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EditorialWe are glad to present you the sixth issue of Jaldarshan, and would like to thank our readers for feedback to the previous issues. It is always a pleasure when two-way communication is established. We are eager to hear from you about your views on urban governance, or any new initiatives you have taken in your local bodies.

Last month we were all busy with data collection of 167 urban local bodies for the 13th Finance Commission reporting on water supply and sanitation for the year 2011-12. This was undertaken by the PAS program team of Urban Management Centre (UMC) and CEPT University in association with The Urban Development Department (UDD), Gujarat Urban Development Company Ltd. (GUDC), Gujarat Urban Development Mission (GUDM) of the Government of Gujarat. City staff from respective local bodies came to Gandhinagar GUDM office where UMC team facilitated the data entry into the online software. With this massive exercise, cities will be able to see their performance data for four years and also the self-set targets for the coming year. This data will be gazetted by the Government of Gujarat and submitted to the 13th Finance Commission for receiving grants.

Finance Commission is an important component of any federal economy. It is the body which gives recommendations on distribution of tax revenues between the Union and the States and amongst the States themselves. Further, Government of India made 74th Constitutional Amendment in 1992 to improve the performance ability of municipalities in water supply, sewerage, solid waste management, and storm water drainage services.

The 13th Finance Commission has made a distinction from the earlier Commissions and has divided the grants to be distributed to the states for local bodies into two parts - general basic grant and general performance grant. The performance grant can be accessed only if the state complies with nine conditions or reforms.

We will keep updating you about other developments on urban front in Gujarat and India in this space. Till then, wish you happy reading…

Manvita Baradi Director, UMC

Issue 6. March 2012(For private circulation only)

In this Issue 13th Finance Commission

and Data Collection in Gujarat

PAS Highlights: Lathi – House to House Water

Survey

Tete-a-tete: Mita H. Brahmbhatt

Leading Practices: Tree Census by Ahmedabad

Municipal Corporation (AMC)

UMC Corner: INTACH-SATTE Award to

UMC

Film Review: Water Connect Awareness

Campaign

ECBC Workshop Highlights

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to recommend transfer of financial resources from the state governments to these local bodies in the form of tax shares, grant-in-aids, tax assignments as also measures needed to improve their financial position.

Till now two State Finance Commissions (SFCs) have been constituted in Gujarat, first in 1994 and second in 2003.

Performance Linked GrantsThe Thirteenth Central Finance Commission has offered performance grants to ULBs that are conditional on implementing a specific list of governance reforms. The Commission allocated Rs 23,111 crore to ULBs in India – a quantum jump from the Rs 5000 crore allocated by the Twelfth Central Finance Commission. Making a departure from the previous Central Finance Commissions, the Thirteenth Central Finance Commission has

13th Finance Commission and Data Collection in Gujarat

While the states have a predominant share of spending responsibilities to improve services to citizens, the Centre has been vested with a predominant share of the powers of taxation. To remedy this imbalance,

from the collections by the Centre, funds must be devolved to the states and must be distributed among the states in a fair manner. The finance commission undertakes this task.

The tax structure in India which gives the Centre rights to impose taxes on a large number of items is bound to create revenue deficit in state budgets, and therefore the Constitution has provided that a body which works independently and re-constituted every five years should decide the quantum of revenue transfer to the states. This is the Finance Commission (FC).

However, division of tax alone is not adequate to provide for the states needs. Therefore, the finance commission identifies areas that require specific funding. Such money is transferred in the form of grants. The Finance Commission, for instance, has provided grants for education, health, calamity relief, bridges, buildings and forest.

The basis for recommendations on transfers includes various parameters for deciding its awards. The Finance Commission, for instance, has assigned specific weights to population, income distance, poverty, geographic area and tax efforts of the states to decide the quantum of taxes that should be transferred to the states.

Thirteen Finance Commissions have been appointed so far at the intervals of every five years. The 13th Finance Commission was formed in 2007 for the period of five years i.e. 2009-10 to 2014-15 under the chairmanship of Mr. Vijay Kelkar. The report of the 13th FC has been submitted to the Union Government in February 2010. Its recommendations are to cover the five year period from 2010 to 2015. The 13th Finance Commission tried to strengthen the finances of urban local bodies (ULBs) in the broader perspective of strengthening urban governance.

