SIGN the petition to demand transperancy and guidelines

About the Campaign

Campaign for demanding transparency and accountability in disbursement of Councillors Funds

Delhi is home to 134 MCD Councillors — local area representatives — who we vote into power and who are allocated around Rs 1 crore every year under the discretionary Councillor Funds Scheme to spend on the development needs of their respective wards. The total sum allocated to Councillors in Delhi under this scheme was approximately Rs 520 crores over the period 2002-2007.

Isn’t it strange that even though WE vote for Councillors and it is OUR money, we have no idea about where is it being spent?

There are no means of accessing this crucial information. It is not available to citizens by the MCD or its Councillors through any website or publications

Satark Nagrik Sangathan (SNS), used the RTI to access information about how these Municipal Councillors are utilizing public funds — our funds.

THE PROCESS
Details of all works undertaken using the Councillor Funds during 2002-2007 (i.e. for all 134 wards, for the last five years) were sought. The information was not easy to obtain - it took several months and numerous appeals to procure. Moreover, the records provided were in very technical language and needed to be demystified. Read about the problems we faced in accessing information http://snsindia.org/InfoAccessProbs.asp

THE FINDINGS
The three most crucial issues that have gotten highlighted as a result of this exercise are:
· The data obtained reveals that in many wards there is a huge gap between the needs of the citizens and the expenditure pattern of the councillors. Often money has been spent on low priority works such as building animal figures or constructing fountains in parks when people do not have access to drinking water and basic sanitation.
· There are no mechanisms in place for citizen participation whereby councillors ask citizens what their development needs are, and
· Most alarmingly, there are no guidelines at present that govern how the councillors should disburse these funds allocated to them.


THE AIMS OF THE CAMPAIGN http://snsindia.org/AimsCampaign.asp
· Demand transparency in the processes of allocation and disbursement of the Councillor funds.
· Along with interested citizens and NGOs, demand that the Municipal Corporation of Delhi provide Information on each work undertaken using the Councillor Fund available in easy to understand language in the public domain through the MCD website and on prominently placed boards in each Ward.


· Evolve and draft proper guidelines on how Councillors Funds should be spent (there are no guidelines in existence at the moment) and pressurize the government to adopt appropriate guidelines. This would help ensure that the councillor funds are spent judiciously on works that address the most pressing development needs of the residents of each Ward.

To read about the campaign in the Media: http://www.snsindia.org/MediaReports.asp
To participate in the campaign and for more information on the campaign, contact:
satarknagriksangathan@gmail.com or call – 9811558533 / 9811420295 http://snsindia.org/GetInvolved.asp