Janaagraha Presents MyCityMyBudget Campaign report to MCC
Mangaluru: 5,007 citizen inputs with a special focus on Climate Action, received from across 60 wards through the MyCityMyBudget campaign, for inclusion in the MCC budget for 2023-24
The 2nd edition of MyCityMyBudget, the annual participatory budgeting campaign run by the MCC in collaboration with Janaagraha was launched on 21st January 2023 at the Mangaluru Mini Town Hall. The budget bus covered all the 60 wards spread across 3 zones for 9 days to receive budget inputs. Over 5,007 inputs were received including both offline and online. The detailed report is submitted to the Commissioner’s office for inclusion in the MCC budget for 2023-24.
“Mangaluru City Corporation is preparing a citizen-centric budget for which various initiatives to elicit citizens’ opinion was taken up. The Corporation aimed at reaching the grassroots levels to gather inputs through citizen participation by organizing the MyCityMyBudget Campaign in coalition with Janaagraha. The Corporation will now prepare a citizen-centric budget for FY 2023-24 taking into cognizance the public consultation meetings conducted by the Mayor at the Zonal levels; report analysis; Elected Representatives and Government officials’ suggestions. We are pleased that Mangaluru City will become the 2nd city in Karnataka after Bengaluru to consider the citizens’ inputs and prepare a citizen-centric budget.” Shri Channabasappa K, KAS Commissioner, MCC.
Highlights of the MyCityMyBudget Campaign
The top 3 priorities are good-quality roads, footpaths and streetlights.
45% of inputs received showed citizens prioritising safe, walkable and well-lit roads and footpaths in Mangalore
1 out of every 4 citizens registered the need for cleaner Mangaluru through better garbage collection infrastructure
Around 1/4th of the wards demanded well-maintained underground drainage system
20% of the city’s wards want to focus on improvement in Public Health and hygiene by providing well-maintained public toilets
6 out of every 10 wards in Mangaluru prioritised the need for improvement in road infrastructure with a focus towards good roads and walkable streets with footpaths
In Central Zone and Kadri Zone, citizens top priority focused on having well-maintained roads and the Surathkal Zone citizens prioritised to have a robust underground drainage system
Holistically, Environment and Climate Resilience is the priority for Mangaluru citizens.
“The MyCityMyBudget participatory budgeting campaign has been received very well by the citizens of Mangaluru. This is a significant step towards the institutionalization of citizen engagement in the making of the city budget and the implementation of development works in the city. The next natural step would be the aggregative incorporation of full-fledged bottom-up budgeting from the ward level to the city level by enabling the 60 ward committees to develop their own annual ward development schemes. Janaagraha is proud to have led the campaign for MCC, in association with the Mangaluru Ward Samiti Balaga and hundreds of RWAs, NGOs and active citizens. We thank the MCC and all our citizen collaborators in this endeavour.” said Santosh Nargund, Head of Civic
Participation, Janaagraha.
“The second edition of MCMB launched in Mangaluru to elicit citizens’ opinion was received well by the Mangaluru citizens. It was overwhelming to see the citizens coming in thousands of numbers to voice their opinion on the developmental works that need immediate attention at their ward level. With the assistance of Mangaluru Ward Samiti Balaga, the MCC has successfully translated Participatory Budgeting into reality and in true spirit. Now, the cascading effect of this can be witnessed only when the appropriate allocation happens for the given inputs in the MCC Budget for FY 2023-24.” said Manjunatha Hampapura L, Karnataka Program Manager for Civic Participation, Janaagraha.
“It is very heartening to see a more number of citizens want to have their say in the development of Mangaluru city. This is a very positive trend and a clear indication that we are moving from a representative democracy to a citizen’s democracy”, said Kishore Attavar, Convener, Mangaluru Ward Samiti Balaga.
”After the submission of MCMB reports, I have high hopes that the budget allocation by the Corporation will be fair and just based on citizens’ priorities. If we see reforms, more people will participate next year and the budget will truly become democratic! It will be a very good model for other cities and countries as well!” Dr Ashwini, Ward No 34, Shivabagh.
“Identifying the needs of the ward and supporting Corporators in practising democracy in its true essence is the framework of the Campaign. I am hopeful to see more development in Mangaluru.” Sudhakar Kamath, Ward No 17, Derebail North.
“Taking citizens’ opinions into cognizance to include them in the upcoming budget and allocating appropriate funds for the same is a welcoming move. It’s good to see that citizens have responded positively to the campaign, and we expect that the Mangaluru Ward Samiti Balaga and Janaagraha will initiate more citizen-centric events in the coming days” Ramananda, Ward No 20, Thiruvail.
“It is pleasing to see that the citizens have come in thousands to give their opinion on the MCMB campaign. The campaign captures the pulse of citizens’ opinions about ward-level developmental issues. The citizens of Surathkal zone prioritize the maintenance of the underground drainage system, park maintenance, and footpath development, we request the Corporation to allocate appropriate funds for the outer zones.” Naveen Baikampady, Ward 10, Baikampady.
Please refer to the detailed report submitted at the Commissioner’s office.
About Janaagraha
Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy (www.janaagraha.org) is a non-profit trust, working towards the mission of transforming the quality of life in India’s cities and towns. Founded in 2001 by Ramesh Ramanathan and Swati Ramanathan, it started as a movement to include people’s participation in public governance and has now evolved into a robust institution for citizenship and democracy. The core idea of Janaagraha’s work does not revolve around fixing problems but instead seeks to fix the system that can solve the problems. To achieve this objective, Janaagraha works with citizens to catalyse active citizenship in city neighbourhoods and with governments to institute reforms to city governance (what we call “City-Systems”).
Janaagraha believes that improved quality of life is directly linked to improved quality of infrastructure, services, and citizenship. Janaagraha hence works at intersections to fix the city systems across law, policy, and institutions with a specific focus on sectors such as Climate Change, Gender Equality & Public Safety, Water and Sanitation, Education, and Public Health using tools and activities like Civic Participation, Municipal Finance, Advocacy and instilling 21st Century skills among youth to empower them to become active citizens. By strengthening urban capacities and resources, Janaagraha aims to achieve its mission of improving City Systems and Quality of life.
About MyCityMyBudget
MyCityMyBudget campaign is a city-wide annual participatory budgeting initiative of the Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) supported by Janaagraha in collaboration with civil society organizations, Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) and the Mangaluru Ward Samiti Balaga. Through the MyCityMyBudget campaign, citizens can suggest their priorities for roads, footpaths, streets, waste management, stormwater and underground drains, parks, streetlights, public toilets, etc. in their wards for inclusion in the upcoming MCC Budget.
To access the report
https://www.mycitymybudget.in/
https://www.mycitymybudget.in/
