The Delhi Cabinet on Thursday approved an ambitious policy of the AAP government regarding setting up of Mohalla Sabhas in the national Capital. As per the information, the government has decided to form as many as 2,972 Mohalla Sabhas in all 70 Assembly constituencies.
Proposal to setup Mohalla Sabha was a key project of Kejriwal-led AAP government with an idea to empower the citizens of Delhi. With this development, people shall have direct participation with the governance and fund allocation for their respective areas. To make this scheme a success, the government had conducted a pilot project of Mohalla Sabhas in 11 districts last year. Local residents were delegated the power to take decisions under Citizen Local Area Development (C-LAD) fund or Swaraj Nidhi for developmental works in their areas. Based on the success of the pilot project, the government has decided to form Mohalla Sabhas in all parts of the city.
The government conducted detailed ground surveys for the delimitation of Mohalla Sabhas based on the inputs gathered from local citizens, public representatives and officials about the area according to which Mohalla Sabhas have been demarcated.
Delhi Finance Minister Manish Sisodia had announced provision of Rs 350 crore under Citizen LAD scheme for 2016-17, which will be equally distributed among all 2,972 units. Mohalla Sabhas will coordinate with different government agencies for the execution of developmental works. “There will be quarterly performance review of all such institutions at the Mohalla level. Mohalla Sabhas will also act as an engine for spreading awareness about various government schemes and programs such as odd-even scheme. All registered voters in each Mohalla would be members of the Mohalla Sabha,” a Delhi government spokesperson said. He added that, the Delhi government has also signed an MoU with Janaagraha, a Bangalore-based organisation specializing in citizen participation platforms for development.