Project: Capacity Development for
Decentralisation in Kerala
BACKGROUND
In 1993, the Constitution of India was amended (73rd amendment on rural and 74th on urban decentralisation) to create legal, constitutional and political justification for the devolution of political autonomy to local bodies, namely, the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs). Subsequently in 1994, the State of Kerala passed its Act on Decentralisation providing the necessary legal framework to initiate decentralisation. After the enactment, in 1996, the state decided to devolve more powers to the local governments and launched the ‘People’s Plan Campaign’ for participatory local level planning. To this end, there was a need for capacity building not only of newly elected representatives but also of other stakeholders such as officials and citizens. The state took on this role and
initiated training. To ensure quality as well as consistency across the state, the need to systematize the various training programmes soon became evident. As a response, the project on Capacity Development for Decentralisation in Kerala (CapDecK) was initiated in July 1999. The goal is to strengthen and support the state’s efforts in capacity building for democratic decentralisation and devolution of powers to local bodies. The project is supported by SDC and through the years has adapted to the changing needs of the government to institutionalize capacity building for Kerala’s PRIs. The experiences of the project have been documented and are being disseminated amongst interested stakeholders. CapDecK has been a model project that can be replicated in and adapted to other states of India, as well as in other South-Asian countries.
GOAL
The overall objective of the project is to strengthen decentralisation processes and local governance initiatives in Kerala, as well as in India.
BUDGET
October 2007 to December 2009: 985,000 Swiss Francs.PARTNERS
Government of Kerala: Department of Local Self Government and Rural Development and State Planning Board. Women’s Commission. KudumbashreeMission (State Poverty Eradication Mission). NGOs. Panchayats and Panchayat Associations.
Project
Location
Kerala. KM GG DC Phot o © R ichar d G erst erSUCCESS HIGHLIGHT
“With CapDecK’s support, the Kerala Institute of Local Administration emerged as a leading institution in encouraging training of local government functionaries and establishing an institutionalized capacity building system for decentralization.”
LINKS
www.sdcindia.in/en/Home/Links www.sdccapdeck.inAPPROACHES
• The experiences, learning and knowledge generated, are being collated, consolidated and disseminated amongst different stakeholders at state, national and at South-Asia regional level.• The State institution
mandated to train elected representatives is the Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA). Under this project it will continue getting the support to meet the emerging training and capacity building requirements.
• KILA and the State
Government receive support to integrate and mainstream gender issues in local governance. Furthermore, the capacities of PRIs are enhanced with regard to Natural Resource Management based planning.
RESULTS
In 2006, the 21,000 newly elected representatives of the local governments received an initial orientation and an in-depth training on various aspects of local governance including rules, procedures and office management. The capacity of KILA was enhanced to prepare modules for training as well as to put together a cadre of trainers in all districts. A platform where stakeholders could meet to share experiences, knowledge and to launch advocacy initiatives was initiated during this phase.
CapDecK also supported the initiation of local government associations (Panchayat Associations).
The model of Jaagratha Samithies, which are local level village vigilance committees for empowerment of women and fighting atrocities against them, was evolved through CapDecK. The State Government will now mainstream and institutionalize them in selected panchayats.
KILA and other actors, such as partner NGOs and panchayats, have been working on and improving gender issues through Jaagratha Samithies by carrying out studies on the status of women. Their efforts are bearing fruit and gender is now emerging as a cross-cutting theme in local governance.
Pro-active collaborations between PRIs and civil society as well as partnerships involving institutions, such as the State Poverty Eradication Mission (Kudumbashree) and the State Women’s Commission, helped strengthen local governance. Furthermore, models of approaches and methods to make village citizens’ assemblies (Gram Sabhas) stronger and empower marginalized groups were successfully developed and tested. Pilot initiatives demonstrated the potential of PRIs to effectively intervene in key issues such as poverty reduction, empowerment of disadvantaged groups, health services provision, natural resource management, good governance, and local level monitoring of impacts of climate change. In PRI-civil society partnerships norms and guidelines were developed to guide civil society organizations in their interactions with elected Panchayat representatives and their bodies.
CONTACT
Programme Coordination Unit SDC-CapDecK
Pattom, Trivandrum, Kerala, India. E-mail: capdeck@asianetindia.com Phone: + 91- 471-2543392
