Now, report cards for civic bodies

FOR THE first time in the history of local bodies in the State, the government has decided to implement a report card system. Sources said the system was being introduced to meet the requirements of the Jawahar Lal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission.

FOR THE first time in the history of local bodies in the State, the government has decided to implement a report card system. Sources said the system was being introduced to meet the requirements of the Jawahar Lal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission.

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The mission will not give financial clearance to projects unless the performance of the local bodies is evaluated. The exercise is aimed at knowing how capable the local bodies are in handling money meant for projects under the JNURM.

According to a directive from the Urban Development Department to the Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC), the LMC will have to send a monthly report to the directorate of local bodies. All the local bodies will be evaluated on the basis of their performance in 12 sectors.

Sources in the LMC said officials were clueless about the report card system.
But, additional municipal commissioner Santosh Kumar said, “The government has fixed 12 criteria for evaluation. The corporations will be evaluated on the basis of availability of officials, their efficiency and work ethic, information and direction, performance of the streetlight section, state of drainage, roads, encroachments, water supply, sanitation, waste disposal, sewer, public toilets, parks, playgrounds, community centres, birth and death certificates.” Kumar added, “The corporations will be marked on a scale of 10. All these factors and file work will be considered for appraisal.”

He said, “The system will create competition amongst the local bodies. In order to boost their ratings, the corporations will improve their style of functioning and the civic conditions.”