Participatory Governance

Context

The 74th Constitutional Amendment (1992) envisioned decentralised governance through ward committees in cities. However, cities like Bhuj—below the 3 lakh population threshold—were left without clear guidelines. As a result, citizens often felt excluded from planning, service delivery, and decision-making.

To bridge this gap, HIC's partner organisation Setu Abhiyan, has been mobilising residents to form ward committees since 2010. Today, 10 out of Bhuj’s 11 wards have active citizen-led committees, transforming how people engage with their local government.

Our Interventions

• Formed functional ward committees in 10 wards, involving over 7,000 households.
• Built capacity of citizens to identify priorities issues, monitor development works, and submit annual ward plans to the municipality.
• Regularly updated citizens about the government's social security and urban development schemes.
• Facilitated locally decided initiatives through transparent, consensus-based ward planning, budgeting, and service delivery.

Our Impact

• Over ₹9 crore worth of public works sanctioned based on ward plans.
• Bringing the local councillors, municipality and citizens together to hold dialogue, build accountability and resolve issues faced by citizens.
• Citizens have been proactive in the functioning of the ward committees, raising their issues with the councillor and taking responsibility for their wards.
• Set a precedent in the country for the successful implementation of the 74th Amendment Act and decentralised participatory governance, despite the lack of legal mandate for a small town like Bhuj.

Partners Involved

Setu Abhiyan