State Finance Commission- under 74th CAAA significant initiative of the Government of India to strengthen municipal govern-ance is the enactment of the 74th Constitution Amendment Act (CAA) in 1992. This initiative is an attempt to improve the performance ability of municipalities, so that they are able to discharge their duties efficiently. Urban local bodies/munici-palities play an important role in the planning and development of urban areas. The 73rd and 74th Amendments to the Constitution of India require the state governments to appoint Finance Commissions under Article 243-I and 243-Y

Data collection at GUDM, Gandhinagar

In discussion with a ULB staff

13th FC data published in Gujarat state gazette

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divided the grants allocated to the local bodies into two components – general basic grant and general performance grant. The performance grant can be accessed by states only if they comply with the nine conditions stipulated by the Commission. This came into effect from the year 2011-12. As per these recommendations, a state government should:l Introduce a supplement to the

budget incorporating plan-wise and non-plan-wise classification of transfers to local bodies;

l Put in place an audit system for all local bodies;

l Constitute an independent Local Body Ombudsman;

l Electronically transfer grants provided by the Commission to local bodies in five days;

l Prescribe through an Act qualifications of persons for appointment as members of SFCs;

l Fully enable local bodies to levy property tax without hindrance;

l Constitute a State Property Tax Board for assessing property tax;

l Put in place standards for delivery of essential services; and

l Require Municipal Corporations with more than a million population to put in place a Fire Hazard Response and Mitigation Plan.

Putting in Place Standards for Delivery of Essential Services Provided by Local Bodies.The 13th FC observed that either due to lack of finances or for other reasons there are issues in the quality of services being provided by the local bodies. The local bodies in their representations to the Commission indicated their inability to meet the basic needs or core services like drinking water, sewerage, solid waste management and street lights at acceptable levels of service.

The FC has recommended that the state government must notify or facilitate the local bodies to notify by the end of every financial year, the standards to be achieved for all essential services proposed to be achieved by them by the end of succeeding fiscal year. Recognizing the enormity of the process, the 13th FC suggested to take up four services initially viz., water supply, sewerage, solid waste management,

and storm water drains. The standards for achievement should be decided through a consultative process. The process of benchmarking should be on the lines of the Handbook on Service Level Benchmarks published by the Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India. A notification indicating the standards to be achieved by the urban local bodies should be published in the state gazette to ensure compliance.

Data Collection from ULBs in GujaratUrban Management Centre (UMC) and CEPT University are jointly conducting Performance Assessment System (PAS) program in Gujarat since the last three years. The Performance Assessment System has been aligned with the Service Level Benchmarks (SLB) process of the Government of India. In this context, the data collection for 13th Finance Commission in Gujarat for the year 2011-12 was undertaken by UMC for the Government of Gujarat and in partnership with Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD), Urban Development Department (UDD), Gujarat Urban Development Mission (GUDM) and Gujarat Urban Development Company (GUDC) at GUDM building in Gandhinagar.

Data for all 167 ULBs was filled in an online software module developed under the PAS program. The software helped ULBs to come out with the indicators in the four sectors and set targets for the coming year. All 167 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) were informed and invited at GUDM office in Gandhinagar on pre-scheduled date and time. About 15 cities were invited for online data collection in one day. City staff were requested to bring data on general information about the city/ town, water supply, sewerage and drainage, solid waste management,

equity related information along with supporting documents.

UMC staff, in consultation with representatives from respective ULBs filled data of all these sectors online. The ULB officials/ staff also gave their support and cooperation in providing the required information. Some of them very enthusiastically volunteered and insisted to fill up the data themselves in the software.

UMC also helped the cities in setting targets to be achieved in each sector for the next financial year. It was done based on trend of the current indicators and cities were explained how to set realistic targets for the next financial year. The ULBs were also given prints and soft copies of their city’s data in CDs. The online data collection for 13th Finance Commission for the year 2011-12 ensured speedy and hassle-free data collection.

