Project Update 2022

Volume IV Issue 1 June 2022

Project Update

Message

SAC Summit 2020

AIILSG connecting Indian LGs with Global LGAs, Cities

AIILSG successfully organises 5th SAC Summit in Goa

Strengthening communities, local bodies for improved water supply

Project Update

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Magazines & Journals

Energy Efficiency

AMRUT Knowledge Management

Seminars

Project Management Customised Training

Sustainable Development Goals

Policy Research

Advisory Services

Swachh Bharat Mission

ECBC

Smart City Mission Capacity Building

Skill Development

All India Institute of Local Self-Government No. 6, F-Block, Bandra Kurla Complex, TPS Road-12, Bandra-East, Mumbai-400051, Maharashtra

Tel.No.: +91-22-26571713, 26571714, 61805600, Fax: +91-22-26572115, Email: contact@aiilsg.org June 2022 www.aiilsg.org 2

Project Update

Foreword Ranjit S Chavan President

AIILSG connecting Indian LGs with Global LGAs, Cities

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ocal Governments are closest to people, and are thus required to assess the needs of the population and serve these in the best possible manner. As the world is changing drastically, there is a need to upgrade the urban governance mechanism and knowledge base of functionaries in our urban local bodies for smooth management of civic affairs in our cities. Urban Local Bodies have been given 18 defined functions under the 12th Schedule of the Constitution in order to improve service delivery in our country and thereby to address the needs of citizens at the local level.

With the threat of negative impacts of climate change looming large on cities, local governments certainly need more weapons to win this battle and provide a livable environment to their citizens. It is a general maxim that every city is unique and has its strengths and weaknesses. It is true, but many common urban issues bind them too. When COVID-19 struck, every city was planning its strategies for quarantine, medical treatment, creation of containment zones, and processes for tracing and tracking infected individuals. Every city did what it could do best. However, the coordinated approach was lacking. There was no central repository of the best practices, at least initially. Some cities were interacting with national counterparts, but hardly any Indian city had a regular knowledge-sharing arrangement with global counterparts to improvise its combat strategy.

Our Institute is committed to providing technical support and handholding to local governments. A series of webinars was organised to facilitate knowledge-sharing among cities in India and those in other countries.

AIILSG also helped them connect with local government associations and research organisations so that they could remain updated with development in COVID management practices around the world. Our Institute hosts the India office of United Cities and Local Governments Asia Pacific (UCLG ASPAC) in Delhi. Through the network of UCLG ASPAC and AIILSG, several handbooks and best practices worldwide were shared with cities and local governments in India. It was not a one-way process. Many Indian cities also presented their best practices of COVID management to the world. In 2021, AIILSG also conducted a behavioural survey in collaboration with the National Institute of Urban Affairs to understand the precautions followed by citizens in Indian cities. A series of webinars on the Localisation of SDGs was also organised in collaboration with CityNet. These experiences, during the pandemic, have been encouraging. It suggests that cities can address common challenges better if they share their experiences and knowledge and collaborate to find appropriate solutions to pressing problems. At AIILSG, our objective has been to empower officials and elected representatives of our local governments so they can address all kinds of urban challenges and prepare themselves as per the requirements of the day. AIILSG is working with many international organisations, including the UCLG ASPAC, CityNet, the European Union, Metropolis and several local government associations in Asian countries and connecting them with ULBs in India. It is beneficial for all. Indian cities are getting exposure to world knowledge on advanced urban management, and our local governments are also getting to share their innovations with their global counterparts. We shall strive to continue this trend of learning and sharing of knowledge in the coming years to make our cities well prepared to tackle any challenge.

With Best Wishes Project Update

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Message Dr Jairaj Phatak, IAS (Retd.)

Director General

Urbanisation, an opportunity for a brighter future

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apid and relentless urbanisation has been a predominant theme in recent decades and will continue in the foreseeable future. This rural-urban migration is being fueled by an overwhelming desire of the population for a better future for themselves and their families - better livelihood prospects, healthcare options, education facilities, leisure possibilities, and so on. This trend is also being aided by increasing mechanization and productivity in the farm sector,which now needs fewer hands. With this growing influx, cities are coming under increasing strain while attempting to provide services to the growing population and meet citizens’ aspirations. This often results in unorganized growth and urban sprawl.

While on the one hand urbanisation comes with challenges, on the other hand it also presents an opportunity to effectively use the phenomenon to transform people’s lives for a brighter future.

Cities now have access to some of the finest technological tools to assist in their endevours in crucial areas such as water supply, green mobility, renewable energy, waste management & sanitation, and public health.These challenges need to be addressed in a sustainable and inclusive manner.

Environmental issues have acquired a heightened sense of urgency given the risks posed by poor air quality, the growing mountains of toxic waste, and very importantly the dangers of climate change.

Climate change has altered greatly the weather patterns, resulting in increased precipitation and flooding of cities, and other disasters. The COVID-19 pandemic is a striking example of how a public health crisis tested the capabilities of our cities. Given this situation, a slew of programmes and policies have been initiated at the national level in recent years – Smart Cities Mission, and AMRUT, for example. These attempt to provide a structured framework to put in place infrastructure, systems and processes to enable cities respond in an effective manner to the challenges.

In this situation, our Urban Local Bodies tasked with improving the living standards of the city folk, are the key players. To function effectively, they need a cadre of well-trained and constantly upskilled personnel. We, at AIILSG, are closely working with Indian Urban Local Bodies in a variety of areas for effective capacity building of their personnel. We have designed many programmes to impart necessary skills and support to the functionaries of the ULBs and the elected representatives of our cities. We also constantly review and upgrade the content and delivery of these capacity building programmes. Some of our arms are working exclusively on subjects like waste management, water supply, and programmes with corporates’ CSR efforts for improving the lot of the vulnerable population.

This publication - Project Update – attempts to describe some of these efforts. This could enable readers to conceptualise newer programmes so we could jointly implement them on the ground. Our teams at AIILSG will eagerly look forward to such ideas.

With Best Wishes June 2022 www.aiilsg.org

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Project Update

Message

Hansa Patel Executive Advisor

Nursing is at core of urban healthcare

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lobally, cities were the worst affected during the COVID-19 Pandemic. The primary learning from COVID-19 is to build robust and functional healthcare systems in urban areas to save the lives of citizens. Indian cities fought sincerely and intensely against the health crisis with all their might, but some cities fell short of facilities and personnel.

Our cities are growing fast, and more people are coming to live in cities. In the absence of adequate housing facilities, they settle in informal settlements or create new slums. The living conditions of the informal settlements are not generally healthy, and the migrants become prone to illnesses. Since many of these settlements do not fall under civic authorities, primary healthcare facilities are also absent.

In addition to this, urban environment is also getting increasingly affected by the extensive expansion of industrial activities. It is causing high degree of water, air and sound pollution. Some of the most polluted cities in the world are in India. This problem needs to be fixed on urgent basis in order to protect the health and welfare of our urban residents. In this battle, the deficit of trained healthcare workers is becoming a concern.

The growing population in cities demands more healthcare professionals and doctors in our hospitals. According to the Migration Policy Institute Study in 2016, India’s doctor to population ratio is 1:1445. It is considerably lower than the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommended norm of 1:1000. And, there is a gap in the number of required skilled healthcare personnel. There are 30 professionals per 10,000 residents, while the global average is over 50. In order to create a large pool of skilled healthcare workers, the All India Institute of Local Self-Government (AIILSG) runs the Nrupur Nursing Academy in Vadodara and trains candidates in various streams of healthcare and nursing. The Institute is committed to providing the best training facilities to students to serve the people of the nation efficiently and save lives. The Institute has been consistently improving its facilities and curriculum so that trainees are abreast with updated technology and remain in synch with new developments in the medical field.

India needs to improve healthcare facilities in all cities and towns to provide efficient medical facilities to one and all, especially those from vulnerable communities. The introduction of health insurance schemes and the proposal to start state-of-the-art medical facilities in each state are welcome initiatives. However, these need to be supported with a pool of adequate, well-trained medical practitioners. Many states have started to focus on opening up new medical institutions and upgrading existing ones. This is a welcome move. Urban Local Governments should also improvise medical facilities under their jurisdiction and improve sanitation facilities in urban areas so we can make our cities healthy. This will surely provide everyone equal opportunity to grow in an urban environment, and lead to prosperity for all.

With Best Wishes Project Update

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Editorial

Ravi Ranjan Guru Deputy Director General

Women participation essential for India’s development

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he vision of India’s current Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to make India a USD 5 trillion economy and a global economic powerhouse by 2024-25. The goal can not be achieved without active participation of women in workforce. The fifth National Family and Health Survey (NFHS) carried out between 2019 and 2021 had found that India has 1,020 women for every 1,000 men. The nation has a come a long way in women empowerment. Despite being a slightly larger part of the population, Word Bank data in 2020, had established that out of every 100 women in India (aged 15 and older), only 21 participate in the labour force.

This Women’s Day, the world was stressing the importance of participation of women in the development of a nation, women account for only 19.9 per cent of the total labour force of our country (World Bank 2020). Achieving gender equality is not only one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG-5), but it is essential to transform a nation from the status of ‘developing’ to ‘developed’. The All India Institute of Local Self-Government, known as a pioneering institute for delivering skill training programmes and vocational courses, has been taking several projects to empower women of our nation.

The Girl Power Project funded by the European Union, of AIILSG, launched in 2020, is imparting skills and enabling women entrepreneurs reach heights, the institute has added several other projects in the list of its work dedicated to women in our country. In collaboration with National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM), the AIILSG also conducted training programme for income generation and empowerment for women self-help groups in many villages across India. Giving greater economic empowerment to women means enabling them to increase their right to economic resources and their control over meaningful decisions that benefit themselves, their households and their communities.

A study by the International Monetary Fund established that improving access to educational opportunities and finance for women can contribute to a reduction in inequality and an increase in economic growth for the developing country. The Centre, State and Local governments are doing their parts through various schemes, but it is equal responsibilities of non-governmental organisations such as ours to do our own bid in assisting women become an equal part of national economy. Under AIILSG’s Shiksha Ranjan Kendra Project, where children living in marginalised sections of our cities are receiving education, 50 per cent are girls. The project has 31 centres in Delhi, and out of all the employees hired to manage centres and teach students, 99 per cent are female. Moreover, ‘ShikhanMitra’, that is, the educators at the centres regularly interact with parents and guardians of students. These interactions often stop families from dropping their daughters or sisters out of school early. With the help of mentors, project leaders, and experts of the institute, the AIILSG is looking forward to empower women in our nation. Our training workshops, awareness programmes, and expanding network will not only address the inequality against female, but also enable many women become self-reliant, participate in the nation’s economy, and become an inspiration for others around them.

With Best Wishes June 2022 www.aiilsg.org

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Project Update

Contents 12. Strengthening communities, local 22. AIILSG successfully organises bodies for improved water supply

5th SAC Summit in Goa

16. Urban Update connects digitally for 37. AIILSG conducts street vendors’ surveys for better civic governance

dialogue, knowledge sharing

20. Capacitating CSOs & empowering women 38. Assisting in making Indian cities accessible, inclusive

& girls through social entrepreneurship

40. AIILSG assisting municipal corporations

28. B.Incube assists in incubating

improve SWM, become garbage-free with community participation

start-ups in Bilaspur

30. AIILSG, HDFC plan ways to tackle stubble

42. Localisation is way to achieve SDGs 44. IDU project sensitising youth on AIDS &

burning, help solve air pollution

31. Making cities resilient systematically 34. Capacity development for better and

drug abuse

45. Partnering with NHRC for promoting

sustainable urban ecology

32.

Ranjit S Chavan President

human rights

22.

28.

Dr Jairaj Phatak, Ravi Ranjan Guru Abhishek Pandey Hitesh Nigam Ayesha Saeed Pushpender Arjun Singh Meenakshi Rajput IAS (Retd.)

Deputy Director Editor Senior Sub-Editor Pooja Upadhyay Singh Digital Marketing Art Director Director General General Reporters Editorial Assistant Associate

Volume 4 - Issue 1 Published by the All India Institute of Local Self-Government (AIILSG)

Printed at Utkarsh Enterprises: 1893 Ist Floor, Uday Chand Marg, Kotla Mubarak Pur, New Delhi - 110003

Head Office: M.N. Roy Human Development Campus Plot No.6, F-Block, Bandra Kurla Complex, T.P.S. Road No. 12, Behind Government Teachers Colony Bandra (East), Mumbai - 400 051, Maharashtra

Despite careful selection of sources, no responsibility can be taken for accuracy of the contents. The newsletter assumes no liability or responsibility of any kind in connection with the information thereof. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part is strictly prohibited without written permission from the publisher.

Regional Office: Sardar Patel Bhavan, 22-23, Institutional Area, D Block Pankha Road Janakpuri, Delhi-110058

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AIILSG Profile

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A Friend, Philosopher and Guide to ULBs since 1926 ll India Institute of Local Self-Government has been the steadfast friend, philosopher and guide to Urban Local Bodies (ULBs). For over nine decades, it has contributed to the principles and practice of urban governance, education, research and capacity building. It has designed and developed a vast array of training literature and courses and trained over 1.5 million stakeholders in diverse area of urban governance and services delivery. AIILSG has also ventured into rural and tribal capacity building and handholding of rural institutions of self-governance. AIILSG also organises seminars and conferences in India and other countries to enhance the understanding of municipal officials on emerging urban challenges.

Ranjit Chavan, President, AIILSG is Executive Member of CITYNET, Japan. He is Co-President, UCLG-ASPAC, Indonesia and Vice President, Indian Institute of Public Health Engineers (India).

Vision Empower ULBs to deliver to each citizen his rights to health, education, safety, participation and development through excellent governance and service delivery.

Areas of Operations Capacity Building AIILSG has been training municipal officials and elected representatives at various levels. AIILSG is also empanelled with Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, GoI for imparting training to municipal officials under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation & Urban Transformation (AMRUT). AIILSG also runs separate training and capacity building programs and training courses as per the requirement of ULBs through its 40+ centres and affiliated centres in India to build an efficient workforce for municipal bodies. AIILSG is also running skill development programmes in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Jharkhand to contribute to Skill India Mission.

Our mandate includes n Training of civic officials to enhance abilities for efficient delivery of civic services; n Skill development programmes in partnership with government departments and corporates; n E-governance inputs to ULBs to improve their effectiveness; n Capacity building of ULBs for implementing schemes like AMRUT, PMAY, SCM and SBM.

Mission Promote AIILSG as a premier Institute which excels in supporting and enhancing local governance by handholding local bodies in achieving excellence in local service delivery. Undertake quality research and projects for the organisations and concerned stakeholders and arrange seminars and conferences to enable this.

AIILSG Head Office Mumbai

Our Objectives Prominent objectives of AIILSG is to advance the knowledge of the principles and practices of local governance among ULBs, their officials and elected members. Our mandate is to strengthen and improve local government institutions through capacity building by organising training courses and programmes.

