Praja.Org Sets the Agenda for Elected MPs In The 6 Mumbai Constituencies

Aug. 28, 2009 - PRLog -- Taking its cue from the recently released Human Development Index, Praja.org today launched a White Paper that sets the agenda for the MPs elected in the six constituencies of Mumbai. Delving into its rich database, Praja.org has earmarked the major civic issues that are plaguing all the constituencies of Mumbai. “It is now up to the members of parliaments to ensure that the issues raised in the White Paper are addressed properly in the correct forums – from parliament to the union government to the local authorities,” said Nitai Mehta, Founder Trustee of Praja Foundation.
HDI measures the development of a region, be it a country or a city state, based on life expectancy, literacy and standard of living (GDP per capita). At a time when Mumbai is being hailed as the next Shanghai or Singapore, it's truly a shame that the city’s HDI ranking is worse than even the neighbouring Colombo (Sri Lanka).
While history is indeed somewhat responsible for the low HDI ranking, the city custodians can not be absolved either. “Development of a city does not only mean a sea link or iconic buildings. It means an intimate inter-relation of economic and social processes in the development agenda. Poverty and inequality are not just a result from inadequate distribution of assets and productivity problems; they come also from diverse social processes embedded in society, including exclusion from participation in public affairs geared to development itself.” said Mr. Mehta.  
To that end, the members of the parliament will be well guided in generating awareness of the city’s civic issues on a national level. By definition, MPs are supposed to represent their constituency in the parliament. The agonies of their constituencies need to be represented in the national foray. B.G. Deshmukh, ex-cabinet secretary, Government of India and President of Praja Foundation, says, “It’s the duty of the elected representatives to bring the woes and the needs of their constituents to the legislature, the executive and the judiciary, the three pillars of the democracy.”  
To illustrate the point, Mr. Deshmukh also talked about the voices raised by elected representatives on urban governance and civic issues all across the states and the parliament that actually prompted the Central Government to launch Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) in 2005 to improve urban governance and civic infrastructure of Urban Local Bodies all across the country at an investment outlay of over Rs 1 lakh crore.
According to the White Paper released by Praja.org the city hospitals receive maximum cases of water-borne diseases. More specifically, South Mumbai and North West constituencies have reported maximum cases of water borne diseases.  The inference is clear: the quality of water supplied in Mumbai is suspect. It's only if MPs raise such issues in the Parliament that the union government can plan a scheme to improve potable water quality in Mumbai, and perhaps other parts of the country as well. The White paper covers a range of civic issues all across the six parliamentary constituencies of Mumbai.
At the press conference held in Mumbai today, Praja.org also launched Praja Dialogue at the Hands of Shri Gurudas Kamat Minister of State of Information Technology where citizens can directly converse with the elected MPs. All the six MPs – Milind Deora, Eknath Gaekwad, Sanjay Nirupam, Ms Priya Dutt , Mr Sanjay Dina Patil and Mr Gurudas Kamat  have confirmed their endorsement of the Praja Dialogue initiative.
Mr Gurudas Kamat while launching the Online Dialogue said that he was happy to note that Praja had started such an unique project and that as Minister of IT and also as member of Parliament from Mumbai he will encourage this project and participate in it .  
“We aim to expand a publicly available knowledge base on good practices and indicators around social participation, about diverse public policies, programs, projects or activities. And it starts with the members of Parliament that the citizens of Mumbai have elected from the six constituencies. They need to be constantly aware of the issues, woes and agonies the citizens of this city face,” said Mehta.  
Praja Dialogue is a means to achieve this end. It's putting citizens accountable. For the accountability they expect of their elected representatives, The Dialogue will, hopefully help achieve this intimate inter-relationship.

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PRAJA was founded in 1997 by a group of eight Mumbaites with a vision to re-establish accountability and transparency in governance. Praja aims to create awareness among the citizens, and therefore empower them though the knowledge.
PRAJA believes that the availability of information can go a long way towards simplifying people’s lives and evoking participation. This aims to ensure a holistic approach for ushering good governance must have buy in of our ideas from the elected representatives.
PRAJA's goals are simplifying people's lives, empowering the citizens and government with facts and creating instruments of change to improve the quality of life of citizens in India. PRAJA is committed to creating an accountable and efficient society through people's participation.