ReferencesFinance Commission of India. About us (online) Available at <http://fincomindia.nic.in/

ShowContentOne.aspx?id=10&Section=1> (Accessed February 2012)

National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA). Impact of the 74th CAA, Consolidated report summary (online)

Available at <http://www.niua.org/Publications/research_studies/74caa_v1/Impact%20of%20the%2074th%20CAA-Consolidated%20Report%20Vol%20-%20I_summary.pdf> (Accessed February 2012)

Directorate of Municipal Administration, Govt. of Karnataka, State Finance Commission Grants (online)

Available at <http://municipaladmn.gov.in/SFC> (Accessed February 2012)

National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA). March 2011. Report on Tracking CFCs and SFCs Grants to Selected States and ULBs in India (online)

Available at <http://www.niua.org/projects/tracking_cfc_sfs/Tracking-CFC-andSFC%20report.pdf> (Accessed February 2012)

Administrative Staff College of India. Operationalising 13th Finance Commission Recommendations – Urban; Setting Standards for Service Delivery (online)

Available at <http://www.asci.org.in/13thfc-urban/ServiceDelivery.html> (Accessed February 2012)

Data being entered by a ULB staff

Online data entry being carried out by UMC with ULB staff

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Water audit is a way to assess water related services, assessing water availability

to consumers is a part of the same. UMC team, in association with Lathi Municipality undertook an exercise of conducting a diagnostic survey of the water supply in Lathi. Part of this diagnostic survey included measuring the quantity of water actually reaching the citizens at their homes. With this context, a household level bucket survey was conducted.

UMC team adopted a unique approach to carry out this survey. It was decided to engage school students for under-taking the survey in different parts of the city at different time of water supply. The idea behind this was also to encourage students to know about their city’s water distribution system by direct participation. The principal of Kalapi Vinay Mandir school of Lathi was approached for allowing students to be part of this activity. Following his confirmation, the school principal selected 30 students of class 10th to participate in the survey. They were divided in group for each of the water zone. There were two major groups A & B. Each group was further divided into four sub groups (A1,A2,A3,A4- B1,B2,B3,B4) and each subgroup comprised of two students. In view of the short time available (45 min. supply

time), approximately 3-4 survey points were allocated to each of the sub groups. As the water supply to each of the zone is on alternate days, the exercise also had to be scheduled for two days. Allocation to each group was done as per the zone wise supply. Mapping of the water zones was done on city map and ward mapping was done using cell phone’s Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking system. Total 185 points were earmarked on maps for survey and 18 supply zones were covered in two days’ time. Students were provided with required tools like 5/10 litre buckets, forms, stopwatch, map and marker.

Prior to the survey exercise, the identified students were given orientation about the PAS programme and its objectives in detail. They were also shown a documentary film on the programme so that they can get more clarity on the programme objectives. The students were given training and demonstration about the exercise and were explained about the care needed for correct observation. Students were given detail explanation about the mode of carrying out the survey, identifying the survey points from the map of the supply zone duly marked with the location, interacting with the target consumers, undertaking the main bucket and stop-watch exercise, filling of the format. The explanation was repeated 3-4 times so that the students properly understand and grasp the required methodology. A demonstration of the bucket filling and observing the time from the stopwatch was specially undertaken with the group as a whole and sub-group as a part in order to familiarize them with the

intricacies involved in measuring water supply. The teachers and the principal were also involved to render required effectiveness during the exercise.

The students also participated in the whole exercise very actively. They deserve special acknowledgment here especially because even in the cold December, they reached school on time at six in the morning to start the work. One team member from UMC accompanied each group during the water supply measuring exercise. Of the two students, one would take the water supply measurement and another would note time. They also interacted with the users/ consumers

PAS HighlightsLathi – House to House Water SurveyUnder the Performance Assessment System (PAS) study, Urban Management Centre (UMC) has been collecting data on various municipal services in ULBs of Gujarat. It has been observed that in absence of metering at the water procurement or water distribution stations, ULBs are unable to accurately quantify water produced and water distributed.

Students being explained about PAS programme and its objectives

Students being trained in bucket survey

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and filled up the forms. UMC team had also prepared a monitoring sheet to keep track of each group during the exercise. The entire work was carried out successfully with active participation of these school students, which was also a memorable experience for UMC team. At the end of the exercise the

students were awarded certificates of participation as a token of appreciation.

Results of the house to house water survey are currently being computed in which details like amount of water being produced by the city and amount of water reaching citizens is being calculated. The difference of both will provide amount of Non-Revenue Water (NRW) supplied in the city. This

unique approach is also a cost effective solution where expensive equipments are not required. This experiment could be undertaken in any city easily. In addition, the school kids also became aware about the difficulties of water supply which will build them as local champions of water conservation.