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Project Update

Courses

conducted for civic officials from Dhaka, Bangladesh at Royal Plaza, New Delhi on November 12 to 16, 2018 Research Studies: AIILSG regularly undertakes research studies through its specialised institutions, on subjects of relevance to ULBs. Some recent examples are: Framework for Developing Smart Cities and IT Applications, Waste Water Management & Good Practices at City Level, Climate Change Impacts & Adaptation in Urban Environments.

Regular Courses cover areas of Public Health, Hospital Administration, Computer Application, Medical Lab Technology, Food Safety & Hygiene, Financial Management in Local Government, Fire & Safety, Nursing, Environment and Disaster Management Diploma Courses include Sanitary Inspector’s Diploma Course (SI), Diploma in Local Government Service (LSG)- Regular and Distance learning, Local Self Government Diploma (LSGD) Regular and Distance Learning, Fireman and Fire Sub-Officers Training Course, Advance Diploma in Medical Lab Technology (ADMLT) and Diploma in Local Government Financial Management (PGDHHM).

Projects AIILSG regularly undertakes projects to assist states and organisations in the delivery of specific outputs that they desire. Some examples are: n Equi-City Project of the European Union for ensuring delivery of equitable municipal services and to bring diversity in municipal workforce in Nagpur n Assistance to four cities in preparing their Smart City Proposals to participate in the Smart Cities Challenge n Special training programme on ‘Gender Budgeting and Mainstreaming’ for Solapur Municipal Corporation and Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) in Maharashtra

Post Graduate Diploma Courses include PG Diploma in Food Science Technology (PGDFST) and PG Diploma in Hospital and Healthcare Management (PGDHHM).

Specialised Courses for Municipal Officials: The institute conducts specialised training courses for senior and middle level municipal officials. Some examples are Municipal Finance & Resource Mobilisation, Solid Waste Management, Hospital Waste Management, Water Supply Systems Management, Poverty Alleviation & Community Management, and Urban Health & Sanitation, Urban Conservation & Heritage & Municipal Acts and their implementation.

Publications AIILSG publishes a number of periodicals: Local Government Quarterly, Urban Update, Urban Environ Vision, The Urban World and Sthanik Swarajya (Gujarati).

Seminars and Policy Advocacy Institutions under AIILSG Over the years, AIILSG has organised local, national and international seminars and conferences with a view to foster debate on issues of relevance, disseminate ideas and to enable better understanding and policy advocacy. The institute has also assisted national and international organisations in organising their programs successfully.

n Regional Centre for Urban & Environmental Studies, Mumbai (RCUES) n International Academy of Urban Dynamics (IAUD) n National Fire Academy n Nrupur Institute of Nursing Science & Research n National Resource Centre on Urban Poverty (NRCUP) n International Centre of Equity and Inclusion for Transformation (EQUI-T) n Mega Skill Centre, Madhupur, Jharkhand n Planning & Resources on Urban Development Affairs (PRUDA)

Some of the major recent events organised are: n Smart Republic-Digital Strategies and Solutions for Smart Cities conduted at Shangri La Hotel, New Delhi on February 27 and 28, 2019 n Urban Dialogues-Reimagining Bhopal conducted at Palsh Residency Hotel, Bhopal on February 12, 2019 n Urban Dialogues-Amazing Agra conducted at Crystal Sarovar Premier,Agra on December 18, 2018 n Workshop on Capacity Building for Digital Strategies and Smart Solutions, in partnership with World Bank, at World Bank office, New Delhi on November 30, 2018 n Workshop on Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction,

Project Update

Our Linkages and Affiliations n World Bank n European Union n The United Nations n CITYNET n UCLG-ASPAC n KLAFIR

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n LACDE n CLAIR n Institutions of Fire Engineers (India) n All India Council of Mayors n Metro Forum (India)

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Projects

Joining hands to build Sustainable 1.

2.

3.

Name of Project: Creating energy security and sustainable livelihood in villages of Fazilka, Punjab Year: 2022 Location: Punjab Partner: HDFC Bank Limited

Name of Project: Jal Jeevan Mission Year: 2022 Location: Pan India Partner: Ministry of Jal Shakti, GoI

Name of Project: MPUDC Year: 2020-2024 Location: Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh Partner: Urban Development & Housing Department, Madhya Pradesh

4.

5.

6.

Scanned by TapScanner

Name of Project: Technical support for Faecal Sludge and Septage Management (FSSM) project in four states (UNICEF) Year: 2021 Location: Delhi (monitoring) Execution Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Assam and Jharkhand

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Name of Project: Survey and other ancillary works under Housing for All (Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana - Urban) Year: 2022 Location: Sangli, Maharashtra Partner: Ashta Municipal Council

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Name of Project: Acting as Networking and Governance Co-ordinator for South Asia Cities under Global Covenant of Mayors South Asia Year: 2022 Location: South Asia Partner: GCoM Global

Project Update

Urban World in India 7.

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9.

Name of Project: Channel partner for identifying CSR requirements of different departments in Goa Year: 2021 Location: Goa Partner: Directorate of Planning, Statistics and Evaluation, Government of Goa

Name of Project: GIS Based Master Plan West Bengal Year: 2020 Location: West Bengal Partner: State Mission Directorate AMRUT, West Bengal

Name of Project: ECBC Cell Year: 2020 Location: Andaman & Nicobar Island (AIILSG runs ECBC Cells in 15 states) Partner: Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), NSRE Division, Electricity Department, Andaman & Nicobar Island

10.

11.

12.

Name of Project: Cleaning & Sanitation related services at various destinations across Gujarat Year: 2021 Location: Gujarat Partner: Government of Gujarat

Name of Project: Climate Resilient and Inclusive Cities (CRIC) Project Year: 2020 Location: Indonesia Partner: UCLG ASPAC

I/5316094/2022

GOVERNMENT OF KERALA Local Self Government (IB)Department Phone No.0471 2518611 email:lsgibdept@gmail.com LSGD-IB2/87/2022-LSGD 17-06-2022,Thiruvananthapuram From Additional Chief Secretary to Government To The Director General KILA, Thrissur Sir, Sub: LSGD- Agreement between AIILSG and Government of Kerala for conducting Capacity Building Programmes-reg Ref: 1) Letter dated 29.04.2022 from Regional Director, AIILSG, Thiruvananthapuram.

2) Your letter dated 25.05.2022.

I am to invite your attention to the references cited and directed to inform you that you are authorized to sign the MoU with the All India Institute of Local Self Government for and on behalf of the State.

Yours Faithfully, SHIBI ABRAHAM DEPUTY SECRETARY For Additional Chief Secretary to Government.

Approved for Issue,

Section Officer.

Copy to:- Regional Director, AIILSG, Thiruvananthapuram

Name of Project: Conducting Capacity Building Programmes Year: 2022 Location: Kerala Partner: Government of Kerala

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Jal Jeevan Mission

strengthening bodies for imprAIILSG has been empanelled as Key Resource Center (KRC) under Jal Jeevan Mission to support capacity building, reorientation of different stakeholders, dissemination of knowledge and information, development of high-quality print and audio-visual content, documentation of best practices, etc. for Level-1 (Senior management), Level-2 (Middle Management) and Level-3 (Community management)

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nder the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India embarked on a historic journey in 2019 with the setting up of the Jal Shakti Mantralaya -by integrating two of the largest government departments dealing with water: The Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, and the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation. This bold step for institutional integration brought together two key departments to strengthen efforts for a holistic approach to the water sector.

The Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) was launched by the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi on 15th August 2019, from the ramparts of the Red Fort.

The mission, currently under implementation, in partnership with the states, aims to enable every household in villages to have a Functional Household Tap Connection (FHTC) in the next five years with adequate quantity (at least 55 lpcd) of prescribed quality on a regular and longterm basis. The JJM also seeks to promote the holistic management of local water resources.

It is for the first time that a water supply programme addresses the need to sustain water sources with conservation and reuse measures made mandatory in the scheme designs.

The unique part of this mission is to focus on the community participation and community approach. The Ministry of Jal Shakti is giving equal importance to the implementation part as well as on the information, education and communication (IEC) as a key component for social and community outreach of the mission’s objectives. In order to enable the learning and information component of the mission, Jal Shakti Ministry along with various prestigious and profound institutes and organisations is conducting series of training and capacity building program for different level of officials to ensure the timely implementation and sustainability of

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the mission. These institutes or organisations are namely notified as Key Resources Centres (KRCs) and are responsible for knowledge sharing and to enhance the skills set of engineers, officers and different committees involved in this schemes.

The major component of these trainings program is centrally funded. However, the states and union territories are entitled to utilise 5 per cent of the project’s budget for the same.

Apart from the KRCs, the Implementation Support Agency (ISA) also plays a prominent and critical role in the planning and community support for success and ensure the sustainability of the mission. Though major infrastructure development cost for establishing fully functional household tap connection is coming out of government’s pocket, the mission has a provision of 5 per cent payment by the households for the installation of the tap connection and responsibility towards the operations and maintenance of the connection after installation by the community. This seems to be a bottleneck in long term vision of the mission and at this stage the ISAs steps in as mediators to aware and educate community to implement the Jal Jeevan Mission.

Role of AIILSG In this current financial year 2022-23, as one of the KRCs, the institute has been awarded training programs for all the states and union territories for Level 1 and 2 officials and 22 states for Level 3 officials under the mission. AIILSG is also functioning as ISA in the Mulshi Block in Pune district of Maharashtra and supporting 60 villages in the implementation of the Jal Jeevan Mission initiatives. »» Development and implementation of capacitybuilding programs for creating a team of “responsible and responsive leadership skills.” »» Facilitate participants for better engagement

Project Update

communities, local -oved water supply which enhances their knowledge and awareness »» Knowledge sharing on new practices in the field of water management and sanitation »» Stimulate cross-learning about the latest technology and best management practices in the water sector by organizing exposure visits for the decisionmakers who can get benefited »» Implement the same to bring the desired change in society »» Development of high-quality video and audio reading and other learning materials, for better understanding of participants In FY 2021-22, training programs were conducted in regions of Ladakh, Karnataka and Maharashtra under L1 and L3. To implement the mission, institutional arrangements at various levels have been made and each state’s PHE/ RWS Departments are to

JJM is not a scheme but a ‘People’s Movement’ wherein community participation is the key. The UT had increased its water supply coverage from 3 per cent to 30 per cent in a short span. Ladakh strongly believes in ‘Community Participation’ and that they have not received any major complaints regarding the implementation of the scheme so far. handing over the powers, functionaries, funds, and functions to the community will be the most significant achievement and ensure the scheme’s success Ajeet Sahu Commissioner Secretary, Ladakh

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Jal Jeevan Mission

play a critical role. They have to help Gram Panchayats (GP) and/or its sub-committee in planning, implementing, managing, operating and maintaining their in-village water supply systems.

JJM is implemented through institutional mechanism at four levels Successful implantation of the JJM programme is crucial to completing these tasks. To ensure sustainable sanitation and safe and sustainable water supply from provided water facilities, Implementation Support Agencies (ISA) have been introduced as a mediator. AIILSG is engaged as an ISA in the states of Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, and Jharkhand. There was a need to provide sustainable water supply facilities in the rural areas of these states and create awareness at the village level for continuous usage of water.

The role of AIILSG includes community mobilisation & up-gradation of existing committees, support to resolve problems, village-level training programs, support for documentation and cover success stories, preparing Village Action Plan (VAP), support to prepare estimation, implementation, operation and maintenance (O&M) work, support in pre-planning/ planning/ implementation and O&M.

Training programs conducted A series of training programs for over 500+ officials of Maharashtra, Karnataka and the UT of Ladakh has been organised by the AIILSG under the JJM. The training programmes were conducted in both the online and residential modes. The training focused on various aspects of the Mission including, ‘Participatory planning, implementation & operation and maintenance of rural drinking water supply project under JJM’, ‘Operation and management of water supply system to achieve sustainable, equitable, consistent, economically

1

National Level

District Level

National Jal Jeevan Mission (NJJM)

District Water & Sanitation Mission (DWSM)

2

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viable safe and low energy consuming technologies’, ‘Best practices on rural water resource management’, and ‘Sensor-based IoT systems for monitoring rural water supply’. Team AIILSG also organised field visits for the officials in the respective states to replicate successful models in their towns.

The programmes majorly focused on the rural areas of Karnataka, Maharashtra and Ladakh.

Eminent trainers, including Waterman of Odisha Ranjan Panda, and Dr Bhakti Devi, National President, Water Resource Council, were engaged.

The Level 2 residential training program was inaugurated under the gracious presence of P Vishwakannan, Director (JJM-V); Tsering Anchuk, Deputy Chairman, LAHDC Leh; Shrikant Balasaheb Suse, Deputy Commissioner/CEO, LAHDC Leh. The Chief Guest from the Ministry, during his initial remarks, mentioned that Jal Jeevan Mission has brought transformational changes in UT Ladakh by providing water at sub-zero temperatures.

He lauded the efforts of the JJM team in Ladakh headed by the Commissioner Secretary Ajeet Kumar Sahu for the successful implementation of JJM. Director, JJM-V, P Vishwakannan shared that IT-enabled systems help in monitoring various parameters such as quality, quantity, and regular supply of water on a long-term and sustainable basis. In his concluding address, Vishwakannan, thanked AIILSG for organizing the program. He stressed the importance of documentation and urged AIILSG and other stakeholders to document all the processes, procedures and best practices followed in the region and the training as well. This, he said, can be used to showcase the successful

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State Level

Gram Panchayat

State Water & Sanitation Mission (SWSM)

Village Water & Sanitation Committee (VWSC) / Pani Samiti / User Group etc.

Certification ceremony after capacity building program of L2 officials in Leh

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Project Update

Role of Implementation Support Agency-ISA

The planning stage is of total 5 months including pre-planning of the project

Operation & Maintenance

Planning The Implementation phase of the project is of total 10 months

Implementation The Operation & Maintenance- O&M phase is of 3 months.

The training programmes aimed to increase community participation and achieve the targets under JJM. The trainers underlined the possible challenges for officials while working with the beneficiaries.

Trainers conducted interactive sessions to understand the ground realities and provide them with tailormade solutions. The officials received training to map maximum clusters of houses to develop an integrated and comprehensive action plan. They were also suggested to revisit the villages and carry out this activity to fill gaps in existing projects. This process will ensure the investment and participation of people from all sectors of society. Participants were provided with training on involving the concept of resource mapping for the smart implementation of the scheme.

The sessions had regular live quiz sessions on Mentimeter, an Interactive Presentation Software, to engage the trainees further. Using the platform, trainers asked the participants questions and recorded answers in real-time to gauge officials’ understanding of topics covered in the training sessions. During the training programmes, participants formed multiple groups. These groups were asked to present their unique ideas on increasing community involvement and using innovative technologies introduced to tackle the challenges of establishing a potable water supply at the household level. Each session involved detailed discussions on queries put forward by the participants.

At the end of each session, participants were asked to submit their feedback with the help of emojis available on the platform and with a form link shared with them. This way, the trainers improved the training methodology in upcoming training sessions.

implementation of the JJM programme in such harsh climatic conditions.

