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P LANNING P ARADIGM
Also, a good number of elected leaders
from socially marginalized communities
established themselves as capable leaders.
Several elected representatives, who ac-
tively participated in the planning process,
asserted their leadership during the proc-
ess and took commendable initiatives to
organize planning processes at the local
level. Several Mukhiyas, after returning
from training workshops themselves, took
the initiative to organize orientation ses-
sions for fellow members of their pancha-
yat related to the processes of planning.
Involvement and capacity enhancement
of multiple stakeholders in the decentralized
planning process helped in overcoming
a number of barriers. In some Panchayats,
the Secretary played a pro-active
role in organizing village level processes,
which was a signifi cant support to the local
Mukhiyas. Similarly, the simultaneous involvement
of elected leaders of Panchayat
Samitis and functionaries of Block Development
Offi ce ensured a good turnout in
the visioning workshops held at the level
of intermediate panchayats. At the district
level, the active involvement of the District
Magistrate and members of District Planning
Committee ensured smooth communication
of important directives, timely
conduct of review meetings and maintenance
of a sense of priority around the
planning exercise, which was one of the
most signifi cant factors in successful completion
of the village level planning processes.
The District Magistrate even issued
a circular to ensure that no parallel plans,
regardless of sector, department or
122 THE IIPM THINK TANK
scheme, should be allowed to escape the
purview of the integrated district planning
process, making it mandatory for all development
plans within the district to be endorsed
by gram sabhas during discussions
on the integrated plan!
Critical Success Factors for
Integrated District Planning
For district planning processes to be undertaken
meaningfully and effectively, a
number of enabling conditions need to be
Involvement & capacity enhancement
of multiple stakeholders helped in
overcoming a number of barriers
created. These include, amongst others,
completion of the critical act of ‘Activity
Mapping’ across various departments and
government interventions to clearly set up
the domain of responsibilities of PRIs.
States need to ensure adequate fi nancial
empowerment of local governments, to
enable the latter to also administer and
monitor the plans formulated by them.
Timely preparation of ‘resource envelops’
indicating the permissible fi nancial size of
plans, disaggregated for various levels,
sectors and schemes, should be an essential
prerequisite for initiating integrated
decentralized planning processes.
Agencies facilitating integrated district
plans must necessarily have a capacity
building perspective for strengthening
institutions of local self-governance, and
must invest greater efforts in bolstering
democratic processes. Design of training
modules must include inputs around issues
of equity, accountability and democratic
governance.
Also, any integrated district planning
exercise must ensure prior concurrence
amongst key stakeholders, regarding the
need to preempt any parallel planning processes.
Convergence-facilitation units need
to be set up within the structures of District
Planning Committees, including representatives
of various line departments, to
extend help in fi nalization of interventions
on the basis of integrated plans.
Every effort needs to be made to respect
the sanctity of the micro-plans prepared
by Gram Panchayats by ensuring
timely release of funds for implementation
and establishment of monitoring
mechanisms at the level of standing committees
of local governments and vigilance
committees at the level of Gram
Sabhas. Monitoring indicators should be
spelt out at the stage of planning itself,
with clear delineation of roles and accountabilities.
At the district level, Monitoring
Cells need to be set up within District
Planning Committees to track the
progress of district planning processes and
to extend facilitation support to diffuse
emerging problems, if any. Ensuring availability
of competent technical support
institutions at the district level for assisting
District Planning Committees could
substantially enhance the quality of large
scale planning exercises.
Key Learnings
Experiences from Vaishali point at a
number of essential arrangements and
policy initiatives required for enhancement
of the quality and relevance of district
planning processes. Salient learnings
from the process relate to the following:
a. Essential arrangements and reforms
feasible within existing policy framework
• The need for activation of District Planning
Committees as per its mandate –