– Based on discussion with and information provided by UMC’s technical advisor Mr. M.C.Mehta

Tete-a-tete

Mita H. Brahmbhatt, Chief Officer- Vadnagar Municipality

Mita H. Brahmbhatt was among the first five candidates in 2001 batch of Gujarat Public Service Commission (GPSC) class II officers. She studied M.Sc. – analytical chemistry, and then passed GPSC to become a chief officer. A firm believer in fair system of working and committed for betterment of the city and municipality, Mita Brahmbhatt since last 10 years has worked as a Chief Officer (CO) and she is currently CO, Vadnagar Municipality. Previously she was Chief Officer of Deesa and Mehsana Municipalities.

Mitaben among few women Chief Officers, was first posted in Deesa Municipality, where she served for five years. She initiated along with Deesa municipal staff many development works like road development, forestation and worked on encroachment removal, etc. “In Mehsana, I decided to adopt Public Private Partnership (PPP) model for development of city infrastructure. For this we organized meetings with prominent citizens, businessmen, builders etc. and convinced them that municipality will pass their projects faster if they lend their financial help for development of their city. Thus, we involved people in the process, gathered funds and developed circles, footpaths, modern bus-stands and installed sign boards in Mehsana.” Says Ms Brahmbhatt. It reinforced people’s trust in development works. This also resulted in improvement in quality of work as people here were directly involved. The municipality signed a contract with SELVEL company where, the company paid bills of 75 streetlights and in return the company was allowed to put advertisement boards on the these street light posts. . Mehsana Municipality had benefit of about Rs. 50 lakhs in seven years through this initiative, informs Mitaben.

She believes that a well-planned development is of utmost importance for well being of any city. Vadnagar can undertake city development by under-taking town planning scheme mechanism. After 1925, no new water and drainage network has been planned for the development of Vadnagar. Vadnagar is a historic town, and hence it is important that integrated planning is undertaken. She mentioned that water and underground drainage network project worth Rs. 1 crore is also proposed.

Talking about challenges of working as a woman Chief Officer, she felt that the position of the chief officer is gender neutral. She is also expected to be on duty 24x7 like any other CO. There are many hurdles in the field and as a woman these challenges magnifies. However, she says that if you are sensitive and committed to work, one gets moral strength to struggle for the benefit of the municipality. Since there is lack of qualified staff in the municipality. She has to take additional responsibilities and make sure work gets done to the desired quality. She says job of CO is challenging and one has to walk on two sided sword, you have to be holding on to the laws, and also remain updated, alert and strong.

– As told to Shivangi Bhatt

Students measuring water supply with bucket and stop-watch

A group of students being explained about their locations of survey in the early morning

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Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), for the first time, has conducted a

comprehensive tree census in the city. As part of the census, the number of trees across 64 wards of the city were counted with species-wise bifurcation. An action plan was decided for the task which was conducted in February and March 2012. Deputy Municipal Commissioner Mr. S.K. Langa informed Urban Management Centre (UMC) that a tree census is basically conducted by The Forest Department. Earlier, tree

counting was done in Ahmedabad by Forest Department in 2005 which could be called a random survey instead of tree census.

Owing to inadequate human resources with state Forest Department, AMC joined hands with the state Forest Department along with Municipal School Board and the botany department of Gujarat University (GU) for conducting a tree census. The Forest Department and the Army have joined hands to conduct the census in the Cantonment Board premises. While Forest Department provided technical assistance, manpower was provided by Municipal School Board and GU’s botany department.

The tree census process was conducted from 5th February to 26th February on every Sunday. The data collection task was carried out on every Tuesday. For preparation of tree counting, 64 ward wise green images were created with the help of Bhaskaracharya Institute for Space Applications and Geoinformatics (BISAG) and Google Image.

Mr. Tejas Bhandari, Asst. Municipal Commissioner provided details that the Forest Department conducted the survey in 70 dense green areas.

AMC conducted the census in the remaining municipal limits and the Army undertook the census in the cantonment area. The city was divided in 64 wards and 153 blocks. For better analysis, these areas were further divided into 4 types- residential area, industrial area, educational institutions and open plots and areas under AMC. A team of one tree expert, one coordinator and four to six tree volunteers was formed for each block. The tree volunteers were 8th std. students from municipal schools of AMC. About 35 teams were formed separately by forest department for tree census in 70 green patches. Total 1710 persons were roped in for

conducting the exercise. A guideline was also prepared with names and colour pictures of the trees, as it is essential to identify a tree while conducting its census. One day training programme for the tree census volunteers was organized on January 29, 2012. The volunteers were trained in various facets related to trees and their identification. They were also trained to measure a tree’s trunk. For instance, if the trunk measures more than five feet, only then it should be considered as a tree. Trees with minimum 4.5 ft height and 10 cm plus girth were covered in census. Types of trees were also identified in the census.

