints/suggestions for perusal of the authorities concerned at the ward-level itself.
This would enable officials to understand the problems at the grassroot-level and expeditiously resolve them. The new system envisages increased participation of people in the local governance, he said. The Minister held a review meeting with senior officials on the introduction of the new system and the plans that had been prepared for it.
He said it was decided to set up ward offices in all the 150 divisions of the GHMC with 10 staff members each and an official of the rank of Municipal Commissioner would be in-charge of these offices. Employees drawn from sanitation, power, road maintenance, entomology and other wings would be posted in each of the ward offices to receive grievances and expeditiously redress them. These officials would also monitor the implementation of the welfare and development programmes at the grass-root level.
Mr. Rama Rao instructed the officials to nominate staff for each of these ward offices in the next few days and conduct extensive training for them on the aims of the new system, targets and mode of implementation. It was also decided to open offices at ward-level, and the Minister wanted the officials to select uniform design for these offices in all the wards so that they could be networked effectively.
Mr. Rama Rao recalled that the government had in the past initiated several measures to decentralise administration. Accordingly, new districts, revenue divisions and mandals had been created to take governance closer to the people, he said.