Ajeet Kumar Sahu, Commissioner Secretary, Ladakh, said, “JJM is not a scheme but a ‘People’s Movement’ wherein community participation is the key.” He underlined that the UT had increased its water supply coverage from 3 per cent to 30 per cent in a short span. He expressed his pleasure that Ladakh strongly believes in ‘Community Participation’ and that they have not received any major complaints regarding the implementation of the scheme so far. He added that handing over the powers, functionaries, funds, and functions to the community will be the most significant achievement and ensure the scheme’s success.

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E-Dialogues

Urban Update connects digitally for dialogue, knowledge-sharing COVID-19 pandemic impelled poeple to make multiple changes in their daily lives. Going digital for work, meetings and learning was one of many changes. The role of efficient and robust urban development had increased manifold after the COVID-19 as it displayed the shortcomings in the civic services of cities. Urban Update undertook the initiative of organising webinars to promote dialogue and discussion among key stakeholders in uban domain to help build resilient urban spaces

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s part of this initiative, Urban Update collaborated with numerous organisations and put together a total of 50+ webinars as part of diverse series.

These Webinars ranged from transportation, health, pandemic management, localising SDGs, women empowerment to disaster mitigation with participation of over 5000 people in audience and 200+ experts.

E-dialogues Urban Update, the magazine published by the AIILSG, organised several webinars on topics including ‘COVID-19 and the Search for a Vaccine’ to ‘Urbanisation in Independent India’. The panelists for the webinars included eminent dignitaries like Dr Animesh Kumar, Deputy Head (AsiaPacific), United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction; Dr Sewa Ram, Professor of Transport Planning, School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi; and Vimlendu Jha, Founder, Sweccha India.

Covering a wide range of topics from unemployment to the environment, from the National Education Policy to Housing for All, E-Dialogues served as a platform for detailed discussion and deliberation between experts, policy makers and general public.

Mayors’ Dialogue Under this series, Urban Update, in collaboration with the National Institute of Urban Affairs, organised two Mayors’s Dialogues online. The main aim of this series was to provide a platform to Mayors from across the country to come together, and discuss and share their experiences of handling the pandemic as severe as the COVID-19. Panelists for this series included Sanyukta Bhatia, Mayor, Lucknow; Sanjeev Bittu, Mayor, Patiala; Dilip Kumar Agasty, Mayor, Durgapur; Uday Madkaikar, Mayor, Goa among others. The topic for the first edition was ‘Making Cities Pandemic Resilient: The Role of Elected Representatives’ and the second edition was ‘Leadership and Pandemic Response’.

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Webinars in partnership with LBSNAA Urban Update collaborated with Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Indian Institute of Human Settlements and Foundation EMDA Southasia, to organise webinars on the topics ‘Urban Labour Rights and State Response in time of COVID-19’ and ‘Affordable Rental Housing for the Urban Poor

– Demand, Supply and Management Dynamics’.

The panel for these webinars included Prof Ravi S Srivastava, Director, Centre for Employment Studies, Institute for Human Development and Amrit Abhijat, Joint Secretary and Mission Director (Housing for All), Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

Webinar in partnership with NCW AIILSG, in collaboration with the National Commission for Women (NCW) and Urban Update, organised a special webinar on the topic ‘Migrant Women Workers: Issues and Challenges’ to talk about the problems faced by female migrant labourers, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. The panel for the Webinar consisted of Pravin Bhardwaj, Consultant, AIILSG; Dr Suchita Krishnaprasad, Former Head, Department of Economics, Elphinstone College, Mumbai; Vijaya Srinivasan, Deputy Director, Ambedkar Institute for Labour Studies, Parel, Mumbai; Dr Sneha Palnitkar, CEO, Waste Management Resource Centre – AIILSG, Mumbai; and Aarya Venugopal, Director (research), Jan Sahas.

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E-Dialogues

Webinars on Disaster Management The AIILSG and Urban Update also organised webinars in collaboration with the National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) and Foundation EMDA Southasia. Aimed at increasing awareness among urban local bodies and local governments regarding disaster preparedness, one edition was organised of the series on the topic “Disaster Risks, Mitigation and Sustainable Communities’. Mihir R Bhatt, Director, All India Disaster Mitigation Institute and Dr Birupakshya Dixit, India Coordinator, Practical Action, along with Prof Vinod C Menon, Former Member, National Disaster Management Authority and Prof Santosh Kumar, Head, G&IDRR, NIDM, were part of the panel. Thus, Urban Update firmly believes in the power of knowledge sharing and discussion and feels that only when people come together with experts and policy makers can both understand the problems that the other side faces and work on the appropriate solutions they suggest for the same.

Further, workshops aided by NIDM, in association with AIILSG, Foundation EMDA Southasia and Urban Update, organised training workshops on “Building Municipalities and Citizen Awareness for Resilient India”. These workshops-based webinars, circled around how Disaster Risk Mitigation is a growing challenge in the present times with frequent incidents all over the country and had become a serious issue during pandemic.

The conclusion of the workshop based on the discussions and presentations that took place during different sessions was that only legislative solutions to the problems are not enough as everyone has to bear the responsibility to make the space around them, viable for living. Moreover, strengthening the local level bodies such as District Disaster Management Authority and ULBs is the most important challenge which needs urgent attention. The panel comprised Mihir R Bhatt, Director, All India Disaster Mitigation Institute; and Dr VS Prakash, Former Director, KSND Monitoring Centre.

Webinars on Waste Management

Management and Climate Change’ focused on how organised and responsible waste management can play a big role in reversing the effects of climate change. Trish Hyde, Director, Plasticity, Australia; Prashant Lingam, Senior Project Officer, UN Development Programme, India; Prof Sunil Herat, Associate Professor (Waste

In collaboration with UN-Habitat, United Nations Centre for Regional Development (UNCRD), and 3R Waste Foundation, Urban Update organised webinars on waste management, plastic waste recycling, etc. These webinars on ‘Waste

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Project Update

Institute (TERI), were some of those who were part of the panel in these webinars. The webinars served as a knowledge- sharing platform for municipal officials and other stakeholders.

Webinars On Circular Economy Urban Update in collaboration with 3R Waste Foundation, conducted several webinars on the theme of circular economy. In celebration of World Environment Day for both 2021 and 2022, webinars were organised in collaboration with United Nations Centre for Regional Development (UNCRD). They were the pre-events of UNCRD Japan’s 3R and Circular Economy Forum 2021 and 2022.

Various webinars were organised including the themes of “Circular Economic Utilisation of Plastic Waste in India and the Asian Region”, “Recycling Beverage Cartons and Plastic Packaging in Circular Economy”, etc. The panel of the speakers included Dr Mazumdar, Chairman, IAESPH, New Delhi; Dr Anupam Khajuria, Researcher, UNCRD Japan; and Dr Roshan Miranda, Co-Founder and Director, Waste Ventures.

The webinars established that circular economy is at the base of restoring the planet. It also detailed how there is need for better policy framework with circular economy and SDGs at its heart in the fight against increasing air pollution in cities.

On ‘Accelerating Urban Action for a Carbonfree World’, panel included Sanskriti Menon, Senior Programme Director, Centre for Environment Education; Rajeev Vijh, Founder, Kriyanvit Consulting and Sunita Sanghi, Former Advisor, NITI Aayog.

Webinars on Innovation & Women Empowerment First webinar was organised on ‘Addressing Urban Issues with Innovation’. The discussion was on how innovation has been and continues to improve governance and quality of life of people in cities and how giving space to start-ups can give a new push to cities to achieve sustainable development goals. The session was organized in collaboration with Dream Hatcher Incubation Centre and was attended by Kakul Mishra, National Programme Head, National Institute of Urban Affairs and Deepti Raj, Senior Project Associate, World Resources Institute-India.

Another session was on ‘Empowering Women by Building Skills and Entrepreneurship Development’.

It discussed how women entrepreneurs around the world need to be recognised and integrated into the workplace. The panelists comprised of academic experts and NGOs striving towards making womenfriendly working spaces. Several schemes such as PM Ujjwala, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao and Nirbhaya were discussed.

Management), Griffith University, Australia; Dr Ram Tiwaree, Economic Affairs Officer, Environment and Development Division, United Nations Economics and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP); Dr Suneel Pandey, Director, Environment and Waste Management Division, The Energy and Resource

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Girl Power

Capacitating CSOs & empowering women & girls through Social Entrepreneurship Working for gender equality with women empowerment has become essential for Indian society to ensure the sustainable development of the country. In Jharkhand, approximately 50 per cent of the working population, between the age group of 15-49 years, is women. It has high level of illiteracy among girls and women, and policy makers are still struggling to create enough employment opportunities for them. Hence, there is a need to promote entrepreneurship and to foster skill building among girls and women thereby creating employment opportunities. AIILSG is implementing Girl Power Project to train 5000 women and provide them required skill-training and technical support for becoming financially independent and successful entrepreneurs

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he Girl Power Project of AIILSG is 5 years long project, which is being implemented in 10 districts of Jharkhand covering 20 blocks namely Dumka, Deoghar, Koderma, Hazairbagh, Khunti, Gumla, Ranchi, West Singhbum, East Singhbum and Saraikela. The project aims to create a network of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and women, which will act as a platform to promote women’s rights. The network includes one Advisory Group, which will give overall direction to the project in terms of CSO capacity building and social entrepreneurship. The project will build capacity of CSOs, including women led CSOs, to empower them on social entrepreneurship.

Women will be imparted skills of creating and supporting social enterprises. Based on the inputs from CSO partners, 5000 women are being selected for the project, where they will be trained on various skills. Further on, the project will roll out Entrepreneurs Support Centre Programmes within the targeted CSOs to sustain the action on the long run. Since, developing skills is ineffective without a ready marketplace to sell the products, an innovative nodal centre of Jharkhand Mahila Social Entrepreneurship Market Connect (JMSEMC) will be set up to coordinate the project. A web portal has been developed to showcase the products.

Moreover, policy dialogues are encouraged with CSOs and women led entrepreneurs in India and the European Union. At the end of the year, Mahila Social Entrepreneurship Awards will be presented to CSOs who have performed par excellence.

Activities in detail The Girl Power Project was inaugurated on September 15, 2020, by Badal Patralekh, Minister of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare, Government of Jharkhand. In September 2020,

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the CRPs (Community Resource Persons) were briefed about conducting the Baseline Survey in 10 districts. After data collection, different products were identified and training modules based on unskilled, semi-skilled and skilled women beneficiaries were prepared.

A total of 15 training modules have been developed. Out of 15, 11 are technical and 4 are non-technical. The identified products in the technical training module includes organic farming, poultry, goat rearing, dairy, fish rearing, mushroom cultivation, lac production, mahua, bee keeping, bamboo craft, and silk processing. Four non-technical training modules that have been developed are soft skill development, government schemes, enterprise & marketing, mainstreaming gender.

After preparation of the curriculum, pilot testing was conducted for each producer-based curriculum to perfect it. For customisation purposes, a group was formed which consisted of one CSO, 12 entrepreneurs, three technical experts and the project team. The module was presented and discussed in detail. The training module was then modified based on the feedback received from the group.

In September 2021, a capacity building training was organised for 39 women beneficiaries & CSOs on mushroom cultivation and value addition at Churchu block, Hazaribagh district. The CSO Jharkhand Mahila Utthan has a presence in the district and is managing the project beneficiaries there. Three days long training program was organised to orient women beneficiaries on the basics of mushroom cultivation, following which, they could become entrepreneurs.

On the occasion of Diwali in 2021, the JMSEMC organised a two-day marketing event on October

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31, and November 1, 2021. Designed as a platform for women artisans/entrepreneurs for displaying a range of festive products for sale and promotion, this event played a major role in connecting the buyers with women entrepreneurs involved in making a range of handmade products like diyas, candles, flowers, paper lanterns, incense sticks, bamboo products, lamps, lac bangles, and others items. In order to attract customers, the artisans displayed varied decorative products.

The primary objective was to give an exposure to the women artisans who otherwise have limited access to markets.

Furthermore, the team organised one day meet with CSOs at Visvesvaraya Sanitation and Water Academy (VISWA) on November 24, 2021. The meeting was attended by members from 14 CSOs. Various points pertaining to capacity building of the women beneficiaries were discussed by Dr RK Gupta, Project Director, Girl Power Project. The team also organised a meeting of Women Network for Social Entrepreneurship-Jharkhand (WNSE-J) members on November 26, 2021 at Hotel Royalsion, Ranchi. In the meeting, the members were briefed about the project activities conducted and the future activities that had been planned. A one day exposure visit to Parinaama Development Foundation was organised in November 2021 for women who had received the training on mushroom cultivation in September and October.

The aim was to show them institutions for mushroom production and best practices in the business.

Mushroom farming is an enterprise of high profit at low investment and farmers of Jharkhand region can successfully obtain the yield of paddy-straw mushroom and oyster cultivation throughout the year.

Seven-day Training of Trainers (ToT) programme was organised at Rama Krishna Mission Ashram, Ranchi for the CSOs/Service Providers associated with the project.

In the training session, the participants were trained on 11 technical and three non-technical curriculums.

The program was designed to train representatives of 20 selected service providers, who will then become master trainers and will impart training to women and girls in their respective areas of operation.

In addition to mentioned activities, ten Entrepreneur Support Centres have been planned in order to handhold women and girls to become successful social entrepreneurs. Approximately 1000 women are expected to avail the benefits of the centres over the project period. These Entrepreneur Support Centres will be attached to ten selected CSOs/SHGs, who have the infrastructure and manpower to conduct these activities. Last year in December, the team set up an Entrepreneur Support Centre in Khunti district with the support of SN Singh, Secretary, Centre for

Project Update

Women making incense sticks at RK Mission Ashram, Ranchi

Entrepreneurship. An awareness programme on the project activities was also organised at Entrepreneur Support Centre, Khunti district. Around 20 women participated in the programme, out of which, some are already working in poultry, goat rearing, duck rearing and mushroom cultivation, but are unaware of the technicalities. In January 2022, second district support centre was established at Bero Block of Ranchi district.

In the coming months, the team will set up eight more such centres in selected places for training and technology dissemination.

On December 27, 2021, a CSO-Advisory Group meeting was held online. Dr Gupta welcomed all the members after which Ravi Ranjan Guru, DDG, AIILSG, Delhi gave the inaugural speech. Summing up the meeting, Pashim Tewari, Technical Director, AIILSG, Delhi remarked how women entrepreneurs will provide employment to more women thereby spreading empowerment.

In addition, Training of Trainers (ToT) programme for 80 CSOs/SHGs and capacity building training for women beneficiaries have been planned for this year.

Role of GPP The Girl Power Project funded by the European Union and implemented by All India Institute of Local Self Government in Jharkhand is fulfilling the objective of strengthening Indian civil societies to perform their role as independent agents of change. The project is looking forward to achieve the target of training 5000 women and creating 1000 women social entrepreneurs with the help of formation of 20 CSO Entrepreneur Support Groups, 10 Entrepreneur Support Centres, 20 Certificate Courses, Marketing shows, Best Practices Forums, and Women Network for Social Entrepreneurship in Jharkhand.

