Looks like something can be done after all…
In my previous post I asked the question if “anything can be done at all” to improve local governance. And this post is provides a seed for thought. In various email exchanges and wanderings in the blogosphere I was made aware of this effort driven by concerned citizens of Mumbai – www.votemumbai.org (Thanks to Prakash Thadani!).
I went through this site briefly and can see that Vote Mumbai is an “umbrella” under which neighbourhoods can drive change. Evidently a huge amount of thinking and hard work has gone into shaping this community governance idea. See these 3 links to judge for yourself:
www.votemumbai.org/areasabha.asp , www.votemumbai.org/functions.asp and www.votemumbai.org/dem.asp
This idea is in the public domain and open to alternative viewpoints and constructive criticism. It would be worth putting all strength behind this one “arrow”. I understand that much of the thinking started in 2005! and is derived from “The Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission” see – http://jnnurm.nic.in