The Hindu 06.01.2014
Nod for Rs.49-crore JNNURM city plan
State-level RPMC and 14 city RPMC’s to be set up.
A Reforms and Performance Management Cell (RPMC) at the State-level; 14 city RPMCs; preparation of State capacity building plan and integrated city plan; and appurtenant peri-urban area are the highlights of the Rs.49-crore city plan proposals cleared under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) for Kerala.
The activities aimed at capacity building and institutionalising urban management in the State were cleared by the Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee (CSMC) under the Urban Infrastructure and Governance (UIG), JNNURM, at its last meeting in Delhi, official sources told The Hindu .
Of the Rs.49-crore approved by the CSMC chaired by the Union Urban Development Secretary Sudhir Krishna, a sum of Rs.11.12 crore — 25 per cent of the approved budget — has been recommended for release to Kerala as the first instalment.
Training institute
Strengthening of the Administrative Training Institute by establishing urban management cell at the State Institute of Rural Development, preparation of business-cum-financial plan for the projects for the 14 RPMCs and 15 training module forms part of the capacity building plan.
The other activities mooted by the State and cleared by the CSMC included undertaking 87 residential training programmes, 29 State-level workshops, undertaking 15 exposure visits, nine research studies/ documentation of best practices, and developing IEC materials.
The State has been asked to prepare a comprehensive capacity building plan taking into account the requirements of the urban local bodies, following the capacity building tool kit and guidelines, with year-wise physical as well as financial targets.
The comprehensive capacity building plan should be submitted to the Union Ministry latest by September 2014, sources said. The second instalment would be released only after the receipt of the plan. The States has been asked to set up a monitoring system for the effective implementation of the capacity building activities. The proposed RPMCs should be constituted exclusively for capacity building for urban development.
It has been made clear that the focus of the State capacity building plan should be on training programmes rather than exposure visits. Another condition put forward is that the nodal officer should be a director-level officer from the Urban Development Department.
The clearance for the capacity building proposal comes close on the move to address infrastructure issues in urban local bodies in the State. The State has cleared Rs.39.54 crore to the Kerala Sustainable Urban Development Project to extend professional and financial support to them to prepare detailed project reports for the schemes identified.