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SAC 2020

Dr Pramod Sawant lit the lamp and inaugurated the 5th South Asian Cities Summit. (L-R) Ravi Ranjan Guru, Deputy Director General, AIILSG; Hitesh Vaidya, Director, NIUA; Rajiv Agarwal, Director General (then), AIILSG; Uday V. Madkaikar, Mayor (then), Panaji; Dr Bernadia Irawati Tjandradewi, Secretary General, UCLG-ASPAC; Hansa Patel, Executive Advisor, AIILSG; Jerome Pons, Head of Cooperation Bhutan, China, India, Malaysia, Mongolia, Thailand, Delegation of the European Union to Thailand; Ranjt S Chavan, President, AIILSG, were present during the ceremony

AIILSG successfully organises th 5 SAC Summit in Goa The 5th South Asian Cities Summit was inaugurated by Dr Pramod Sawant, Chief Minister, Goa on March 5, 2020, at Cidade de Goa, Goa, India. The Summit was divided into six technical sessions along with six parallel sessions focused on various topics related to the Sustainable Development Goals and city development in the context of South Asian countries. More than 100 Indian and South Asian Cities along with more than 50 partner organisations (national and international) attended.

Overall attendance of the Summit crossed 400 mark

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AC Inaugural Session The inaugural session saw participation from dignitaries like Dr Pramod Sawant, Chief Minister,

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Goa; Uday Madkaikar, Mayor (then), Panaji; Hitesh Vaidya, Director, National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA); Dr Bernadia Irawati Tjandradewi,

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expressed pleasure in welcoming the international delegates and city representatives to Panaji. “The path of sustainability is the only way forward and we have no choice but to embrace it,” the Mayor of Panaji said. He believes that poverty is the biggest challenge that India and other South Asian cities face today and thus, poverty alleviation should be the primary focus as many still don’t even have basic amenities.

Addressing the session, the Chief Minister welcomed the delegation and hoped that the Summit would contribute in the development of the cities. Talking about the SAC Summit, Sawant said, “Such platforms bring together various stakeholders associated with urban development under one roof to deliberate sustainable practices for city development. Not only the government, but every citizen is responsible for complete implementation of sustainable practices in cities.“ The CM briefed everyone present about the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations. ”The whole idea is to positively enhance all the aspects of the SDGs in the country for the future and, in this direction, various policies have been devised and implemented by PM Modi in India,” he added.

Secretary General, UCLG- ASPAC, Indonesia; Ranjit S Chavan, President, All India Institute of Local SelfGovernment (AIILSG); Rajiv Agarwal, Director General, AIILSG (then); Jerome Pons, Head of Cooperation, European Union; and Ravi Ranjan Guru, Deputy Director General, AIILSG. Hansa Patel, Executive Advisor, AIILSG and Debarshi Pandya, CFO, AIILSG welcomed the dignitaries and felicitated the guests with a set of books of Mahatma Gandhi. The Welcome Address for the inaugural session of the 5th South Asian Cities Summit was delivered by Ranjit S Chavan, President, AIILSG. He hoped that the 2-day conference brought forth positive results for the participating cities.

“I am sure that the participating cities of South Asia must have come with new ideas and strategies to achieve SDGs as per their local needs and conditions.

The discussion on different topics including the exchange of information and technology, updated systems and procedures, follow-up and removal of bottlenecks to achieve the target with the speedy process would definitely help each other to attain the final goals by 2030”, Chavan added. Following the welcome address, the conference began with the dignitaries present on the stage lighting the lamp and hoping for a constructive dialogue to follow.

Dr Bernadia, in her special address, talked about the importance of city development, especially for South Asia. “We should discuss not only the challenges but also the solutions when it comes to city development,” she noted. Further, she emphasised that the countries need to work towards the acceleration of the SDGs as only 10 years are left for the set deadline of 2030, dubbing the coming decade as the decade of action.

She also highlighted the need for collective action for the betterment of the coming generations.

In his address, Hitesh Vaidya appreciated the efforts that South Asian countries have made towards the achievement of SDGs, especially towards the alleviation of poverty. “The time has come to show the Western world what we have achieved given the complexity of the circumstances that we are dealing with,” Vaidya said. Jerome Pons delivered the keynote address. In his address, he detailed how the European Union was helping countries around the world with their initiatives to achieve the SDGs. “Over 200 local authorities from around the world have received support from the European Union towards their initiatives to achieve the SDGs ever since 2015. He also mentioned that the EU has moulded their policies around the SDGs in order to prioritise them.

Pons also used the platform of the 5th SAC Summit to announce EU’s plans to discuss the green deal and its digitilisation in the first part of next year.

Delivering the special guest address, Uday Madkaikar

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Session 1: Sustainable Cities The first session saw an eminent panel of speakers discuss the measures that can be implemented in order to make cities more sustainable and, hence, more liveable for the coming generations. The session was chaired by Dr M Ramachandran (IAS Retd) Former UD Secretary, Government of India. He emphasised on the development of rural parts at the periphery of the cities to accommodate the growth of the city. He also highlighted that the biggest challenges that the city governments of South Asia face is developing cities that embrace change. Best practice models implemented across various cities were shared and important issues which affect sustainable development like climate change, capacity building and disaster management were shared during the session. The speakers also concluded that South Asian countries face similar challenges when it comes to city development and hence it was essential to hold dialogues like the SAC Summit between stakeholders for better solutions and knowledge exchange. Gino Van Begin, Secretary General, ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, highlighted the urgent attention that is required by city administrations to tackle the growing issue of climate change.

Cities cannot continue their current negligence of the ecological damages they end up causing. Further, Begin gave ICLEI’s five pathways to ensure sustainability.

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SAC 2020

Glimpses

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Pramod Sawant, Chief Minister of Goa, along with a host of dignitaries released Urban Update magazine and AIILSG’s newsletter Project Update 2. In his address, CM of Goa Pramod Sawant elaborated on the importance of the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals in cities 3. Mayors of Indian and South Asian Cities along with city officials, representatives of Local Government Association and other national and international organisations participated in the Summit 4. Ranjit S Chavan, President, AIILSG and Hansa Patel, Executive Advisor, AIILSG, welcomed the Chief Minister of Goa Pramod Sawant during 5th SAC Summit 5. Albert Graves, Program Director, WeGo (South Korea) addressed the fourth technical session of SAC Summit. He highlighted some smart technological practices incorporated by some cities and could be looked into 6.7. A partnership agreement was signed between International Urban Cooperation and Gangtok Municipal Corporation during the event 8. Another agreement was signed between WeGo and AIILSG. Albert Graves, Ravi Ranjan Guru and Rajiv Aggarwal signed the agreement 9. NIUA passed a declaration that underlined various resolves about Urban Sanitation. It was signed and agreed upon by the attendees 10. A post event photo of the participants, organisers & speakers

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5 7 8 9 10 Project Update

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SAC 2020

The session saw the experts discuss the importance to find a balance between urban development and preservation of water resources. TG Sitharaman, Professor, IIT- Guwahati, pointed out that it was essential for cities to develop special plans for water conservation and management in an integrated manner taking into account the current and future demand scenarios. He also felt that farmers, who use a large portion of water resources for agricultural purposes, must be sensitised about the judicial use of fresh water.

Dr Bhakti Devi, PhD (Urban Water Management), said, “The future of water in the cities lies in small circular systems which are operated and planned by local water users and local municipalities.” She further added that city planners need to regularly speak with water management and supply authorities of the city. Integrated urban water management at small scale system levels can be a possible solution to manage urban expansion and water resources. Ranjan Panda, Convener, Combat Climate Change Network India, suggested that cities must factor in ecological conservation and climate change impacts in their water security designs. The panelists also agreed that a better alternative to the usage of dams must be sought.

“Dams end up disrupting the health of water bodies upon which they are constructed. They restrict the flow of rivers, which directly degrades the ecosystem”, Panda said.

“Sustainable development is the only way out to save not only our growing communities but the general world”, he said.

Session 2: Mobility Although not addressed directly by any of the Sustainable Development Goal directly, mobility is an issue that is central to the achievement of nearly all of them. The discussion between panelists, who ranged from holding public transportation offices to prominent urban planners, saw them analyse recent developments in the transportation systems of cities.

The recurring point in the deliberation was the need to revive and revitalise the public transportation systems of cities. “Public transportation should be at the heart of the transportation infrastructure development of a city. Provisions for the transportation system must be included in the master plan of a city”, A Ravindra, General Committee Member, AIILSG, said. The panelists advocated the shift back to public transportation as it may be a means to boost the economy and, naturally, cut down the emission levels in major cities. Kulwant Singh, Former Asia Advisor, UN-Habitat, pressed the idea of going back to non-motorised transport (NMT) and to minimise the number of private vehicles plying the road.

“There is a need to revisit the approach of transport planning of a city,” he said. Jairaj Pathak, Former Commissioner, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (present Director General, AIILSG), commented that direct municipal operation in handling of the public transportation is the most satisfactory city transport measure that can be adopted. He further identified several issues that cities face when it comes to transportation. Illegal hawkers, no separate bus lanes and the steep rise in the number of private vehicles that has now led to it being the favoured mode of transportation in densely populated areas, were put forth by the speakers.

Prarthana Borah, India Director, Clean Air Asia, said that 99 per cent of cities in Asia don’t adhere to the safe air quality levels and have poor air quality, riddled with PM 2.5. “Simple changes in behaviour patterns will make big changes when it comes to curbing the key pollutants emitted from the vehicles,” she added. The panelists also discussed the future of e-Vehicles in India and how they alone are not enough to curb the dent on the environment.

Session 4: Digital Innovations: Data driven future solutions South Asian cities, with their rich heritage, often hesitate in adopting newer technologies. It is imperative that dialogues between stakeholders of various cities about the incorporation of such technologies with city management happen in order to move them towards the SDGs. Such a discussion ensued in the 4th session of the SAC summit, where panelists put forth examples of digital innovations’ incorporation.

Vikas Kanango, Senior Consultant Digital Development, The World Bank, briefed about the various data driven city management solutions that the World Bank is executing in India. “Our main focus is on climate change mitigation, smart energy development and reducing gender gap in India. With our 120 ongoing projects worth 27 billion dollars, I believe we will harness technology in such a way that Indian cities make the utmost use of it”, he said. One such project the World Bank has implemented is ‘Urban Tree’, whose founders Tharmarajan and Ganesh Kanan addressed the conference. They described how they developed an e-governance platform for the entire state of Tamil Nadu. They elaborated the need for their project, which was responsible for end to end turnkey

Session 3: Water and Cities Maintaining adequate water supply has forever been one of the chief concerns of the city planners. However, with the rapidly expanding cities, the burden on the already depleting water bodies has grown exponentially.

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Municipal Council, advocated that women safety in public toilet facilities must be our next focus. “With the increase in public facilities, India still needs to focus on making them safer for women, especially in rural areas, to reinforce the idea of Open Defecation Free India. More participation of women in the health and sanitation profession could be a way of ensuring this”, she said.

implementation of Urban e-Governance for 135 Urban Local Bodies of Tamil Nadu. “People are not confident in the ULBs operation. Delay, wrong investments, no inclusive governance, mishandling of funds, etc., were some of the motivators behind the development of this project,” Tharmarajan said. There are several challenges for the municipal corporations to make services conveniently available for the citizens. With the help of the online platform, basic municipality functions like tax registration and birth and death certification are more conveniently available to the people. People can register their complaints/ enquiries online with this which would be directly received by the concerned person of the municipality who can cater to the problem.

Elaborating on the miscommunication between ULBs and citizens, Pashim Tewari, Technical Director, AIILSG, said that handling of citizen feedback and grievances, and data management are two issues that city authorities in India must look into. Only then a better accord between the authorities and the citizens can be ensured. Albert Graves said that urban innovation can be brought forward with corporate involvement and in order to gain corporate interest and thus, investment in city management, city authorities must ensure profits for them.

Session 6: Inclusive Cities Cities, with their rapid rate of expansion, are a hotbed for migration from various regions. Given the disparity in communities, economic conditions, or area, the demands of the citizen also vary. Hence, the panelists discussed and presented various ways via which city planners could better develop cities for its inhabitants in the future. The panelists concurred that a city’s heritage and uniqueness must be addressed in its design. To make the city more inclusive, citizens need to be proactively engaged in the planning of the city.

For this, the city planners must proactively engage the citizens at every stage of planning. Smart City as a concept helps the local governments to strengthen their institutional and technical composition and hence better their operations, Debjani Ghosh, Associate Professor, NIUA said in her address.

Tikender Panwar, Former Deputy Mayor, Shimla, said that the irregularity in the terms of mayors for Indian cities must be rectified in order to allow them to make appropriate use of their time in office. Dr Kaustuv Bandyopadhyay, Director, PRIA, raised the issue of the lack of incorporation of the public facilities for the urban poor. The role of private organisations in bridging the communication gaps between citizens and city authorities was also explored during the session.

Session 5: Urban Sanitation With the successful implementation of ODF across India with the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan, the question of sustaining the achievement now arises. Inappropriate sanitation is one of the most basic issues that South Asian Cities continue to face to this day and is directly addressed by SDG 6.

The disposal of faecal sludge and septage management were the major highlights of the session where prominent speakers from National Institute of Urban Affairs, best practice experts and mayors addressed the gathering. Depinder Singh Kapur, Senior Development and WASH Expert, National Institute of Urban Affairs stressed upon the need to prioritise septic management as the number of toilets have significantly increased since SBM. He further pointed out that septic tanks were not working, Sewage Treatment Plants and improper disposal of waste are two challenges that South Asian cities need to address in the future. Only 32 septage treatment plants are operational in India, a number which is highly unsuitable for such a large population. Kavita Wankhede, Senior Lead-Practice, Indian Institute of Human Settlements (IIHS) presented the example of Tamil Nadu, who have established an advisory committee at state level for faecal sludge management and how it has effectively brought down the woes of the state. Pratibha Shinde, President, Vai

Project Update

South Asian Mayors’ Forum and Parallel Sessions The South Asian Mayors’ Forum gave a platform to mayors and deputy mayors of various South Asian cities to put forth their achievements and issues that they have been facing in their respective municipalities.

The primary objective behind the Mayors’ Forum was to enable a healthy dialogue between various city representatives.

A host of Parallel Sessions were also organised during the three-day event. The topic of these sessions included “Paving the Enabling Environment towards Urban Sanitation Solutions: the Journey of MAB in Bangladesh”, “Circular Cities Dialogues Series: Creating Circular Economy towards Shaping Resource Efficient, Sustainable & Circular Cities”, “WomennoVator”, “Global Launch of Regional & Urban Business Incubation Centre”, and “Electric Mobility: State’s role in accelerating electric mobility in India”.

