1.1. CONTEXT

Over the past six decades, through the Five Year Plans, a number of projects have been implemented, aimed at balanced and sustainable development. Although during each plan, different development strategies were formulated and implemented neither did they reach the millions of the poor in the villages, in any significant manner, nor were the people able to reap the intended benefits. Consequently, not only economic disparity widened, but starvation, poverty and unemployment also increased. To remedy this, the governments both at the Centre and the state, implemented a large number of poverty eradication and employment generation projects and schemes. But since they were regarded, both by the governments and the people as nothing more than ‘giving and receiving of doles’, all of them ultimately did not reach the target. Despite the claims of the central and state governments that these initiatives succeeded in effecting some changes in the areas of poverty eradication and employment generation, in actual fact they failed in realizing the desired qualitative changes in the living standard of the citizens. This is acknowledged by both the governments and the polity. On the one hand, the rulers used the failures and loopholes in the formulation, legislation and implementation of these development strategies for advancing their vested interests; on the other hand, the people no less than the hostile influences at the local, national and global levels, failing to understand the radical societal transformation aimed at by these development programs and trying to reap immediate gains, contributed to the failure of these development schemes.

Similar are the underlying causes of the failure of development programs implemented in Kerala. Moreover, factors such as highest rate of unemployment in the country, particularly among the educated, lack of proper attitude to work, disintegrating agricultural sector, growing consumerism, economic dependency on the Gulf countries, increase in the number of people returning from the Gulf countries on account of loss of employment following the economic recession due to globalization, have created a great crisis for the state economy. The Kudumbasree Mission, set up with the objective of eradicating absolute poverty within 10 years, with its several initiatives has not reached anywhere near its goals and is extended indefinitely. The administrative crises that crop up now and then at the local as well as the state level have not only stalled the economic development of the State, but have aggravated the problems of unemployment, poverty and starvation of the masses.

HISTORY

The practices of de-centralization of power and people’s campaign for planning, conducted from the middle of 1090s, have opened up avenues for the emancipation and development of women. This has led to possibilities of ensuring the participation of women in the processes of poverty eradication and empowerment. In addition, a significant chunk of the resources, allocated for implementing projects under the People’s Campaign for Planning, has been used for programs for the development of the poor. The state administrators became convinced that if these two streams of possibilities are combined, it will lead to a major socio-economic transformation in the state. The Kudumbasree project was designed to assist the Local Self-Governance Institutions (L.S.G.I.s) to achieve this goal.

Kudumbasree was inaugurated on 17^th May 1998 by the then Prime Minister, Shri. A.B. Vajpayee. The Poverty Eradication Mission, alias Kudumbasree, started functioning from 1 April 1999, with the ambitious declaration that absolute poverty would be wiped out within ten years. In operating the Kudumbasree, the state government adopted an integrated approach of pooling and combining all the poverty eradication concepts and resources. To quote from the official document, “ The development model adopted by Kudumbasree is one that gives primacy to the participatory approach that places the poor at the center of the development process, with focus on women”.

The government has directed that the NHGs (Neighborhood Groups) should function as extension agencies that strengthen the local governance mechanisms as well as the Grama Sabhas. In this perspective it becomes clear that the link/relationship between the Kudumbasree and the L.S.G.I.s is complementary.

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THE STATUS OF KUDUMBASREE AYALKOOTAMS.doc

As per the section 53 of Kerala Municipality Act the Government of Kerala has constituted District Planning Committee at the district level to consolidate the plans prepared by Panchayat Raj Institutions and the Municipalities and to prepare a draft development plan for the district as a whole incorporating the plans of District Panchayat, Municipalities and Corporations in the District. It has also mentioned in the section that while preparing the plan it shall have regard to

a.       Matters of common interest between the Panchayaths and Municipalities including spatial planning, sharing of water and other physical and natural resources, the integrated development of infrastructure and environment conservation, type of available resources, whether financial or otherwise

      b.   Consult such institutions and organizations as the Governor may, by    order, specify. The Chairperson shall forward the development plan, as recommended by the committee, to the Government, for approval.

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Study on Functioning ofDistrict Planning Committee (DPC) in Kerala

SAHAYI - Centre for Collective Learning and Action has been actively involved in Strengthening Local Self Governance Institutions in the State for the last decade. In this endeavor Sahayi worked in collaboration with PRIA , its partners and NCRSOs in India

Sahayi’s interventions in Urban Governance started in 2000. Initially it was in three Municipalities in Wayanad , Alappuzha  & Idukki District . At present Urban governance strengthening programmes are undergoing in 4 Municipalities in Kollam & Kasaragode District. As part of this involvement, Sahayi initiated a process of preparing a status report of the urban governance institutions in Kerala. This report is a compilation of the details available in the secondary source of information.

In this effort I    received fruitful support from State Election Commission, Kerala and the Director and staff members in the Directorate of Municipalities. We thankfully acknowledge their support.

Special Thanks goes to Smt.Vanamala Shenoy, my colleague, who took a lot of pain to collect and compile the details and draft the report. I also express my thanks to Mr.G.Jose and Mr.P.K.Kunhiraman for coordinating the work and the other support staff in Sahayi   who provide their support for completing the work.

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STATUS OF URBAN GOVERNANCE