Strengthening Urban Local Governance in Madhya Pradesh
Samarthan is working in the towns of Bhopal and Sehore to promote the participation of marginalized sections in urban governance and ensure the delivery of state services in health, nutrition and education.
The project had multiple goals
- Enable poor have greater access to services in health, nutrition and education
- A household survey was carried out in both towns to prepare demographic profile of the wards
- Community monitoring committees were formed in 10 wards of Sehore which led to improvement in quality of medicines and nutrition at Anganwadi, better functioning of schools and supply of quality mid day meals and cancellation of illegal ration cards
- 200 citizens in Sehore received voter cards
- Three issue based monitoring committees were formed on Anganwadis, schools and ration distribution in Bhopal
- 60 appeals were filed for BPL survey and five families were added to the BPL list in Bhopal
- In Bhopal, the non functional Anganwadi committee was revised to institute an active Anganwadi committee which launched a complaint with the Child Development Project Officer of ICDS on the poor functioning of Anganwadis.
- About 100 ration cards which were kept by the ration shop owner were distributed to the eligible poor households in Bhopal
- An information centre was established which encouraged citizens to apply for ration cards in Bhopal
- Improve access to social security rights by migrants who are the most marginalized
- In Sehore, Samarthan identified 600 unorganized labourers and enabled them access accidental and health insurance and other benefits of government schemes. Over 400 labourers received insurance under Jan Shri Yojana.and were registered for government schemes for construction labourers
- In Sehore, 45 women family members were given training on sewing and handicrafts of which 8 started their own businesses
- Ration card was made available to 80 families and a one year health card was given to 125 labourers in 2 wards in alliance with Apollo Hospital that held health camps for them thrice in this year.
- In Bhopal, a study was conducted on 200 migrant labourers to understand their concerns and issues. Camps were held to facilitate the induction of the migrant labour in the special schemes meant for construction labor.
- Increase the capacity of citizen bodies to engage in planning and budgeting
- In Sehore, citizens were involved in ward planning activities through SHGs and citizen’s forum. Ward plan was prepared for all 35 wards of Sehore and implemented in 10 intervened wards. The follow-up of plans resulted in improvement in regularity of water distribution through water tankers in poor wards, rejection of 84 bogus ration cards and issue of new ones and complaints made against the PDS shops in 3 wards
- In Bhopal, Samarthan conducted a meeting of stakeholders in the intervened ward (ward 51) to prepare a ward plan. A separate microplan of the slum area was prepared by slum residents and added to ward plan. The ward councilor committed his discretionary fund to the issues emerging from the planning
- Make policy environment more sensitive to concerns of the poor
- In Bhopal, Samarthan is drafting the Slum Policy for Madhya Pradesh government. The policy has components for improving slum environment, Housing for poor, and issues of land Pattas
- Samarthan has taken an active role in the revival of the district planning process and has prepared an operational manual for district planning with separate guidelines for urban centers. A newsletter, The Urban Update is being published every alternate month and circulated among civil society leaders and policy makers to influence their decisions