A separate format was also prepared to note details of heritage trees and rare tress with its photographs for documenting in special section.

AMC and forest department has finished tree counting in 153 blocks of 64 wards and in 70 green patches. The final report is expected to be ready by May this year.

The tree census will help measure the present green cover of the city and the exact number and area wise proportion of trees in the city. It will also provide total biomass of trees which is an indirect measure of ‘carbon storage’ in the city and can help measure effects of climate change. This will also help derive the number of trees per person and will help plan future green cover for the rapidly growing city. Ideally the city should have 15% area allotted to green cover.

– Shivangi Bhatt(From discussion with Mr. S.K.Langa, Dy. Municipal Commissioner- AMC and Mr. Tejas Bhandari, Asst. Municipal Commissioner- AMC)

Leading PracticesTree census by Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC)Ahmedabad city is making rapid strides in the direction of growth and development. Being the largest city of Gujarat and a major hub of economic activities, Ahmedabad witnesses a high rate of immigration. With growing urbanization and increase in population, more and more open spaces are being occupied, resulting in depletion of city’s green cover. Like population census, tree census is also essential to keep a track of increase or decrease in number of trees and its density in city areas.

A volunteer measuring tree trunk

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UMC Director, Manvita Baradi (also Gujarat state INTACH convener) and Dy. Director,

Meghna Malhotra received the award from Maj. Gen. (Retd.) L.K. Gupta, Chairman, INTACH at an event ceremony organized at Delhi on 10th February, 2012.

INTACH is India’s largest non-profit membership organization dedicated to conservation and preservation of India’s natural, cultural, living, tangible and intangible heritage. It has signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with South Asia Travel Tourism Exchange (SATTE) to institute the SATTE - INTACH Heritage Tourism Awards for giving recognition to inspiring and innovative work done by individuals/organization/ institutions on the following areas:l Innovative, Adaptive reuse of

heritage concepts and properties for tourism purposes

l Unexplored Heritage Sites designed for Heritage trails, and walk and tours its marketing and promotion

l Rural Craft and Community based Heritage Tourism

l Quality work on education, dissemination and outreach of heritage tourism

l Exemplary work done for the preservation and promotion of historic towns

This gives us great encouragement in working towards the cause of heritage conservation and awareness and UMC takes this opportunity to acknowledge the Surat Municipal Corporation’s efforts towards heritage management.

‘At the Core’ published Surat project details, is available from UMC office. The book takes the reader to the surviving eye-witnesses of the city’s past- the buildings, the streets and the monuments. The understanding of growth and settlement in this region has been detailed here makes the book an eye-opener.

For copies of the book, contact UMC office, Ahmedabad. Also available at Crossword, Ahmedabad. Or write to info@umcasia.org

Film ReviewWater Connect Awareness Campaign

Any municipality need to reach and connect to its citizens to get their support in implementation of a new development program. ‘Water Connect Awareness Campaign’ film was part of a special campaign to spread awareness among people on a new project undertaken by Nagapattinam Municipality with the help of ICMA and USAID to deliver clean chlorinated drinking water to every household in the town. The film was made in September-2007 by UMC. One of the leading and popular Tamil film actress Khushboo was requested for anchoring the film and to appeal the citizens to approach the municipality for getting household water connections.

The film talks about how women of Nagapattinam had to spend a huge amount of time and efforts in fetching drinking water for their families. To relieve its citizens from this daily struggle, Nagapattinam Municipality initiated this project which was part of the Post-Tsunami Recovery CityLinks partnership (2005-2007) between Cuddalore and Nagapattinam Municipalities of Tamilnadu and Cities of Florida.

The film provides its viewers a snapshot of the existing water distribution system of Nagapattinam Municipality. The project coordinator in the film informs how project associates will visit the citizens to explain key features of the project and will also distribute application forms for household water connections.

The film attempts to connect with the citizens to come forward to avail the benefits of this project and eventually reduce incidence of water borne diseases.

