The purpose of the Citizens' Charter is to provide citizens with information about the various civic services in a user-friendly manner.  The Charter will also provide the people with a system to get civic problems resolved through systematic complaints.

By Shila Nair

Afternoon Despatch & Courier, October 14, 1998

Everybody wants a clean, healthy Mumbai.... its brass and gold tacks spit-polished and glowing in the afternoon sun, its roads and drains free of garbage and gaping holes, free of slums and squatters with runny nosed kids, its people free of unemployment and water shortage, free of unemployment and water shortage, free to roam the city free.  Without encumberances, without having to test endurance skills or run the steeple chase for miles.

But let's face it, nobody really wants to put their best foot forward and make all this wishful thinking come true.  India with its status of the largest democracy in the world and Mumbai with its extra cosmopolitan status desperately lacks a genuine people's movement that can radically transform the city into the city of dreams.  And we are not talking about Bollywood!

"Yes, we cast our votes and pay our taxes.  But we do not get what we should from our elected representatives.  We do not get the benefit of our money that we surrender as taxes.  Where exactly is accountability," asks young Nitai Mehta, co-founder of 'Praja' a voluntary organisation that wnats to work as a movement of the people, by the people, for the people.

Eight months ago, Nitai (son of the late Madhu Mehta of Hindustani Andolan) and around 12 like-minded citizens banded together to form Praja a "non-partisan, non-profit NGO."  The main objective of Praja is to bring accountability in public life.  "Our idea is to get people involved in all kinds of civic isues, make them as well as elected representatives accountable for performance and non-performance of the government in the city."

With objectives clearly defined, Praja in collaboration with the Brihanmumbai Mahanagar Palika has evolved "The Citizens' Charter' of the BMC.  The purpose of the Citizens'  Charter is to provide the citizens of Mumbai with important information about the various departments and public utility services of the municipal corporation in a user-friendly manner.  Ther charter will also give the citizens a system of how, where and with whom to lodge a complaint about unsatisfactory services provided by the corporation," explained Mehta.

The Charter has been divided into various chapters, each dealing with a civic problem that comes under a particular department in the BMC and the state government.  So, we have departments like the Solid Waste Management, Water Works, Sewerage Operations, Licence, Environmental Sanitation & Projects Education, BEST Undertaking, Electric Supply, Storm Water Drains, Roads, Traffic and Public Health.

Let's take, for instance, the chapter on Solid Waste Management.  The chapter lists the names of those who head the department, their functions and the functions of the department, the process of registering complaint.  The department's role is to sweep public roads, maintain public conveniences, collect and transport garbage, dispose solid waste and animal carcasses and enforce sanitary measures to keep the city clean.  "If the department is found negligent, the citizen can register a complaint in a particular format.  The steps have to be followed.  First, all complaints will have to be registered with the complaints officer of the respective ward.  If the complaints officer is intimated.  If he/she fails, the deputy municipal commissioner of the zone is informed of the same.  If there are complaints that cannot be tackled at the ward level, the complaints have to be registered with the deputy chief engineer or deputy head supervisor of the zone.  If that too fails, the chief engineer will have to be approached,"  eleborated Samantha Saldhana another co-founder of Praja.

Each chapter gives a list of concerned representatives/ authorities who have to be approached for redressing problems in each zone/ward.  The Citizens Charter also contains the names, addresses and telephone numbers of the all the officers, engineers, civic authorities, government officials etc. who have to be contacted for the same purpose.

Some chapters come with a message for the public and how they can help. "For example, in matters of garbage collection, the people can help by separating various kinds of garbage. The dry garbage (recyclable) and the wet garbage (like vegetable and other food items) can be packed separately," added Mehta.

Praja has also established a network with the Dignity Foundation (of senior citizens) and have provided in the Citizens' Charter, telephone numbers of the chief dignitarians of each ward.  The chief dignitarians will assist the complainant with getting their complaints redressed.  Praja will have monthly meetings with top officials of the municipal corporation to get chronic problems of the city solved and to take up macro issues which affect the city at large.

"We have also included in the Charter, information on how to create Street Committees and we hope that all concerned citizens will take the initiative in forming these committees," expressed Mehta.

But what happens if the complaints go unredressed? "We believe that problems will be resolved.   Additional municipal commissioner Ratnakar Gaekwad is also keen on the fulfilment of this project and will see to it that things work smoothly.  If all attempts fail, we can always approach the courts,"  said Nitai Mehta.

How will Praja and the Citizens' Chapter combat corruption, the root of all necessary and unnecessary evils and without which the spokes of the wheel of progress refuse to budge?"  I am sure that our system of citizen-authority interaction will help eliminate this evil as everything will be on paper and will be official,"  informed Mehta.

In order to disseminate the details of the Citizens' Charter to the public, theCharter will be published in the latest edition of the Tata Press Yellow Pages.  "We also plan to distribute around 13 lakh copies of the Charter in Hindi, English and Marathi," said a member of Praja.  "It is a fact that the people have lost trust in the government.  Praja will seek to re-build that trust," voiced Mehta and Saldhana.

Those interested in knowing more can contact 2188865, 2185739.