india case study-new - icma

A Look at CMAG

City Managers’

Association

Gujarat, India

The Role of

Associations in

Strengthening

Local

Government

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INTRODUCTION

The City Managers’ Association,Gujarat (CMAG) is the professionalassociation of urban local bodies in the state of Gujarat, India. CMAG was founded in September 1997 with support from the InternationalCity/County Management Association(ICMA) and the U.S. Agency forInternational Development (USAID).The establishment of this first urbanmanagement association in India wasa groundbreaking event, reflecting agrowing recognition in Indian govern-ment spheres of the need to improveand professionalize local governmentmanagement to effectively address the challenges of growth and rapidurbanization in the world’s largestdemocracy.

Today, CMAG’s institutional membersinclude all six municipal corporationsin the state of Gujarat, all six urbandevelopment authorities, all municipal-ities with populations over 50,000, and a number of public and privateinstitutions and NGOs involved inurban management, research andtraining related activities. CMAG’sindividual members include municipalcommissioners (MCs) and deputy/assistant MCs; department heads, and Class I and II officers working in urban local bodies or authorities. In addition, municipalities with lessthan 50,000 population, public and private sector professionals involvedin urban planning, management,design, or other urban governanceissues, and students of urban plan-ning, design, and management mayjoin CMAG as non-voting associates.

CMAG’s activities focus on three key areas:

■■ Information exchange and dissemination

■■ Advocacy

■■ Training and capacity buildingfor professional development

The establishment of CMAG hasserved as a model for other statesin India, which have looked to theorganization for technical assis-tance in forming their own citymanager associations (CMAs). Todate, CMAs have been created ineight additional states1 with sup-port from USAID, ICMA, CMAG,and the US-Asia EnvironmentalPartnership (US-AEP). In the nearfuture, it is anticipated that an all-India CMA will be founded toenable more effective advocacy oflocal government interests at thenational government level, and to facilitate networking and infor-mation exchange amongst urbanmanagers across India. The rapidgrowth of these associationsdemonstrates an appreciation of the growing importance of local government in addressing the urban development and man-agement challenges India faces.

As the world’s largest democ-

racy enters the 21st century,

the critical role that local

governments must play in

eradicating poverty and fos-

tering environmentally and

economically sustainable

growth is increasingly evident.

Working with a growing

number of city manager

associations, urban managers

in the state of Gujarat—-and

across India—-are striving to

empower local governments

with the skills, tools and

resources they need to

improve urban service delivery

and respond to the needs

of their citizens more trans-

parently and effectively.

Improved financial and envi-

ronmental management and

enhanced opportunities for

citizen participation in the

local government decision-

making process are but a

few of the areas where the

impact of professional

associations for urban

managers is making itself felt.

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However, the last decade has witnessed a global trend towards democratic government and thedecentralization of authority. Localgovernment is increasingly recognizedfor its potential contribution to theeconomic development and the socio-political stability of a country. In thedeveloping world and countries intransition from centralized, communistgovernmental and economic systemsto democratic, market-based ones,national and state governments haveincreased the autonomy and responsi-bility of local governments. Instilled

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Local Government Worldwide

For centuries, many countries havemaintained a centralized political system, whether military or civilian, democratic or authoritarian. In practice, control remained at the center and local governmentsserved as arms of the state without a major say in their destiny. Withoutfinancial resources, decision-makingpower, or a voice, what happened at the local level depended almostentirely on whim and political intrigue.

with the opportunity to make deci-sions, local leaders with the politicalwill and leadership capacity havemoved their municipalities visibly forward in the areas of management, citizen participation, and service delivery. These success stories, unfor-tunately, remain largely isolated, and there is much to do to furtherenhance the skills of local elected and appointed officials so that eachlocal government will be able to fullycontribute to improving the quality of life for citizens.