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Incubation

B.Incube assists in incubating start-ups in Bilaspur The COVID-19 has affected the working of most of the sectors due to extended lockdown. Various start-ups that were able to navigate through this crisis primarily relied on three major factors Digitisation, Localisation, and Multi-sector collaboration. Bilaspur Incubation Center, which was set up by AIILSG with support from Bilaspur Smart City, continued functioning on this mandate, and launched a dedicated incubation program “START-UP INCUBATION PROGRAM COHORT - 2.0”, in which, they offered two incubation programs, Udayan and Aakar

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he Udayan programme is a two-month intensive programme that mainly focuses on the ideation stage startups. Those startups that are working on a potentially innovative idea could be provided with mentoring, technical support, a strong network, and optionally a co-working space as well. The entrepreneur takes up the role of developing an idea into a Proof of Concept or an MVP (Minimum Viable Product). Once a marketable technology/ product/service/idea is evolved, a company can be formed around it and B.Incube could consider this startup for the Aakar programme.

The Aakar programme will be 5 months intensive programme where startup companies who already have an MVP in place, improve their product/ service offering and prepare themselves with either the Go-To-Market strategy or to consistently grow their customer base. This programme enables the startup to be ready with an innovative idea in the form of a marketable product that can primarily drive the market, and which is easy to pitch before an investor/VC in the future. With this initiative, B.Incube received a huge response

Team AIILSG explaining the works of Bilaspur Incubation Centre to Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh Bhupesh Baghel

June 2022 www.aiilsg.org

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from several parts of the country with over 300+ startup applications. Post-examination of the applicants in the first round, about 150+ startup applications were invited for Pitch-deck (second round). After two rounds of scrutiny, 52 startup applicants have been selected for the Udayan & Aakar programmes which is initiated in the month of February 2022.

Out of 52 total startup applicants about 38 techbased startups and 14 non-tech startups have been selected to operate in various sectors and fields such as e-commerce, environment sustainability, education, agriculture, and others.

The team also built a string network of downstream investors, knowledge & network partners which will help incubatees in their journey.

B.Incube also partnered with the Indian Institute of Technology, Bhilai. The selected startups could also avail the lab facilities available at IIT-Bhilai and make use of the dedicated cloud server set up by them. The startups will be provided with regular group mentoring sessions and programmes.

B.Incube has industry-specific mentors with international exposure, domain experience, and connections in the area and level of business in which the startups usually operate. Based on the availability of our experts and mentors, individual startups could reach out to 4 mentors for oneon-one sessions every month. The fundamental idea of this programme is to enable innovative startups to transform their ideas into reality by providing a platform offering the resources and opportunities available with the Government, and non-government interventions. And, we trust that our competent in-house experts, capable startups, a team of skilled mentors, and backing from the government would boost the incubator’s capacity, allowing more startups to join and benefit from the programme in the future.

Project Update

TISS

TISS – SVE Project imparts vocational training to Indian youth To impart skill education to Indian youth through appropriately designed vocational education programmes, the AIILSG in collaboration with TISS-SVE, Mumbai brought its full-time 3-year graduation degree course in Hotel Management in 2018. The approach adopted is called the Internship Embedded Skill Training Programme during which many students may also earn a modest stipend in select skill knowledge sectors

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he aim of this ‘Earn while you learn’ model is to enable the students to learn the skill by engaging in an internship on the real shop floor of the industry/company along with theory training in the classroom.

For last three years, the AIILSG has been offering this course in New Delhi, Ahmedabad, Indore, and Trivandrum with over 100 students, 25 Trainers, and 17 Skill Knowledge Provider/Industry Partners associated with us to make this program a great success. Our focus is on developing jobspecific skills rather than providing only a broad knowledge-based education. The graduates of

the programme are equipped to meaningfully participate in accelerating India’s economy by gaining appropriate employment or becoming entrepreneurs.

Under the new MoU signed in August 2021, the AIILSG is associated with TISS-SVE as a Service Provider for 17 Verticals for a period of 3 years from 1 June 2021. The AIILSG will be instrumental in offering UG and PG Diploma courses across verticals. In Phase-I, we have decided to offer TISS-SVE courses for the upcoming July 2022 academic session at our 12 Regional Centres namely New Delhi, Vizag, Mumbai, Tirupati,

Students of Hotel Management after On Job Training (OJT) interviews at Hotel Piccadily, New Delhi

Students during a class of Hotel Management training at AIILSG Delhi Regional Center

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Trivandrum, Belgaum, Indore, Surat, Lucknow, Bhubaneswar, Hyderabad, and Aurangabad. We are planning to bring other regional centers under this project in coming years.

The project team is working actively with Regional Centres to launch batches for the upcoming July 2022 academic session. Onboarding Industry partners from different sectors, so as to impart practical training to our students and student mobilisation through marketing activities are the team’s main agenda.

June 2022 www.aiilsg.org

HDFC CSR PROJECT HDFC banner 4.pdf 1 25-02-2022 11:41:07

Crop Residue Management Creating Energy Security and Sustainable Livelihoods in Villages through Utilization of Stubble in Punjab

Sponsored By C

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HDFC Parivartan and All India Institute of Local Self-Government

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AIILSG, HDFC plan ways to tackle stubble burning, help solve air pollution Stubble burning in northern India has long been a major cause of air pollution. This has created a massive public health crisis as its fumes pollute the swathes of northern India and endanger the health of millions of people. In order to address the issue, the project was uniquely designed for the farmers, offering a very significant opportunity to contribute towards suggesting and implementing alternatives to stubble burning

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he project is funded by the HDFC Bank under its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative PARIVARTAN. This project intends to be a practical study targeting 1000 farmers across 80 villages of the Fazilka Block of the Fazilka district of Punjab.

Significance The project aims to develop a self-sustainable Bio-mass pellet project strengthened by Urban Local Bodies with designated places for proper disposal facilitation. One of the objectives is to create a visibly cleaner area with hygienic environment where lower incidences of airpollution based issues are reported.

It will create awareness among people on maintaining proper agri-residue. In addition to inculcating a sense of ownership among the local people especially the urban local bodies, this will generate employment for people to work in areas of agri-residue, segregation, storage, and processing.

Activities Community

June 2022 www.aiilsg.org

Mobilisation/Identification

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farmers for creation of FPO (Farmer’s Producer Organization) was organised wherein individual farmers and groups of farmers were sensitized towards harmful impacts of stubble burning and suggested alternatives. Farmers were inspired with the benefits of becoming a part of FPOs and FPOs were formed. The team also conducted baseline study in the identified region.

Capacity building trainings were organised on stubble management, FPO creation and management, finance, soil management, in addition to training Board of Directors of the FPO and their managers. Farmers were introduced with the project details, project scope, and scope of benefits. Project team identified for Pellet Plant and a site for Biomass Storage space in the region.

More FPOs for engaging more farmers are to be created in the remaining period of the project.

Since the site has already been identified, a Biomass storage space will soon be established.

The team is working to procure machinery for crop harvesting and will also soon start collection of biomass after procurement of necessary equipment and vehicles.

Project Update

Climate Resilient & Inclusive Cities

Making Cities Resilient Systematically AIILSG contributed in preparation of the Good Practices Guidebook that aspired to document, the most relevant, adaptable good practices that could be implemented in CRIC target cities in Indonesia. In addition, the Institute will create and coordinate an engagement plan with Indian cities in consultation with Institutions and consultants contributing in the area on Air Pollution. The project is funded by the European Union and implemented by the UCLG ASPAC, AIILSG along with a host of partners

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he overall objectives of the CRIC project are to propose a long lasting and unique cooperation between cities and research centers in Europe, Indonesia and other countries from South East Asia, and to contribute substantially to sustainable integrated urban development, good governance, and climate adaptation/mitigation through long lasting partnerships, and tools such as sustainable local action plans, early warning tools and experts’ panels. The target groups will be local governments, cities, urban stakeholders working on climate resilience, climate mitigation and adaptation, and good governance of inclusive cities.

The project began in 2020 and will conclude in 2024.

Expanding horizon of project activities AIILSG has developed the Good Practices Guidebook that aspired to document the most relevant, adaptable good practices that could be implemented in CRIC target cities in Indonesia. The Guide Book provides several options for the local governments in Indonesia to learn and adopt the practices which could be an example for Indonesian Cities to fast track the journey to resilience and inclusive urban systems.

Pilot4Dev proposed AIILSG an opportunity to create and coordinate an engagement plan with Indian cities in consultation with Institutions and consultants contributing in the area on Air Pollution.

The project development and work plan is yet to be structured in the coming months.

The Institute is also working on to create a node to seek sustainable funding application projects in the cities involved. AIILSG has over the year aimed to create a node to seek sustainable funding for projects with the aim to facilitate sustainable urban transition through financing in the form of various financing instruments amalgamated with diverse emerging approaches in grant making and financing, including blended finance with more emphasis on global financing landscape.

AIILSG has researched, consulted and produced communication and visibility plan to CRIC partners.

The document submission process is governed and

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coordinated by UCLG ASPAC based on consultative approach with content accepted by partners. The organization is in continual contribution in scaling outreach of project activities on social media through the dedicated media service available, Urban Update (https://urbanupdate.in/) AIILSG has been continuously working on the Triangular Cooperation- identifying scope for engagement and opportunities that can be leveraged.

Circular Economy Workstream As a result of various dialogues and meetings between AIILSG and UCLG ASPAC over the years, and as a result of the Circular Economy Week, AIILSG globally launched the United Network of Circular Cities at the 10th World Urban Forum at Abu Dhabi in the year 2020, creating multilevel partnerships with suitable enablers towards policy level action and financial mechanism through private sector cooperation.

AIILSG therefore, has put up a proposal for Circular Economy Committee and Local Government Resource Panel (LoRP) to develop a joint vision and common agenda on circular economy among UCLG ASPAC members. It will facilitate cooperation and knowledge sharing with other actors, provide recommendation and create elaborated framework for creating awareness on adopting and implementing circular economy in Asia-Pacific Region members, and develop and providing platform for high level meetings

Outcomes The project is expected to benefit directly ten pilot Indian cities through thematic technical assistance on topic of early warning system, circular economy, water and sanitation and air pollution. Also, cities in Indonesia will get technical assistance for the application of tools customised to the needs of Indonesian Cities. It is expected that cities in India and Indonesia will have opportunity to share experience and case studies on thematic priorities of CRIC project through the exhibitions, training programmes and by participating in workshops.

June 2022 www.aiilsg.org

MPUDC

Outreach campaigns in MP for This project is being implemented by the Madhya Pradesh Urban Development Company (MPUDC) for the sustainable and holistic development of sewer infrastructure in selected towns in Madhya Pradesh. MPUDP, funded by the World Bank, is one of the project being implemented with the objective of connecting 100 per cent households with a sewerage connection and connecting the sewerage line to an STP

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anitation is one of the means of preventing human contact with the hazards of waste to promote health. According to a report published by UNICEF and the World Health Organization (2015), the world is not on track to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and 2.3 billion people still lack even a basic sanitation service.

Project objectives The main aim of this project is to ensure that all stakeholders in the target ULBs, including all residents, municipal staff, elected representatives, are aware of the water supply or sewerage projects being implemented under MPUDP. The main objective of this project is to design and implement on-ground programs, to perform IEC in 8 sewerage sub-projects and prepare IEC material for up to 5 water supply sub-projects under implementation (MPUDP).

To spread awareness among municipal staff, elected representatives among others, about the importance of sewerage connectivity, sanitation, health, hygiene, and other community mobilization projects. The team is also coordinating with

municipal staff, elected representatives, public representatives, and other civil society frontline workers and service providers.

One of the components under the project activities is raising awareness about the project objectives being implemented and the services being mobilised by MPUDC. AIILSG is responsible for social mobilisation of the same using IEC components and outreach activities. This is to ensure the participation of the public deployment process so that the people have adequate knowledge about the nature of the project and the benefits of having a sewer infrastructure. This initiative of MPUDC to conduct outreach activities and raising awareness of underground water supply and sewerage network connections in the selected eight ULBs commenced in August 2022 for a 17 months within the MPUDP project period ending in December 2022.

MPUDC outreach campaign program conducted in eight ULBs Dharampuri, Maheshwar, Chhindwara, Shajapur, Nasrullaganj, Shahdol, and Budhani, for raising public awareness of and benefits of connecting underground water supply and/or sewerage networks particularly focusing on health and economic benefits for households.

Activities in brief

Chief Minister of MP Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s visit to STP inauguration programme at Budhani, MP

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The Field Executives placed in each ULB are responsible for conducting ward-level awareness, school-college level activities, and workshops/ seminars in each ULB to spread awareness about the benefits of the project and its importance.

Street plays are organized at the community level to spread the message about the benefits of having a sewerage connection. Using more creative and interactive methods across all wards, we encourage residents to get sewerage connections for their households. Ward-level activities are conducted for better community collaboration to highlight the need for sewerage connections in their households regarding the benefits of better health and hygiene in the

Project Update

improved sewerage connection surrounding neighborhood and to lead the community towards a better quality of life.

Nukkad Nataks were conducted in each ULB on a regular basis. Each Nukkad Natak was of 7-8 minutes duration and team of 7-8 actors had participated in the street play. The whole play was in the local language (Hindi; along with use of local dialect). One group member introduces the topic at the beginning and at the end, they summarised the message or moral of the story. The title of the play was “Adhunik Jeevan Rekha”. Nukkad Natak turned out be the most effective and most creative way to educate people about the importance of good hygiene/sanitation.

School-College level campaigns are regularly conducted with support and coordination of principals, teachers, and students to explain the need for change, and the usefulness to society of new ways to manage sewerage. The message is further reinforced by holding essays, debates, or drawing and painting competitions on the subject and publicizing the winning contestants.

Various one-day workshops were conducted with the ULB Officials, local stakeholders, SHG groups, etc, with an aim to create an intensive educational experience in a short amount of time and spread knowledge.

event to commence the STP in Budhani constructed by MPUDC and an undertaking of the Urban Development and Housing Department. The Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan was the chief guest of the event. During the same event, the street play prepared by AIILSG’s project was also played. The artists had put on an impressive show highlighting the benefits of a sewerage connection and its maintenance; they also described the advantage of a clean and healthy environment in the play.

According to the action plan prepared by the field executives, several outreach activities will be conducted in the selected ULBs along with the form filling process. In the next 6-months, the project will complete all outreach activities and form-filling in at least 4 towns. The project team aims to complete 90 per cent of all outreach activities by October 2022 and coommence activities in eight additional towns.

Significance The sewerage project in respect of which considerable public and social resources are being used forms a basic infrastructure for the ULBs and are an indisputable indicator of civilization and development. The works undertaken cover several substantial social needs and aim to improve the quality of life and protect public health and the environment.

The objective of the outreach campaign program is to ensure better health and hygiene for all the households and the community. Targeted benefits of the project includes protecting River Narmada, worldclass sewerage water treatment, and reuse of water.

Developing provision for sanitary services, closed/ covered sewerages, free sewerage water connection to every household, are listed in the objectives. The project aims to strenghthen urban local bodies to ensure that citizens receive good services.

The Outreach Campaign programme’s purpose is to achieve 100 per cent sewerage connections in the selected ULBs by way of community awareness and participation being the key to success. Any ULB or government can never be successful in delivering urban sanitation without active community awareness and participation. For the successful implementation of any programme involving the community at large in universal sanitation in urban areas, various aspects need to be considered to improve the awareness and participation by involving individuals or voluntary organisations and government agencies.

