The West Bengal Municipal Act 1993 (hereafter referred to as “Act”) requires municipalities and municipal corporations (hereafter referred to as “municipalities” or “ULBs”) in the state to prepare Draft Development Plans (DDP) covering a period of five years and that addresses a range of municipal functions as laid down in the Act.These guidelines are intended to provide detailed guidance to the municipalities in the preparing their respective DDPs.

Some of the key principles guiding the preparation of the DDP are:

• The DDP is a useful instrument for the ULBs for integrated planning and guiding balanced development. The DDP should seek to integrate and balance:
• Needs of various sectors of ULBs functions (basic infrastructure services, primary health, public health, organisational requirements, etc.)
• Needs of different stakeholders (different income and consumer segments, residents across different wards, etc.)
• Financial resources potentially available from all sources with requirements
• Organisational capacity with requirements
• Capital investments versus requirements for improved operations and maintenance
• DDPs should address the entire mandate of the ULBs and avail of the entire basket of financial resources available to them.
• The Act requires ULBs to prepare DDPs for five year tenure, i.e. once every five years. Therefore, the preparation of DDP is not a one time exercise and thus can be continuously improved upon.
• The plans and projects proposed in the DDP should be realistic and implementable, and yet require the ULB to stretch its financial, human resource and delivery capabilities.
• Every stage of the DDP preparation process seeks participation by stakeholders. The suggested process believes that stakeholders are aware of their ‘own’ problems and issues, and bring an understanding of possible solutions based on intuition and experience. The suggested process backs up such participation with technical analysis and expertise in the process of preparation of the various plans.
• The process of preparation of the DDP should be transparent and the document should be available to all. Thus, the ULB commits itself to deliver the stated plan and empowers the citizens to participate in the implementation of the plan.

In preparing this “first generation” DDP, it is important to note that there are likely to be some imperfections in the overall development plans. Such limitations may be in the nature of gaps in thematic integration of various proposals, and, linkages between the proposed development plan and the overall resource availability. In addition, gaps are likely to exist in various socio-economic and infrastructure datasets which may not be entirely addressed through the various surveys conducted, thus resulting on a greater emphasis on the use of secondary data, felt needs of the poor and perceived priorities of stakeholders for the purpose of planning.

In recognizing these imperfections, it is essential that the “first generation” DDPs focus more on the process of preparation of the plans that address short to medium term problems. In addition, the emphasis should be on identifying and prioritizing issues in a participatory manner, rather than only rely on detailed technical analysis. The important features in the process include:

• Participation by and consultation with the widest range of stakeholders, building on existing grass root structures such as Ward Committees, NHG, NHC and CDS
• Explicit attempts to assess socio-economic needs, especially of the poorest groups living in formal and informal settlements
• Transparent system for prioritization of issues
• Matching plans to projected resources. Financial projections must be realistic and affordable, from predictable funding streams.

The DDP Guidelines are intended to provide guidance to Municipalities in preparing these “first generation” DDPs. Book 2 provides detailed guidance on the overall DDP preparation process through all its stages and steps. It is envisaged that following the preparation of the first round of DDPs, Municipalities will progress to a more sophisticated development plan the next time. 

In order to support the process of preparation of the first round of DDPs, the Kolkata Urban Services for the Poor (KUSP) programme, will provide assistance to municipalities in KMA (except KMC) to prepare DDPs through technical and financial support. The Change Management Unit (CMU), established to oversee the initial stages of the programme, will provide and channelised technical assistance to the municipalities for preparing DDPs.

 

Component	Sub-Component
Component 1: Infrastructure, Land Use and Environment Development Download pdf	Sub-component 1.1: Slum Infrastructure Water Supply Sanitation Solid Waste Management Local drainage Access Roads, with adequate street lighting Social Infrastructure (e.g. for health, community spaces) Sub-component 1.2: Intra-municipal Infrastructure Water Supply Sanitation Solid Waste Management Area level storm water drainage Roads, bridges and traffic management Social Infrastructure (e.g. health, education, parks & gardens) Markets, Public conveniences Sub-component 1.3: Trans-municipal Infrastructure Water treatment and transmission Treatment of sewerage, and area drainage Solid waste disposal Roads, bridges and traffic management Social Infrastructure (e.g. health, education, sports, recreation) Plans should comprise both capital works and Operation &Maintenance issues of all the above services. Resettlement and rehabilitation of people living in informal settlements should form essential element of the plans. Sub-component 1.4: Environment Ambient Air Quality including Noise Land contamination Water quality of sources like streams, rivers, ponds and lakes Biological Diversity – Flora and Fauna, Green cover Built and Cultural Heritage Sub-component 1. 5: Land Use Development Zoning and development Land required for healthcare, education, recreation and public utilities Schemes for development and use of land Resettlement and rehabilitation of potential evictees from informal settlements
Component 2: Social and Livelihood Development Download pdf	Sub-component 2.1: Livelihood and Poverty Schemes and programmes related to poverty alleviation and livelihoods improvement Sub-component 2.2: Local Economic Development Regulations related to licensing, taxes and levies on business establishments Support to local trade and business associations Infrastructure (e.g. markets) Sub-component 2.3: Healthcare Delivery of primary healthcare services Delivery of preventive healthcare, disease prevention and public health programmes Sub-component 2.4: Education Primary education Literacy
Component 3:  Municipal Institutional Strengthening Download pdf	Sub-component 3.1: Organisation Development Organization Structure Staffing pattern and job descriptions Training and capacity building Sub-component 3.2: Process and Systems Improvement Accounting Systems and Processes Procurement Systems and Processes Personnel Systems and Processes Sub-component 3.3: Citizen Interface Grievance redressal system, Citizens charter Information dissemination and transparency Sub-component 3.4: Financial Revenue improvement, including cost recovery Expenditure and asset management Long-term financial planning – capital and revenue incomes and expenditures Public-private partnerships