I N D I A AT A G L A N C E

Population 1,027,015,247 (2001 Census data)

Governmental systemFederal Republic

Number of states 27, plus 7 union territories (2001 Census data)

Number of local governments 3,697

Number of local governmentswith populations over one million 27

Urbanization rate30%; projected to grow to 42% by 2020, for an urban population of 405 million

GDP $2.2 trillion (2000)

GDP per capita $2,200 (2000)

Ahmedabad

PAKISTAN

AFGHANISTAN

CHINA

MY

AN

MA

R

BANGLADESH

A R A B I A N

S E A

B A Y O F B E N G A L

DIU

GOA

JAMMU & KASHMIR

HIMACHAL PRADESH

UTTARANCHALPUNJAB

HARYANA

DELHI

RAJASTHAN UTTAR PRADESH

GUJARAT

MADHYA PRADESH

BIHAR

JHARKHAND

CH

HA

TTIS

GA

RH

ORISSA

ANDHRA PRADESH

PONDICHERRY

KARAIKAL

MAHARASHTRA

LAKSHADWEEP

ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS

DAMANDADRA & NAGAR HAVELI

KERALA

TAMILNADU

KARNATAKA

SIKKIM

MEGHALAYA

ASSAM

ARUNACHAL

PRADESH

NAGALAND

MANIPUR

MIZORAMTRIPURA

WEST BENGAL

NEPAL

BHUTAN

SRI LANKA

INDIA

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Role of Local GovernmentAssociations

Local government associations (LGAs)play an important role in enhancingthe ability of their members to contin-ually hone and improve their skills.They provide a forum for informationexchange, serve as a center forresearch in support of professionaldevelopment, and advocate for mem-bers in front of other levels ofgovernment and relevant institutions.Local government associations canhelp define important governanceissues and work to improve the imageof local government with the public.

Often, local government reform andthe establishment of LGAs have comeat a time of transition. In the U.S., for example, the National League ofCities, the National Civic League, andthe City Managers’ Association (todayknown as ICMA) were all establishedbetween 1894 and 1924, when manyAmerican citizens were expressingtheir unwillingness to put up with dysfunctional and often corrupt local government and limited, ineffective services.

In many countries undergoing vastpolitical reform or mild waves ofdecentralization, the establishment or renewal of LGAs has taken place.Hopefully, they have the will andcapacity to support local governmentsin their increasingly important roles.Often, once a general LGA represent-ing cities and elected officials isestablished, there is a role for profes-sional associations that represent and meet the needs of municipal officials working in specialized areassuch as urban planning, financial management, environmental management, etc.

BACKGROUND

Colonial Inheritance and the Indian Administrative Service

India has a long tradition of local government, established during theBritish colonial period, but not of localself-government. Under India’s fed-eral system, state governmentsexercise a great deal of control overlocal governments, including the ability to dissolve municipal councilsand abrogate their responsibilitiesthrough the creation of parastatalagencies to carry out functions includ-ing planning and the provision ofservices such as water and sanitation.

The Indian Administrative Service(IAS), a relic of the British colonialera, poses a major challenge to theprofessionalization of urban manage-ment in India. Under the IAS system,college graduates take a civil serviceexam in order to begin a career asgovernment functionaries. IAS offi-cers and their state equivalents aregeneralists who are rotated betweenstate and municipal-level assignmentsevery two-three years.

Whereas in the U.S. about 75% of citymanagers have a masters degree inpublic administration and generallywork as local government managersfor the length of their career, munici-pal commissioners and chief officers inIndia may assume their posts havingno background in urban planning andmanagement. This lack of relevantskills and experience is compoundedby the lack of continuity. As soon asmunicipal commissioners (the chiefadministrative officers in cities withpopulations over 500,000) and chiefofficers (the chief administrative officers in smaller cities) become intimately knowledgeable about acity’s issues, they are transferred, and their successors may have little or no urban management experience.

......L O C A L G O V E R N M E N TA N D P R O F E S S I O N A LA S S O C I AT I O N S I NT H E U N I T E D S TAT E S

In the United States, thereare two major associationsrepresenting the concerns of cities and elected officials:the National League of Cities (www.nlc.org) and theU.S. Conference of Mayors(www.usmayors.org). In addition, there are a numberof professional associations,including:

■ The InternationalCity/County ManagementAssociation, whose membersare the chief appointed officials in city and countygovernment (icma.org)

■ The Government FinanceOfficers Association, whosemembers are finance officersat the local, state, and federallevel of government(www.gfoa.org)

■ The American PlanningAssociation, whose membersare urban planners working inthe public and private sector(www.planning.org)

■ The American Public WorksAssociation, whose memberswork on infrastructure andtransportation issues(www.apwa.net)

■ The Solid Waste Associationof North America, whosemembers work on solid wastemanagement issues in thepublic and private sector(www.swana.org).