Outreach campaign in Budhani Looking at the success in various project towns, Budhani was recently added in the list of project towns where AIILSG conducted the outreach activities. The team was also involved in organising the inauguration

Nukkad Natak organised for community awareness

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June 2022 www.aiilsg.org

Biodiversity

Capacity development for better and sustainable urban ecology Cities have begun realising that their rapid, unplanned development has been affecting the environment and the nature, which has created adverse living conditions for the city inhabitants.

Culture of a city is an essential component of its identity which is also in dire need to be preserved along with nature. Keeping the above two things in mind, AIILSG, with SwedBio and other partners, is planning training programmes on this subject. The fundamental aim of these training programs is to sensitise and build the capacity of urban local bodies (ULBs), including urban managers, planners, engineers and architects, about the importance of heritage in the context of sustainable urban development and enhance their knowledge about use, and management of heritage structures and areas

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he training would enable ULBs to rethink about conservation of nature and cultural heritage as an interrelated and interdependent concept. It would assist them in reconceiving current approaches, where nature and culture management remain separate.

The central aim is to engage children and young adults in transforming marginalised neighbourhoods through understanding and use of “relevant”, integrated nature and culture-based solutions- in urban areas. The objective of the project is to develop and disseminate nature and culture- based education; capacity building and training for inculcating a deeper understanding of their context; and reiterating a solution seeking mindset among children and young adults.

Noting the primary aim of the larger project, AIILSG will be undertaking training programs for ULBs. It would build synergies across sectors and engage proactively with policymakers, communities and networks in addition to practitioners. The training programme will help the participants develop the understanding and

June 2022 www.aiilsg.org

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framework for planning sustainable cities in the context of the SDG 11 (Sustainable cities and communities). It will also expose the participants to ongoing urban development programmes and policies of the Government of India and those of other nations. It will help them comprehend India’s efforts in planning for developing smart and sustainable cities.

Activities & outcome Under the project, AIILSG team will provide support in the development of training modules and other descriptive materials in particular areas of risk preparedness, the management of cultural landscapes, the integrated conservation and management of historic cities, the development of monitoring strategies within site management, tourism management, and participatory management planning. It will work on the development of ancillary materials for advertising, promotion, in addition to all other materials required during the training.

Onboarding of stakeholders for training is one of the primary aspects of the project. AIILSG will conduct thematic trainings on culture and natural heritage, traditional ecological knowledge of development, sustainable development practices.

By establishing a network of nationally recognized leadership sites, which will include the National Heritage Sites demonstrating leading practices, the project will provide platforms for learning and capacity building. Under the project, the aim is to finalise workshop framework, and learning tool product and design. It is expected to develop officials’ orientation and mainstreaming natural and cultural heritage conservation as an interrelated concept.

Project Update

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AIILSG organises Urban Dialogues and annual South Asian Cities Summit to stir the debate on relevant urban issues and bring forward the workable solutions for urban local bodies. These events provide a platform to experts, city leaders, municipal officials and citizens to converse and exchange ideas.

Partnered In

Project Update

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June 2022 www.aiilsg.org

ECBC

ECBC Project encouraging energy conservation in states The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) has designated the All India Institute of Local Self-Government (AIILSG) to establish Energy Efficient Building (EEB) Cells in Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, Uttarakhand, Assam, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar Island, Daman and Diu, Puducherry, Lakshadweep, Goa and Chandigarh, for a period of two years (2021 – 2023)

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uildings in cities are power guzzlers. If cities have to become energy efficient, their building should become energy efficient first. To do this, the AIILSG, along with the Bureau of Energy Efficiency and other State Designated agencies, has successfully conducted more than 250 training programs (Physical and Digtal) in different states.

ECBC code notification in various states The table states the current status of the ECBC, Bye Laws notification status in the states. Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Sikkim and Assam have already notified the code and the bye-laws which is also been printed, whereas the work is under process in Goa and Arunachal Pradesh.

Demonstration projects Demonstration Projects are some of those commercial buildings in states, which need to be ECBC Compliant as it cuts cost, is profitable to

owners of the buildings and is also beneficial for the environment.

The ECBC Cell under the All India Institute of Local Self-Government provides technical assistance to commercial buildings to make them energy efficient. It identifies potential commercial projects in discussion with ULBs/SDAs/ stakeholders of the states and provide technical assistance by preparing Techno-Commercial Feasibility Report to ensure that the proposed design is ECBC compliant.

The report includes Daylight Simulation, Lighting Simulation, Energy Simulation, Sun Path Analysis, Climatic Analysis, Financial feasibility analysis. The annual baseline energy consumption of the Super Speciality Hospital, Chandigarh, was 37,84,553 KWH and after implementing ECBC measures the annual energy consumption went down to 32,80,281 KWH which is a difference of 5,04,272 KWH.

ECBC S. No.

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Submitted to approving De partment

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Cabinet ap proval ac

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Yes

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Andaman & Nicobar Is lands

Yes

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Yes

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Assam

Yes

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Sikkim

Yes

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Arunachal Pra desh

Cabinet approval accorded

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Project Update

Delhi Survey

AIILSG conducts street vendors’ surveys for better civic governance AIILSG conducted “Street Vendors/Hawkers/Weekly Markets Survey & MIS Entry of Different Zones in Delhi”. The project aims to identify different street vendors/ hawkers/Weekly Markets in Delhi and collect their information on household profile, place of vending, and vending profile with biometric details. The project created a detailed database of economic and social aspects of all existing vendors and hawkers in different zones of Delhi, created an MIS database and provided Certificate of Vending to TVC approved street vendors

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he project was awarded by the Department of Urban Development, Government of NCT of Delhi. All Town Vending Committee (TVC) zones of Municipal Corporation of Delhi were covered in the survey. There are two agencies working in this Project - KASH IT Solutions and the All India Institute of Local Self Government. The work assigned to AIILSG is to conduct surveys in all the zones awarded by municipal corporations. Out of 272 wards of Delhi, AIILSG is conducting survey in 126 wards (excluding NDMC). This will help in initiating planned interventions for protection and regularization of street vendors in Delhi and linking vendors with welfare schemes and policies.

The AIILSG has conducted 36,433 surveys out of which 31,108 surveys have been approved by the Government of Delhi. Smart IDs along with effective dashboard have been provided. The entire process was done as per Delhi Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Rules, 2017 and Delhi Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Scheme, 2019.

AIILSG team conducting Delhi street vendors’ survey

Project Update

AIILSG conducts COVID-19 Survey in 22 cities AIILSG conducted “COVID-19 Appropriate Behavioural Surveillance, Knowledge & Attitude Survey of COVID-19 Disease and Vaccines among General Population of India: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study”. It was awarded by the NIUA in collaboration with UNICEF. Approximately, 15,000 surveys have been completed across 22 cities (rural and urban) in 2 Months through KOBOCOLLECT AAP. This study focuses on three tools to assess the knowledge and attitude towards COVID-19 outbreak as well as practice of COVID appropriate behavior.

The first tool is COVID-19 Appropriate Behaviour Survey (CABS- Observation Survey and Social Experiment) based on two tools, that is, observation and conducting social experiment in a sub-set of observed samples (individuals) who are not following CAB. This Survey figures out how general population practices social distancing and personal hygiene in common public places. We have to conduct 350 to 400 surveys in 10 locations of cities and towns. The social experiment includes canvassing of a few questions to a sub-set of the sample population, that is, those who’re not following COVID19 appropriate behaviour (CAB) in public places, to understand the reasons for their complacency. Knowledge and Attitude Survey (KAS-Household Survey) is a structured questionnaire which was distributed among households. KAS tries to assess the knowledge and attitude of a household towards COVID-19 and its response measures including treatment-seeking behaviour, maintenance of personal hygiene and attitude towards vaccination. The survey also analyses the reasons for not following CAB, like differential access to basic amenities such as availability of rooms, hand-washing facilities, drinking water connections etc. 100 to 120 surveys have been conducted in three locations of cities (i.e. Slum Area Location, MIG HHs Location & HIG HHs Location) and rural areas (25 to 30 Household of villages in rural areas).

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June 2022 www.aiilsg.org

Building Accessible, Safe and Inclusive Indian Cities (BASIIC)

Assisting in making Indian cities accessible, inclusive All India Institute of Local Self-Government (AIILSG) in collaboration with the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) and with the support from the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) fund of the UK Government, is implementing the project “Building Accessible, Safe & inclusive Indian Cities (BASllC)”. The main objective is to make Indian cities accessible and inclusive for all, especially for people with special abilities

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he principal goal of BASIIC is to build the capacities of Indian cities to be sensitive and responsive to the needs of the people with disabilities (PwDs).

The project aims to holistically build the capacity of practitioners to plan and implement tenets of universal access and inclusiveness. AIILSG through this project, has curated a detailed fourmodule course on “Fundamentals of Disability Inclusion”. The project commenced in January 2021 and got completed in March 2022.

Online course on disability inclusion AIILSG in collaboration with the NIUA curated a Course on “Fundamentals of Disability Inclusion”.

The four-module course provides a 360-degree perspective around Disability Inclusion and helps the city stakeholders deep dive into tools & methods of achieving universal design at urban level. The aim is to familiarise the city officials on the importance of achieving universal design within an urban ecosystem.

AIILSG under this project has also gathered the key stakeholders working on disabilities; on a common platform and has demonstrated innovative solutions – technologies, programs and service delivery models in the realm of universal access through a series of Training & Capacity Building programs.

Training programs Under this project, till date, AIILSG has successfully completed the training programs across 5 Cities namely Varanasi, Bhilai, Pune, Bhopal and Ahmedabad. More than 100 officials attended the training programs. Additionally, an E-dialogue on “Building cities for all- A perspective on Disability Inclusion” has also been organized.

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June 2022 www.aiilsg.org

City Varanasi Bhilai Bhopal Pune Ahmedabad

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Training, under BASIIC, attended by the officials of Pune Municipal Corporation

Training need assessment City Training Needs assessment conducted across 30 Indian cities to collect evidence on city’s perception towards Universal design and inclusive practices, and further design tailored relevant training modules and resources basis learning needs from the city officials, a self-paced course on “Fundamentals of Disability Inclusion was created. The course is live on nulp.niua.org.

Highlights »» The project through the course and the training programs has helped the city stakeholders learn to diagnose city’s level of accessibility, safety and inclusivity and: »» Identify key barriers impacting vulnerable population and Promote equitable, lasting and cost effective measures to remove barriers in the future. »» Gain working knowledge of how to conduct an access and safety audit »» Improve city’s performance by addressing accessibility and inclusivity related issues »» Adopt national and global best practices to tackle the issues and challenges faced by PwDs in a city.

Project Update

South Asian Cities Summit 2020

Project Update

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June 2022 www.aiilsg.org

IEC - PMU

AIILSG assisting municipal corporations improve SWM, become garbage-free with community participation All India Institute of Local Self-Government (AIILSG) is conducting IEC (Information, Education & Communication) activities under Swachh Bharat Mission – Urban (SBM - U) in Jammu, Srinagar, Dehradun and Pimpri-Chinchwad. These activities were initiated by the AIILSG in consultation with respective Municipal Corporations. The activities being undertaken in the projects are in line with the vision of SBM (U), which is to make all Indian cities open defecation free and garbage-free

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he AIILSG conducted various IEC activities in Jammu under SBM-U, in consultation with the Jammu Municipal Corporation. These activities were initiated in the begining of October 2020.

Various activities for community awareness are being conducted in the city. Some are mentioned below.

AIILSG team, in collaboration with Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) organised a ‘Run for Cleanliness’ Marathon event on August 12, 2021, under SBM to celebrate ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ at MA Stadium, Jammu. The marathon started at 7 AM and participants had to cover the distance between MA Stadium and Police headquarters (start and back to MA Stadium). The event was attended by Mayor of Jammu, Chandermohan Gupta; Raghav Langar, Divisional commissioner, JMC; Deputy Mayor of Jammu, Purnima Sharma; Deputy Commissioner of Jammu, Anshul Garg; Mukesh Singh, Additional Director General of Police, Jammu; Pankaj Gupta, Joint Commissioner, JMC; Hitesh Gupta, Additional CEO, Jammu Smart City; Sudhir Bali, Assistant Commissioner Revenue, JMC; and Dr Sanjogita Soodan, Health Officer.

To discourage the use of plastic/polythene and to completely stop usage of single use plastic in the city, the JMC launched a comprehensive campaign named “Bye - Bye Plastic #JammuAgainstPlastic”.

People were asked to suggest names for the campaign, and more than 150 suggestions were received by the JMC. Under the initiative, kiosks were installed in the prominent areas of Jammu City, which worked as exchange points for singleuse plastic with that of cloth/jute bag. People were encouraged to use jute/cloth bag for carrying daily goods. Under the campaign, 2.3 quintals of plastic was received by the JMC within a month and 6834 jute/cotton bags were provided in return to local citizens. The aim is to distribute 1 lakh plus bags all over the city. Looking at the successful efforts of JMC, various organisations eventually stepped up to contribute to the campaign. One of them was “Sparkle Women’s Club” which donated 1000 bags to JMC for the ongoing campaign “Bye - Bye Plastic”.

JMC and AIILSG organised three different events consecutively under “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav” initiative in September 2021. “Kachra Alag Karo Amrit Diwas” was organised on September 27, 2021. The objective was to sensitise people about the concept of door-to-door segregation in all 75 wards of the city. ‘Sarvajanik Sauchalaya Safai Jan Bhagidari Amrit Utsav’ was celebrated on September 29, 2021. In this, a training session was conducted by the JMC and AIILSG team where the community toilet/public toilet (CT/PT) caretakers were trained regarding an application designed for their work.

Swachh Survekshan Ranking

Dehradun

Jammu

City

SS 2019

SS 2021

Jammu 318

169

Dehradun 384

82

Pimpri-Chinchwad

19

52

Srinagar 357 42

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In order to sensitise people of Dehradun regarding cleanliness and its importance, the AIILSG team conducted IEC activities in the city. The team conducted awareness programme amongst citizens about ‘Vote for your city’ application and assisted them in voting through the platform.

Awareness campaigns were organised in the city about segregation of waste at individual households, on maintaining open defecation free status of the city, and on making Dehradun a

Project Update

Planned activities In addition to aforementioned activities, the team is also planning to conduct extensive awareness drives with themes pertaining to a mix of significant Cultural Events (World Water Day, Festivals etc.), Segregation, Home composting, and others. The team will plan awareness drives and surveys regarding construction and demolition (C&D) waste management and will assist the PCMC on improper disposal of C&D waste in the city.

Mohalla Sabha in PCMC region for awareness on waste segregation

Way forward garbage free city. The team also conducted a drive on public health awareness, which aimed to discuss how keeping the city clean by avoiding usage of plastic, managing waste, etc can be an important step towards good health of residents.

AIILSG in collaboration with Dehradun Municipal Corporation launched a plastic free campaign on March 26, 2022. A drive was also conducted where plastic was collected from schools across the city. In April 2022, Dehradun Nagar Nigam started a special cleanliness drive named ‘Vishesh Safai Abhiyaan’, wherein all the major roads, streets and drains of the city were cleaned.

