The Indian Express           30.10.2013

RMC to publish its annual reports

For the first time in the last 13 years, Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC) is all set to publish its annual report, giving an account of administrative initiatives and achievements of the civic body as well as making data available for future planning. Top civic officials on Friday finalised the draft report of RMC covering years from 2,000 onwards. The report runs into more than 200 pages. It gives accounts of activities and initiatives taken by 44 departments and branches of the civic body in the last 13 years. Civic officials said the report had been sent for printing and copies were likely to be available by the second week of November.

"Being a public body, the RMC tends to have a weak institutional memory. Some information about its dealing with outside agencies would be privy to certain officers and it gets lost with their transfer or departure from RMC. The annual administrative report is an effort to document such information, besides maintaining a record of the routine activity of the civic body," Municipal Commissioner Ajay Bhadu said on Tuesday.

The commissioner further said that with the administrative report, the civic body was also carrying out a census of RMC properties for updating its inventory. "From this year onwards, the RMC would compile its administrative report every year. Similarly, we shall also present annual outcome budget giving comprehensive detail of important projects. Like a corporate entity, our general budget will also have a balance-sheet and profit and loss account," said Bhadu. The RMC had last published its annual report in 2000. Since then, the practice had remained suspended, civic officials said.

The commissioner further said that the RMC would create Centre for Documentation, Information and Learning (CDIL), a departmental setup which would host archives of the civic body. The centre will come up on Nana Mava road in coming years.

"In the form of annual reports, civic officials will have reference data available to understand the requirements of different departments and design future projects to meet them. The data will also help the RMC formulate policies," the commissioner added. He said that the public relations department of the civic body would handle the responsibility of compiling the report every year.