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There are currently no degree programs in local government man-agement in Indian universities.2

Continuing education for municipalofficials is not a priority for state gov-ernments, and, given the fact that IASofficers rotate between different sec-tors, there is little incentive for themto seek out specialized skills. Onlyvery recently has the Gujarat UrbanDevelopment Department (GUDD)offered urban management trainingcourses for chief officers in order tocreate a cadre of specially trainingurban professionals. The GUDD hasalso introduced a system where newchief officers “intern” with an actingchief officer to gain on the job experi-ence. Both are welcome steps towardsthe professionalization of urban man-agement, but are undermined by theIAS recruitment system and culture,which continue to encourage thesenewly-trained urban management specialists to apply for new positionsthat may bear no connection to localgovernment administration.

In the long run, dismantling the IASand its state equivalents is a criticalstep to reforming the bureaucracy,corruption and inefficiency that existat every level of Indian government.However, resistance to such reform is strong; many IAS officers like the rotations, which enable them toassume positions of increasing author-ity and enjoy perks such as housing.From the perspective of the nationaland state governments, rotating IASand state-level IAS officers preventsthem from developing too much influ-ence and clout. In the short to mediumterm, reform must come throughgreater training of municipal officials,streamlining management systems,and introducing new practices andtechnologies.

CMAs have a key role to play in lobbying state governments to operationalize the provisions of the 74th Amendment, and can helpdemonstrate that by working withlocal governments as partners ratherthan as subordinates, resources can be allocated more effectively and efficiently to address India’s urbanmanagement problems. The sectionbelow examines some of the main chal-lenges facing its local governments.

Major issues facing local government in India today

Lack of autonomy

As noted above, most decisions thataffect local governments, such asfinance, infrastructure planning anddevelopment, and policy-making, aremade by the state government. InGujarat, the Chief Minister appoints a minister who oversees the urbandevelopment portfolio. The PrincipalSecretary, who is a senior IAS bureaucrat, heads the Government ofGujarat (GoG) Urban DevelopmentDepartment, which has ultimateauthority over all urban developmentin Gujarat. In addition, a Directorateof Municipal Administration serves as the statutory body for Gujarat’s 168 cities. Municipal commissioners are appointed by the GoG from the IAS cadre, as are the chief officers of smaller cities. This model is repli-cated with minor variations in otherIndian states.

Municipal corporations enjoy moreautonomy than municipalities, andhave better resources (see next section). Under the leadership of progressive municipal commissioners,Ahmedabad and Surat MunicipalCorporations have initiated a numberof innovative practices in recent years.

Steps TowardsDecentralization

In 1993, a major step towards thedecentralization and empowerment oflocal governments in India took placewhen the 74th Amendment to theIndian Constitution came into force.The Amendment calls for greaterresponsibilities and authorities forlocal governments that include:

■■ Planning for economic and socialdevelopment and an increased role inthe development and implementationof urban poverty alleviation projects

■■ Increased responsibility for strate-gic/urban planning at the district andmetropolitan levels

■■ Greater authority to generate and collect own-sources revenues

On paper, the 74th Amendment was agroundbreaking move towards decen-tralization in India. However, theimpetus for its passage was more areaction to the promulgation of the73rd amendment in 1992, which gavegreater autonomy and rights to ruralcommunities, and it was drafted with little input from municipal interests.

The amendment gives great discretionto state governments to determine thescope of local government autonomythey are willing to support. For it tohave teeth, state governments need toembrace it, interpret its clauses anddevelop the necessary administrativestructures to support it. To date, few if any have chosen to do so, as thiswould mean relinquishing power andfinancial resources, and local govern-ments remain very much creatures of state governments.

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Limited local government resources

Local governments in Gujarat, as inother states, rely largely on fundingfrom the state government to provideurban services and finance infrastruc-ture, and are unable to keep up withthe rapid growth of urban populationsand growing demand for services. The main two sources of revenue forGujarat’s municipal corporations areproperty taxes and the octroi tax,which is charged on all goods enteringa municipal jurisdiction.

In 2001, the GoG abolished the octroitax for all other municipalities3 afterstrong lobbying from the businesscommunity. The Gujarat MunicipalFinance Board (GMFB) instead givesgrants to municipal governments, thusgiving the state government greatercontrol over municipal budgets. TheGMFB is also responsible for provid-ing funds for infrastructure andspecial projects. Utilities such as elec-tricity and water are run by parastatalmonopolies; user rates are heavilysubsidized, and power outages and water shortages are common. To offset these challenges, local governments need help in improvingthe collection of existing taxes andfees and in advocating for increasedpowers to access new revenue sources.