The project aims to make the city garbage-free with maximum participation from citizens. Through the project, the team will try to convince maximum citizens for home composting and for effective implementation of Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016. The team will aim to conduct effective IEC activities and campaigns around cleanliness in the city so as to improve PCMC’s performance in Garbage-free city, Open defecation free city and Swachh Survekshan, 2022, certifications.

Srinagar In order to eradicate the menace of plastic pollution from Srinagar, the AIILSG has designed an exclusive Anti-Polythene Campaign popularly known as #The 6R Campaign for the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC). In addition to 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) component of plastic waste management, the team has suggested three more Rs (Remove, Refuse and Report) to it. Therefore, it has been renamed 6R Campaign.

As part of the 6R Campaign, the SMC has taken following initiatives for community awareness: ♦♦ Awareness cum control programs through AntiPolythene Check Posts: The Anti-Polythene Squad in the canopy sensitises the public to not carry polythene bags beyond the limits of check posts. ♦♦ Daily Awareness through Print and Electronic Media/Hoardings: Awareness program on Radio, TV, Newspaper and social media sites to sensitise people to avoid the use of single use plastics (SUPs). 65 Hoardings with different messages on SUPs have been installed at public places. ♦♦ Awareness through Sundays for Srinagar: One day program for removing SUPs from hotspots is being conducted every week at famous tourist spots, water bodies, bye passes etc., to inculcate behavioural inertia among citizens. ♦♦ Awareness through Market Associations: Market associations in commercial areas are being sensitised about the polythene and its related disadvantages. ♦♦ Awareness program conducted through traditional songs/Jingles (recorded by Ajaz Khan, Srinagar).

Pimpri-Chinchwad The Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) has empaneled AIILSG for Solid waste Management IEC project in B Zone. It consists of a total 84857 households, 3030 shops with a population of 2,34,860.

Assisting PCMC AIILSG IEC Team supports the PCMC for ensuring the implementation of all solid waste management (SWM) protocols at household and ward level and to work towards knowledge enhancement of the community on SWM. The team is promoting best practices of SWM among citizens and creating awareness about Swachh Bharat Mission – Urban. Various monthly thematic activities are also organised by the AIILSG team as per Swachh Bharat Mission - Urban guidelines and recommendations. An effective grievance redressal and citizen feedback system has also been established.

Sensitising community through IEC activities The team has visited more than 38,000 households for IEC awareness which improved the percentage of waste segregation in the area from 8 per cent to 86 per cent within four months. Moreover, 15 rallies and 24 street plays were conducted by the PCMC and AIILSG team and more than 95 awareness activities were conducted in the region. The team surveyed 987 societies more than 3200 commercial establishments for IEC.

Project Update

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June 2022 www.aiilsg.org

CityNet

Localisation is way to achieve SDGs AIILSG in collaboration with CITYNET under the project ‘Promoting Localization of SDGs in Cities through Capacity Building and Knowledge Sharing’, organised five webinars in a series ‘Localisation of SDGs’. In addition, Team Urban Update created a Localising SDG’s e-forum. Best practices, specific to the topic ‘Localising SDGs’ and information about webinars in the series were on the e-forum. As of May 2022, 117 informative articles, news pieces on the localization of SDGs had been covered by the team

T

he webinars under this collaboration ranged on discussions of urban planners worldwide pushing for urban local bodies to focus on equitable and sustainable urban expansion that does not harm the environment. They suggested the countries globally to undertake measures and policies to inch closer to achieving the SDGs, and how urban development at large cannot be successful without factoring in inclusivity. The COVID-19 pandemic is being considered by many as a lesson for policymakers and world leaders.

The transmissibility of the disease has made it immensely clear that without ensuring universal access to basic civic services for all, no one can be considered safe. These primarily include water, sanitation and health services.

The first webinar in the series was conducted on June 18, 2021. The topic of the webinar was – ‘Localising SDGs and Role of Local Governments: Opportunities and Challenges’. The eminent panel of the event included Dr Pascaline Gaborit, Founder, Pilot4dev; Gaurang Rathi, Commissioner, Varanasi Nagar Nigam; Prerna Vijaykumar Mehta, Associate Director (Urban Development), World Resource Institute (WRI); and Abhilash Khandekar, Senior Journalist. They discussed how the COVID-19 pandemic has also brought the local and regional governments (LRGs) to the frontline and once again highlighted their importance.

They noted that now that LRGs are working to coordinate activities in different spheres of public life, from mobility to security, and from health to sewage, national governments need to make them more independent in order to take decisions proactively.

The next webinar was organised in July on the topic ‘Making Urban Economic Development Sustainable’. The webinar discussed how city leaders and urban planners need to ensure that the economic and infrastructure development is integrated sustainably to cater to the growing urban population. Third webinar was conducted on ‘Building local resilience in post-COVID world’ in August. It talked about how globally, cities bore

June 2022 www.aiilsg.org

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the major brunt of the pandemic as their health infrastructure almost collapsed, and therefore there is need for cities to augment the development of their medical infrastructure in order to become resilient and prepared for future pandemics.

Another webinar was conducted on September 28, on ‘Imperatives of Building Inclusive Cities’.

Rushda Majeed, India Representative, Bernard van Leer Foundation; Sneh Gupta, President, Indiability Foundation; Arbind Singh, National Coordinator, NASVI; and Dnyaneshwar Mulay, Member, National Human Rights Commission constituted the panel and discussed how cities can come together to build inclusive spaces to achieve the SDGs, prevent future pandemics, battle climate change and global warming. The last webinar of the series was conducted on November 18 on ‘Building Cities & Conserving Environment with Decentralised Initiatives’.

As part of this collaboration, in addition to the webinars and e-forum, AIILSG developed and conducted a survey of 11 million-plus cities in India. The survey aimed to develop clear recommendations from local stakeholders on how to implement the agenda at the local level, analyse and define roles and functions of local governments and stakeholders in working towards the targets, identify capacity gaps of relevant stakeholders, and analyse participation and inclusiveness for the implementation process including local accountability mechanisms.

Project Update

Setting The Agenda For Tomorrow’s Cities

UrbanUpdate

www.urbanupdate.in

Urban Update magazine, published by All India Institute of Local Self-Government (AIILSG), is for a global community of urban thinkers committed to improving livability in cities. Each issue explores a specific theme— ranging from smart city to inclusivity to urban mobility— through in-depth features, articles from prominent experts in the domain, thought-provoking info-graphics, profiles and interviews of inspiring change makers, event coverage and news relating to urban development and sustainability.

To know all about cities

Read Urban Update

Setting The Agenda For Tomorrow’s Cities

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UrbanUpdate 2021 Volume VII, Issue VIII

December 2021

ISSN 2349-6266 RNI No DELENG/2014/57384

Setting The Agenda For Tomorrow’s Cities

UrbanUpdate Volume VII, Issue IX

Terrible, TumulTuous YeT TransformaTional Year for CiTies!

January 2022

Setting The Agenda For Tomorrow’s Cities

Volume VII, Issue X

Key Trends To sTeer Urban sTory in

ISSN 2349-6266 RNI No DELENG/2014/57384

Setting The Agenda For Tomorrow’s Cities

UrbanUpdate Volume VII, Issue XI

February 2022

JJM will strengthen roots of local self-governance

Cities need strong local leadership

What 2021 taught us in ‘Urban Governance Class’?

ISSN 2349-6266 RNI No DELENG/2014/57384

UrbanUpdate

March 2022

THINkINg

ISSN 2349-6266 RNI No DELENG/2014/57384

Setting The Agenda For Tomorrow’s Cities

UrbanUpdate IntrIGuInG Story ofMcd Volume VII, Issue XII

AprIl 2022

ISSN 2349-6266 RNI No DELENG/2014/57384

Setting The Agenda For Tomorrow’s Cities

UrbanUpdate Volume VIII, Issue I

May 2022

CITIes ANew AIILSG continues to work for robust local governance

CITIES ARE BRANDS TOO

How to make Indian cities ‘AatmaNirbhar’ How ‘Pink City’ coloured lives during COVID-19 pandemic

European Union The project is funded by the European Union.

AIILSG The project is implemented by the AIILSG.

European Union The project is funded by the European Union.

Cities must tap local wisdom to solve complex issues: Rathi AIILSG The project is implemented by the AIILSG.

European Union The project is funded by the European Union.

AIILSG

AIILSG

European Union The project is funded by the European Union.

The project is implemented by the AIILSG.

The project is implemented by the AIILSG.

Project For any enquiry, write at contacturbanupdate@gmail.com

Update

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European Union The project is funded by the European Union.

EdMc

Culture is a glue that binds Cities, Citizens

SdMc

AIILSG The project is implemented by the AIILSG.

European Union The project is funded by the European Union.

AIILSG The project is implemented by the AIILSG.

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Injecting Drug Unit - targeted interventions

IDU Project sensitising youth on AIDS, drug abuse The project is a very significant component of National AIDS Control Program (NACP). The initiatives under the project provide an opportunity to provide comprehensive and integrated HIV prevention as well as care and support services to extremely marginalised high-risk groups, such as Female Sex Workers (FSWs), Men who have Sex with Men (MSMs), Transgenders (TGs), People Who Inject Drugs (PWID) and to bridge populations like Migrant workers and long-distance Truckers. The National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), in partnership with NGOs, provides HIV prevention, care and support (to those who are infected) services to these group in a friendly manner. AIILSG, under IDU Project, is working with many partner organisations to support vulnerable groups and spread awareness among public

A

s per the HIV Sentinel Surveillance 2010-11 estimates, HIV prevalence among Injecting Drug Units (IDUs) was recorded 7.14 per cent, in comparison to 2.67 per cent among FSWs and 4.43 per cent among MSMs. Almost one-fifth of HIV positive people are living in Asia, and India accounts for about one-third of the world’s total cases. However, during 2001-2009, new HIV infections in India have declined by 50 per cent and in Africa by 35 per cent.

The project will involve interpersonal Behaviour Change Communication (BCC). Activities like promotion and distribution of commodities (Condoms, Jelly to MSMs & TGs and fresh needles and syringes to PWID) are to be carried out. Strategy is developed for provision of diagnosis and treatment of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs). It suggests linkages to Integrated Counseling and Testing (ICTC) of HIV and syphilis.

The project includes advocacy for creation of enabling environment and building strategy for community mobilisation.

Services Provided by Drop-in centers ♦♦ Health Checkup of all IDUs in every 3 months ♦♦ HIV testing & Syphilis testing once in 6 months ♦♦ About 6000 new needles & syringes distributed per month and about 3000 are coming back ♦♦ Condoms are distributed regularly

♦♦ 59 HIV positive IDUs are diagnosed so far under this project. ♦♦ 678 IDUs are registered under this project ♦♦ 265 IDUs are registered at Oral Substitution Therapy (OST) centers ♦♦ About 60 IDUs are taking OST at present

Details of activities conducted An awareness program was organised by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC).

AIDS Control Society, Lions Club International, Parivartan Foundation, Bhartiya Education and Rapid Action Force were the co-organisers.

Trophies were distributed for encouragement of activities performed by various stakeholders.

An Advocacy meeting was organised at Danilimda Police Station and Shahpur Police Station under the project. The AIILSG IDU project staff and police station staff were present. PPE Kits were disturbed among the staff. In addition, basic information was disseminated on how to combat the COVID-19. Moreover, details of the IDU project were also discussed with the police station staff. A program was organised by Umiya KVC Education Trust on the topics of IDU-TI project. Objectives of the project were discussed during the program.

Other topics and activities were discussed with various types of addiction present among youth and ways to address them.

AIILSG, along with partner organisations, organised an event to spread awareness on AIDS prevention and drug abuse

June 2022 www.aiilsg.org

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Project Update

NHRC

Partnering with NHRC for promoting human rights

AIILSG team interacting with NHRC Member Dr Dnyaneshwar Mulay during his visit to Delhi Regional Center

T

Project Update

he AIILSG is in the process of collaborating with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) for ‘Strengthening the Local Self Government for Promotion of Human Rights’. The collaboration and co-operation is expected to help local governments incorporate and implement human rights standards and practices into their policies. The collaboration’s aim is to undertake, coordinate, and collaborate on capacity building and extension activities related to the promotion and implementation of various aspects of human rights and local governance.

Under this project, the AIILSG and NHRC will jointly undertake capacity building assignments.

Major activities will include formulation of modalities for establishment of Human Rights Cell at the Gram Panchayat/ Municipal level with the help of respective State Human Rights Commission; formulation of modalities (viz. content, timeline, budget requirements, geographical location (city

45

and state), target audience, mode of training) for organising National Level Seminars and Webinars on inculcating basic human rights for the personnel of Urban/Rural Local Bodies; and developing courses on Human Rights in AIILSG Centers; training for Senior government officials and other stakeholders.

Following themes and topics will be covered for the seminars, webinars, and development of training modules: »» Disability Inclusion in Urban Sphere »» Role of Local Governments in Protection of Human Rights »» Right to City for All Marginalised Sections »» Inclusive Urban Design: Ensuring Participation of All Social Groups »» Building Urban Infrastructure with Human Rights Angle »» Gender Mainstreaming and City Governance »» Urban Liveability and Human Rights.

June 2022 www.aiilsg.org

icequit

AIILSG’s projects with disadvantaged populations- from SDGs’ lens With deep commitment towards the empowerment of disadvantaged populations, AIILSG looks at its field actions with them not just with constrained project mode, but has developed its own programs and innovations. It has entrusted its International Centre of Equity & Inclusion for Transformation [ICEQUI-T] the explicit performance indicator of ‘number of lives improved’. AIILSG through its ICEQUI-T synergizes with social sensitivities of various stakeholders, such as Corporates through its Corporate Social Responsibility Centre

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he article elucidates the AIILSG’s illustrative projects and programs anchored at its ICEQUI-T, especially those fostering global innovations which will have impact on furthering the SDGs with the disadvantaged populations. The focus here is explicitly on disadvantaged as AIILSG believes that an important test of progress towards the SDGs is the impact created with the disadvantaged.

While AIILSG works with a wider gamut of the SDGs as presented in the table below, the current text focusses on some of them due to space considerations. Moreover, projects working with AIILSG’s holistic development model [e.g. TARFAH for tribal and rural development] encompass most of the development interventions.

AIILSG holds deep gratitude to all support agencies for enabling resources to make these humble contributions together with them towards improving lives.

»» One project supported by HDFC CSR through which a Kaushalya Vikas Kendra is established in Mumbai for honing skills of slum dweller youth of Mumbai While detailing for each of these projects is customized to the respective local context, the key driving fundamental tenets of the TARFAH model common for them are as below:

The TARFAH model of AIILSG

SDG 1- No Poverty, SDG 2- Zero Hunger, SDG8Decent Work and Economic Growth

The word ‘TARFAH’ is derived from a traditional musical instrument of the indigenous populations.