UMC is distributing this film. It can be purchased from UMC office in Ahmedabad. Write to info@umcasia.org

UMC CornerINTACH-SATTE Award to UMCWe feel immense pleasure to inform you that Urban Management Centre (UMC) received INTACH-SATTE (The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage – South Asia Travel Tourism Exchange) Awards- 2011 under the category of ‘Exemplary work done for the Preservation and Promotion of Historic Towns’. UMC was awarded for its remarkable work on Documentation and Listing for improved Heritage Management and Inner City Revitalization in Surat, Rander in Gujarat. The project work has been published under the title- At the Core: Understanding the built heritage of Surat and Rander.

Ms. Manvita Baradi and Mrs. Meghna Malhotra receiving the award fromMaj. Gen. (Retd.) L.K. Gupta, Chairman, INTACH

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The Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) was launched by Government of India in May

2007 under the Energy Conservation Building Act, 2001 for its voluntary adoption in the country. ECBC sets the minimum energy performance standards for large commercial buildings after taking into account the five climatic zones of the country. It is a document that specifies the energy performance requirements for all commercial buildings to be constructed in India. Buildings with an electrical connected load of 500 kW or more are covered by the ECBC.

As per the EC Act, the Central Government can prescribe ECBC for adoption in all the states of India. The State Governments have the power to amend ECBC to suit regional and local climatic conditions and direct the building owners and occupiers to comply with ECBC.

Urban Management Centre (UMC) is partnering with the CEPT University, Gujarat Energy Development Agency (GEDA) and Shakti Foundation towards facilitating ECBC implementation in cities of Gujarat.

In this context, a half-day sensitization workshop was jointly organized by Urban Development and Urban Housing Department, Govt. of Gujarat, Gujarat Urban Development Company Ltd. (GUDC), Gujarat Energy Development Agency (GEDA), Directorate of Municipalities (DoM), Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) and all partners on 6th January, 2012 to discuss the Road Map for implementation of ECBC in Gujarat. The objective of this workshop was to discuss the need for ECBC, its scope and contents, implementation framework and monitoring mechanisms with ULBs of Gujarat.

The major participants of the workshop were from 10 urban local bodies of

Gujarat including Commissioners, Dy. Municipal Commissioners, Chief Officers, Town Planners and Chief Engineers.

The participants and invitees presented/discussed the critical importance and need of ECBC in national and state level context, the present institutional mechanism for development and implementation, role of different stakeholders in implementation and importance of feedback in decision making process, implementation challenges and efforts required for enforcement of ECBC. Issues related to institutional mechanism for implementing ECBC at local level- through GDCR, procedure of ECBC compliance as a part of building use (BU) permission, scope of ECBC and its qualifying criteria, training and capacity building were also discussed.

Gujarat has been supportive in implementation of ECBC with its various efforts in the direction of localizing ECBC and developing implementation framework. AUDA is in the process of revising its General Development Control Regulation (GDCR) and is keen to know about incorporation of ECBC in the revised GDCR and further in the building by-laws. It is also observed that some of the aware developers in Gujarat have already started integrating EE principles in their future projects.

With initiation of such efforts, and with the announcement of GEDA and BEE to support pilots for ECBC compliance in the state and extensive training, we can hope that the road to implementation of ECBC in Gujarat may face fewer hurdles.

The Urban Management Centre is a not-for-profit organization based in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, working towards professionalizing urban management in India and South Asia. UMC provides technical assistance and support to Indian state local government associations and implements programs that work towards improvement in cities by partnering with city governments. UMC builds and enhances the

capacity of city governments by providing much-needed expertise and ready access to innovations on good governance implemented in India and abroad. UMC is a legacy organization of International City/County Management Association (ICMA) and hence is also known as ICMA-South Asia. More details are available on www.umcasia.org

The ‘Performance Assessment of Urban Water and Sanitation (PAS) in India’, an action research project being coordi-nated by CEPT University, has been initiated with funding support from the Bill and Melinda Gates

Foundation. The project, to be implemented over five years (2009-2014) in Gujarat and Maharashtra, aims to develop performance measurement and monitoring system for urban water and sanitation services. The PAS Project follows the framework of Service Level Benchmarking of the Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India. The Urban Management Centre (UMC) is CEPT University’s partner in Gujarat.www.pas.org.in

UMC Editorial TeamManvita BaradiDirector–UMCMeghna MalhotraDy. Director–UMCShivangi BhattDocumentation Officer–UMC

Translation by Dilip TrivediDesign by Jalp Lakhia

You can send us articles or suggestions at info@umcasia.org, which we would be happy to print in the next newsletter. Please send them within one month of receipt of this issue.

Chief guests at the workshop

ECBC Workshop Highlights