Regional Capacity Building and Knowledge Dissemination Workshop with focus on Urban Governance
11th October, 2012
Bhopal

The first Regional Capacity Building and Knowledge Dissemination Workshop in ICRIER’s Program on Urbanisation in India was held in Bhopal on October 11, 2012. The focus of the workshop was on e-governance. The participating cities were from the states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Gujarat.

Shri Babulal Gaur, Minister of Urban Administration and Development Department, Madhya Pradesh, addressed the inaugural session.  Opening remarks at the workshop were made by Dr. Isher Judge Ahluwalia, followed by a presentation of the Report of the High Powered Expert Committee on Indian Urban Infrastructure and Services (Ahluwalia, 2011).  The presentations by the participating states focussed on the use of Information and Communication Technology for efficient delivery of public services. The mobile governance initiative of Surat, e-procurement of public goods and services in Raipur, electronic redressal of citizens’ grievances in Navi Mumbai, were some of the good practices that were shared at the workshop. The feasibility of public private partnerships in improving service delivery was also discussed. The workshop concluded with a dialogue on the importance of administrative reforms including the setting up of municipal cadres in enhancing the effectiveness of e-governance.

Programme