The innovation brings the interventions in sync with the cultural preferences of the tribal and rural populations in appreciation of their closeness to the natural resources. Instead of superficially importing alien interventions from an urban perspective, the TARFAH model appreciates the unique significance of the local problems (and thus the solutions), custom-designs solutions, and implements them through community participation. In the process it builds sustainability

AIILSG’s projects and programs towards attainment of these SDGs are anchored around its innovative model- TARFAH [“Transformative Actions for Rural Development, Food Security, Agriculture & Health”]. Its recent and ongoing projects based on this innovation include: »» Five projects supported by TATA Rallis CSR in tribal areas of Raigad district of Maharashtra, Palghar district of Maharashtra, Narmada district of Gujarat, and non-tribal areas in Karim Nagar and Warangal districts of Telangana. »» One project supported by TATA Technologies CSR in Osmanabad district of Maharashtra »» One project supported TATA Industries CSR in Raigad district of Maharashtra »» One project supported by German organisationsTerra Tech and Aktion Deutschland Hilft- with nomadic tribes in Beed district of Maharashtra

AIILSG-ICEQUI-T Innovation of ‘Khushi Doll’ for Differently Abled

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Project Update

populations face acute water deprivation right from the month of December, water resources development is often conducted as one of the initial activities which also serves as crucial for community mobilization.

The livelihoods options domain is diversified in line with consistent market scanning. Depending upon such inputs, interventions such as floriculture, and cultivating vegetables of different types are decided in a participatory manner with the community for which strong forward linkages are put in place, in addition to the technological support from agricultural sciences.

mechanisms which takeover the baton of development from AIILSG as a conscious well-designed process. The approach is firmly rooted in micro-planning process at the family and hamlet levels and then converging into the village-level processes.

The TARFAH model addresses the food security and livelihood concerns in a holistic & gender-sensitive manner. It constitutes a customized blend (tailormade to the respective agro-ecological condition) of longer term sustainability enabler interventions with shorter term food security objectives. An important fundamental tenet of the TARFAH model is it enables the tribals to substantially enrich their natural resources by converting their ‘wastelands’ into productive orchards, and through soil & water conservation. This bolsters the local primary sector which further cascades into promotion of secondary and tertiary sectors unveiling greater livelihood options for landless and marginal landholders- either directly (vis-à-vis value addition to the primary produce) or indirectly (due to improved local purchasing power).

The short term food security issues with the highly impoverished tribals are addressed through the activities of 1. For landholder families: improved agriculture, improving crop productivity, cropping intensity & enriching cropping pattern, vegetable cultivation, 2. For landless families: appropriate livestock interventions such as poultry and Rural Non-Farm Sector interventions.

This innovation addresses the issues in the long term through appropriate horti-forestry interventions by the landholder families and livestock & RNFS interventions by the landless. The horti-forestry initiatives are supported with appropriate soil and water conservation initiatives. Considering that many rural and tribal

In-Building Sustainability Enablers The in-built sustainability-enablers are in the form of: »» Intensive participatory approach manifested in community participation at all stages »» Fostering grassroots community institutions which take over baton of development of project »» Building local skills »» Capacity building of community, especially youth »» Establishment of strong external linkages with markets and technology: to pre-empt exploitation, community facilitated for collective bargaining, get maximum return for produce through fair practices »» Strengthening linkages with formal government machinery and Panchayati Raj Institutions [PRIs]

Establishing/Strengthening Linkages With Formal Government Machinery And Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI) For sustainability and mainstreaming of development, it is important to bridge the gap between the disadvantaged community and government machinery.

AIILSG works for awareness generation within the community about relevant government schemes and programs. This also builds confidence in the community to approach the government machinery overcoming possible psychological barrier. AIILSG’s efforts on strengthening the supply side, i.e. the government machinery includes supporting the government to reach those who are difficult to reach and creating avenues at the grassroots for the interactions between government agencies and the community.

The PRIs, being the tier of formal government closet to the grassroots, has a very significant role. For all the activities above, the proactive role of PRIs is envisaged and efforts to mobilize it and its capacity building are made right from the beginning.

SDG 3: Good Health and Well-Being While this theme is covered as an in-built constituent of all the projects, certain recent projects had this as a dedicated focus, which include »» MUFG CSR supported project dedicated to enabling

Project Update

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June 2022 www.aiilsg.org

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can be uploaded with audio messages on wide range of health aspects, including SRHE, WASH & COVID-19. This innovation has a special significance as it will enable accessing information by visually challenged women who are not ‘braille-literate’ and help in transcending socio-cultural taboo associated with imparting SRHE to all types of differently abled girls & women.

Another, hitherto neglected, health aspect that came to the fore is impact of COVID-19 challenges on Mental Health which has emerged as a shadow pandemic.

Further, impact of gender-based violence, women’s reproductive health on women’s mental health is often ignored & is still highly neglected. The key aspect related to Mental Health is ‘stigma and taboo’ associated with it. Also, there is a dearth of mental health services & approaches which are communitycentric, socio-culturally sensitive, gender inclusive, youth-friendly making it more accessible & acceptable to youth, enabling participation &ownership of youth.

The innovation of ‘Mano-Swasthya Ranjan Kendras’ initiated within community supported by MUFG Bank Ltd. CSR are addressing this by engaging 10,000 marginalised ‘Youth’, including those from indigenous ‘Siddi Tribes’ of African origin thus facing high stigma & discrimination, Scheduled-tribes and marginalized youth from urban slums from the states of Maharashtra, Delhi, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

The community-centric approaches have come to the fore which helped to reach the most marginalised and hard to reach populations during COVID-19 pandemic.

AIILSG’s trained team members were also part of Gram Aarogya Suraksha Dal (community organisation at the village level) and have supported government’s COVID-19 related relief work.

COVID-19 has highlighted importance of immunityenablers and nutrition. The nutritional status, especially of disadvantaged children and women, has otherwise taken a bit hit. AIILSG pre-empted this by furthering its MAMTA (Movement Against Malnutrition for Transformative Actions) movement to many more.

This involves enabling plantation of nutritious kitchen gardens by location-customized vegetables and herbs.

This was further augmented by developing AIILSG’s innovation of herbal gardens, with 3 sub-types of it.

Dr Jairaj Phatak, IAS (Retd.), DG, AIILSG addressing students at AIILSG Mental Health Innovation launch

sustainable mental health support to 10,000 marginalized youth, 50 per cent of whom will be women »» ‘Creating Access to Comprehensive Sexuality Education for Blind Girls & Women from Developing Countries’ under the aegis of ‘Stars in Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights 2019’ by Grand Challenges Canada. The innovation also involves developing innovative capacity building tools for blind girls and women.

The COVID-19 pandemic pushed back progress made on ‘good health & well-being’ especially for the underprivileged populations.

More importantly, the increase in gender-based violence, abuse & violence against children has further intensified health & well-being related challenges for the children & women in vulnerable situations.

The worst sufferers of this were differently abled including visually challenged women & children which warranted urgent attention. The need for ‘sexual & reproductive health education’ (SRHE) emerged as a first step to create awareness & impart knowledge about SRHE amongst differently abled women & children enabling their less vulnerability to exploitation & abuse. The innovation of audio-tactile ‘Khushi’ doll was conceptualised and developed under the aegis of Stars in Global Health Award 2019 by Grand Challenges Canada. A simpler version of it was also designed by the AIILSG-ICEQUI-T team in such a way that an easily accessible and replaceable pen-drive within Khushi doll

June 2022 www.aiilsg.org

SDG 4: Quality Education While this theme is covered as an in-built constituent of all the projects, certain recent projects had this as a dedicated focus, which include one project each supported by the: »» MUFG Bank CSR at 140 slum locations in Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi and Bengaluru »» National Stock Exchange Foundation in 51 villages in Nandurbar district of Maharashtra

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Project Update

»» HDFC Bank CSR at 40 tribal locations in Palghar district of Maharashtra »» Kotak Mahindra Bank CSR in 4 Schools of Ratnagiri district in Maharashtra »» EagleBurgmann CSR in 1 slum location The inequality in education exacerbated during COVID 19 pandemic due to disruptions in education and digital divide in education which disproportionately impacted the under-privileged children the most. The AIILSG-ICEQUI-T’s innovation of ‘Children Resource Centers’ (also referred to as ‘Shikshan Ranjan Kendras’) nested in the community enabled continuity of teaching-learning, enriched learning environment with quality teaching-learning inputs, improvement in WASH behaviour and holistic personality development for the underprivileged children from diverse settings of urban slums, rural & tribal areas and for hard-toreach Denotified & Nomadic Tribes’ children. There has been key emphasis on ‘Girls’ education’ ensuring that minimum 50% children participating in Children Resource Centers are girls. To establish/foster role models for the Girl’s education, it is ensured that more than 50 per cent Education Mentors (ShikshanMitras) are educated local women. This model has proved to be robust, resilient, adaptable & effective even during COVID-19 pandemic disruptions. These Children Resource Centers have been instrumental to bring learning at children’s doorstep, provide equal opportunity for learning, play & safety to children.

These have become centers of learning, exploring and a creative space for children to express themselves.

The focus has also been on anchoring education & learning of children nested in their local context which is relevant to their lives, both culturally and academically. For example the innovation of ‘BHASHASETU’ (i.e. bilingual teaching learning material) is developed to overcome the language barrier faced by the tribal children.

In post-pandemic era, the key innovative approach being adopted is ‘Digital SRKs/CRCs’ emphasising on digital literacy for the under-privileged children so that they are not left behind than other children. The CRCs engages all stakeholders children, their parents, community representatives and schools.

of minimum 50 per cent women in hamlet-level committees and 50 per cent girls in Baal Panchayats. »» In skills-training, financial-literacy, digital-literacy: minimum 50 per cent of participants are womenovercomes gender-stereotyping. »» Promoting women friendly appropriate technologies: e.g. modified sickle, water fetcher, etc. »» Inculcating pro-gender-equality mind-set in all right from young age. Thus emphasis on girls as equal decision makers in Bal Panchayats goes a long way in enabling this.

SDG 6- Clean water and sanitation AIILSG’s ICEQUI-T innovations on this count bridge a crucial prevailing gap- enabling the disadvantaged populations to self- assess, plan and proactively seek participation of other stakeholders in improving status. AIILSG has developed simple visual tools, even understandable by illiterates- thus enabling their participation in community self-assessment and planning. The community ownership and accountability built through this process has proved to be very crucial for sustainability.

WASH initiatives include 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

SDG 13: Climate Action AIILSG is proactively putting into practice the innovations on climate action front which were felicitated with the United Nations Risk Award 2015.

They are dovetailed with its innovation of ‘Community Self-Assessment and Planning with Women’s Participation for Disaster Risk Reduction of Vulnerable Communities’. These have been supplemented recently with the launch of the HDFC Bank Corporate Social Responsibility tree plantation drive for carbon neutrality launched in the AIILSG’s tribal field action area in Palghar district. Moreover, AIILSG has recently launched its innovation of “Rejuvenating indigenous trees for carbon neutrality” in its tribal and rural development field action areas.

Sdg 5: Gender Equality AIILSG believes that gender equality in real terms can’t be enabled through theoretical discourses and seminars. The AIILSG’s field action foster gender equality through the following fundamental tenets: »» Provisions for women-anchored livelihood activities. »» Special focus on women-headed families. »» As decision makers in the grassroots community institutions, it is mandatory to have participation

Project Update

Behaviour change communication within community through edu-tainment by using creative medium of plays, puppet shows, awareness rallies, Innovation of Khushi doll to convert WASH and COVID-19 Appropriate Behaviour messages in audio to visually challenged children Hygiene kits to foster adoption of COVID-19 appropriate behaviour & improved WASH behaviour Developing a cadre of BAL PANCHAYATS on WASH to convey wash and CAB messages Improving access to WASH services through construction and repair of toilets, enabling access to water through water & soil conservation measures

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June 2022 www.aiilsg.org

What Industry says

Experts’ Opinion

We do not have a shortage of good laws on human rights in the country but we have shortage of good implementation. One way to solve this is to inculcate human rights awareness. But most importantly, we must debate these issues and create dialogue. I congratulate the All India Institute of Local SelfGovernment for creating a space for such dialogues to flourish

The urban local bodies and Urban Development Department have a close knit bond with the Institute. Just as there are apex training bodies for IAS and IPS at Mussoorie and Hyderabad, respectively, AIILSG plays such role for the elected members and personnel of the urban local bodies Eknath Shinde Chief Minister of Maharashtra

Dnyaneshwar Mulay Member NHRC & former Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs

Based on our initial interaction with the AIILSG team, it has been very helpful for the entire planning which has been done for the various project we are implementing in Bhopal Smart Smart City

The initiative of AIILSG to come up with a book on ‘Urban 75’ is much needed.

It is a great opportunity for us to reflect how far our nation has come and think of where we would like to take it and what kind of steps are necessary Hitesh Vaidya Director, NIUA

Divya Pillai Consultant, Bhopal Smart City

June 2022 www.aiilsg.org

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Project Update

6

South Asian Cities Summit

Urban Resilience & Inclusive Growth

February 22-24, 2023 South Asian Cities Summit is now Asian Cities Summit, owing to overwhelming response from entire Asia Pacific region

Project Update

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June 2022 www.aiilsg.org

www.aiilsg.org

Srinagar Anantnag Jammu Amritsar Ludhiana

Bikaner

Narela New Delhi

Sikar

Jaipur

Kanpur

Jodhpur

Guwahati

Lucknow

Kota Patan Dungarpur Bhopal Ahmedabad Indore Jamnagar Rajkot Vadodara Bhavnagar Junagadh Nagpur Surat Vyara Nashik Mumbai Aurangabad Navi Mumbai Nanded Solapur Pune kolhapur Hyderabad Belagavi

Patna Madhupur Ranchi Raipur

Nagaon

Kolkata

Bhubaneswar

Vizag

Panjim Tirupati Bengaluru

Chennai

AIILSG CENTRE AFFILIATED CENTRE

Thiruvananthpuram

All India Institute of Local Self-Government AIILSG is a premier institute working towards strengthening and reinforcing Urban Local Governance. For nearly nine decades, it has contributed to the principles and practice of urban governance, education, research and capacity building. In all that AIILSG has done, it has taken care to work with a full range of stakeholders – grassroots organizations, NGOs, ULBs, state and national governments, international organizations, organizations of the UN, research organizations and universities. Among international agencies, it has been working closely with World Bank, UNICEF, UNDP, UN-HABITAT, USAID, UNESCO, the European Union, DFID, GIZ, CITYNET and others in carrying out various training and developmental programmes for enhanced urban development and management.

Ranjit S Chavan President

Dr Jairaj Phatak, IAS (Retd.)

Director General

Ravi Ranjan Guru Deputy Director General

Head Office

Delhi Regional Office

No. 6, F-Block, Bandra Kurla Complex TPS Road-12, Bandra-East Mumbai-400051, Maharashtra Contact No.: +91-86576 22550/51/52/54 Fax: +91-22-2657 2286 Email : contact@aiilsg.org

Program Manager, South & South West Asia, UCLG ASPAC Sardar Patel Bhavan, 22-23, Institutional Area, D Block, Pankha Road, Janakpuri, Delhi-110058 Ph No: + 91 11 2852 1783 / 5465 Fax: + 91 11 28522117 Email: delhi@aiilsg.org

June 2022 www.aiilsg.org

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Project Update