The Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India, (MoUD), in association with Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI), Hyderabad, and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has instituted the National Urban Water Awards 2008 to recognize, inspire and celebrate excellence in urban water management. These awards have been instituted with the explicit purpose of honouring urban local bodies and water boards, among other organizations, that are taking significant steps towards effective water management and improvement in service delivery.
Exposure Visits to Select Water Utilities in India
Kerala Water Authority, a reforming and progressive organization in Kerala, has initiated wide spread water sector reforms with an overarching goal of improving water supply service. To support the capacity building interventions of Kerala Water Authority, Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI) is organising a series of six capacity enhancement workshops for senior officials of Kerala Water Authority. These workshops are well-designed, supportive and participative using a variety of techniques, with time for reflection, review and reinforcement. The workshops has been designed in two Phases - One week Training/ Field visit at Hyderabad / Mumbai / Chennai / Bangalore and two day reinforcing Sessions at Kerala. This capacity enhancement workshops enables senior water supply engineers to understand the broader range of issues that have to be considered in public health engineering, particularly the effective, equitable, sustainable and efficient supply of drinking water and sanitation through balanced integration of technical, financial, social, institutional and managerial aspects. The specific objectives of the training workshops are;
To provide a comprehensive perspective on change management process needed for achieving effective and sustainable water supply;
To promote an active exchange of experiences and enhance awareness of good practices for ensuring delivery of water and sanitation services particularly the poor;
To enable participants to formulate a broad road map to meet the strategic vision.
During the first phase, ASCI has successfully organised two capacity enhancement workshops, Hyderabad (23 - 27 July 2007) and in Bangalore (6 - 10 August 2007). ASCI has trained 24 senior officials of Kerala Water Authority (12 participants in each workshop). The third in this series is scheduled in Mumbai during 24 – 28 September 2007.
Exposure Visit for Trade Union Members of Kerala Water Authority to Hyderabad
To support the change management process of Kerala Water Authority and meet the sectoral challenges, Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI) is organising a three day capacity enhancement programme for Trade Union Members of KWA. This capacity enhancement programme would enable Trade Union Members to understand the broader range of issues that have to be considered for the effective, equitable, sustainable and efficient supply of drinking water and sanitation through balanced integration of technical, financial, social, institutional and managerial aspects. The specific objectives of the workshop are:
To provide an understanding of changing context of water utility management in India.
To share good practices in water utility management and sustainable service delivery and learning for KWA.
To provide a perspective on change management process needed for achieving effective and sustainable water supply and sanitation.
To formulate an action plan for change at KWA for enhancing service delivery outcomes.
20 representatives from different Trade Unions of KWA have participated in the workshop. The workshop was scheduled from October 17 – 19, 2007 at ASCI, Bella Vista Campus, Hyderabad.
To support cities to move towards integrated urban development and to make them vibrant in their social and economical development, the Ministry of Urban Development (MUD), Government of India has launched a prestigious program named "Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM)" on December 3, 2005. The program is first of its kind in the Indian urban sector with a comprehensive approach to strengthen the cities and urban local bodies for promoting strategic thinking, reform initiatives and enhanced service delivery.
ASCI Holds Regional Conference on Good Urban Governance in South Asia
A Regional Conference - Good Urban Governance in South Asia (27-28 June 2007), , was organized by the Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI). The purpose of this event is to share the examples of good urban governance practices in Asia, which were documented as part of the USAID-supported Good Urban Governance in South Asia programme (GUGSA, 2001 to 2007). GUGSA focused on documenting, disseminating and demonstrating best practices from local government bodies to improve the response capacity of local urban governments based on the principles of good governance. The conference is offered with the Government of India and the partnership of USAID and TCGI, Program Coordinator for the Good Urban Governance South Asia Project.
The Administrative Staff College of India in partnership with the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD), Government of India and the World Bank Institute has launched a national urban information support initiative – the Urban Resource Link (URL). The purpose of the initiative is to provide information support to urban managers and associated sector professionals in the context of the reforms agenda under programmes such as the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).
India is undergoing an economic, social and political transformation initiated by urbanization and globalization. While this transition poses multiple challenges including urbanization of poverty, it also offers significant opportunities to accelerate the economic growth and improve the overall quality of life. Whether this potential can be utilized depends critically on how Indian cities are managed.
Strengthening Urban Management (SUM), through capacity building, is therefore a key area, which will aid the Indian cities in meeting the challenges of urban development. This entails the creation of a conducive and enabling environment for urban institutions to perform effectively and for city managers to acquire the required knowledge, skills and expertise to plan, manage and govern their cities efficiently.
To support Strengthening Urban Management in India, the Administrative Staff College of India and the World Bank Institute (WBI) have forged a Partnership and signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop and undertake collaborative activities and learning programmes. These complementary national level and state focused programmes have been designed specifically to support capacity building in cities, addressing various critical stakeholders.
For more details, Click here to reach the website of ASCI - WBI partnershiphttp://url.asci.org.in/asci-wbi
