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P LANNING P ARADIGM
out of its revenue proceeds or plan outlay
till date. The only sources of money for
the local governments of Bihar are the
grants received from the Central Finance
Commission, besides a promissory share
of three percent in the net tax realization
at the local level (though rules to govern
taxation processes haven’t yet been formulated)
and funds received under two fl agship
schemes of the government of India,
i.e. MGNREGA and BRGF. Unfortunately,
the method of execution of these
schemes leaves little control in the hands
of the elected representatives!
Bringing about a Collective Stake
in the Planning Process
In view of the demands of the large scale
district planning exercise, which called for
creation of adequate local capacities for
plans to emerge from as many as 290
Gram Panchayats, 79 Urban Wards, 16
Panchayat Samitis and the Zilla Parishad;
involvement of key stakeholders from
elected governments as well as various
administrative offi ces was felt to be a crucial
pre-requisite. An inception workshop
was held in the beginning of the process,
in recognition of the critical signifi cance
of the involvement of elected local governments
in the planning process. The
workshop brought together members of
the Zilla Parishad and representatives of
prominent urban local bodies of the district,
who committed their support to the
District Planning process, though marked
with occasional expressions of skepticism
stemming from past experiences, recalling
how most district-level plans in the past
used to be formulated by line departments
or the offi cialdom, bypassing any involvement
of elected representatives. They also
nominated a steering body of people’s
representatives to oversee the process
120 THE IIPM THINK TANK
under the Chairmanship of the District
Magistrate.
Subsequently, the DM played an important
role in convening a workshop of all the
important district level offi cers, including
heads of various line departments and all
the Sub-Divisional Offi cers and Block
Development Offi cers posted in the district,
for a discussion on the signifi cance of
the planning process. The workshop
brought about a rare opportunity for the
district level offi cers to collectively analyze
the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities
and constraints faced by the district in
various crucial sectors and to formulate a
roadmap for undertaking the participatory
planning exercise. It also brought about an
air of sanctity regarding the planning process
entrusted to elected local governments.
Subsequently, when the planning process
was rolled out across various local bodies
of the district, it enjoyed the support of a
good range of stakeholders. The support
received from various local bodies was due
also to an intensive round of orientation
workshops involving key functionaries
of gram panchayats and
urban local bodies in Vaishali.
Institutional Arrangements for the
Planning Process
One of the most crucial arrangements
contributing to the planning process in
Vaishali was the establishment of a District
Planning and Monitoring Cell
(DPMC), aimed at providing secretarial
support to the District Planning Committee.
The Cell played an important role in
liaising with key stakeholders in the district,
facilitating vital communications on
time and in organizing important events.
Endowed with a small team of professionals
and a good balance of essential competencies,
which included skills as diverse
as conducting training, managing databases
and maintaining close contact with
key government offi cials, the team did
well to keep the process on track.
At the local level, steering committees
were formed at the level of each ward to
support the elected representatives in the
planning process. This was a pioneering
arrangement, not envisaged even in the
legislation on local self-governance in
Bihar (i.e. Bihar Panchayati Raj Act
2006). Each set of plan suggestions
emerging from the