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.