Meeting these Challenges: The Formation of CMAG

The formation of CMAG sprung from the growing awareness of thecomplexity of managing India’s burgeoning cities, and of the need to equip urban administrators with the right competencies, tools andexperience to effectively carry outtheir expanding responsibilities.

Municipal professionals have specifictraining, research, and informationsharing needs. A lot of information ongood urban development and manage-ment practices exists, but until theformation of CMAG, there was noinstitutional mechanism for sharing itbetween urban managers in Gujarat.Municipal administrators had fewopportunities to come together fortraining and networking. Equallyimportantly, urban local bodies lackeda forum through which they coulddevelop policy positions and advocatefor municipal concerns, in particularthe full implementation of the provisions of the 74th Amendment, to higher levels of government.

To help fill this void, in 1997 ICMAand USAID decided that the time was right to support the formation of a pilot CMA. The state of Gujaratwas selected to test CMA concept, dueto the progressive leadership of some its municipal corporations and theirenthusiastic support for the concept.The reforms implemented by theseleaders exemplified the kind of bestpractices that warrant sharing withother municipalities. Gujarat’s largestcity, Ahmedabad, increased the collec-tion of property taxes by over 100% in a year period, and was the first city in India to issue municipal bonds.The city of Surat, which suffered anoutbreak of the plague in the mid-90s,was transformed from the dirtiest tothe cleanest city in the state under theleadership of its reformist municipalcommissioner.

CMAG members prepare a memo to the state government.

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Local government leaders and staffneed to understand how the legalframework and state and national pro-grams impact the operation of localgovernment. In a situation wheredecentralization is taking place andlaws are changing, it can be a constantbattle to learn about new regulationsand what impact they will have onlocal government. Even if laws are not changing, newly elected officialsneed to be educated on the legalframework and its implementation sothat they can carry out their dutieseffectively. A local government associ-ation can benefit all of its members by keeping updated on legal issues,providing interpretation as needed,and sharing that information withmembers so that they do not have to individually seek out often hard to find legal information.

RESULTS

The 74th Amendment to the IndianConstitution, which came into effect in June 1993, gave urban local bodies a statutory status for the first time. The amendment of existing municipallegislation calls for regular municipalelections every five years; enlarge-ment of municipal councils to ensure greater representation and reserva-tions for women and minorities. The Amendment also calls for stategovernments to assign the civic functions identified in Article 243Wof the Constitution under the Twelfth Schedule to urban local bodies(see sidebar).

CMAG was thus formed in September1997 as a public trust (equivalent to anon-governmental organization). At its founding meeting, urban managersfrom across Gujarat came togetherwith representatives from state government, ICMA and USAID todetermine the association’s missionand objectives, membership composi-tion, financing and first year workplan. Importantly, at the founding,members of CMAG adopted a code of ethics adapted from the ICMA code of ethics, committing its mem-bers to fulfilling their responsibilitiesin a transparent, accountable, andbipartisan way.

In the five years since its establish-ment, CMAG has made significantstrides in fulfilling its mission, whichstates that “In order to nurture excel-lence in local governance and improvethe quality of life of the citizens,CMAG will strive to build professionalmanagement capacity within urbanlocal bodies, and will strengthen andpromote them as centers of opportu-nity, leadership and governance.”

CMAG serves as an important modelfor how to begin the challenging taskof professionalizing local governmentmanagement in India. Some of theprinciple ways in which it has donethis, and key lessons learned along the way are described in the followingsections. CMAG’s experience offersvaluable insights on how to build thecapacity of a professional associationfor urban managers that can benefitassociations in other states in India—and in countries around the world—that are undergoing a similar process.

ROLE OF CMAG WITHIN THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT SECTOR

C M A G F R O M 1 9 9 7 T O 2 0 0 2

Advocating for LocalGovernment Rights

ISSUE

Local governments are an importantcomponent of a strong democratic system when they have the necessaryrights and means to serve their citi-zens. In order to function optimally,the political framework, legislation,and programs of the national and/orstate governments must be support-ive. While not all local governmentshave all of the same issues all of thetime, there are always issues that localgovernments have in common vis-à-visstate or national governments.Therefore, a strong local governmentassociation brings together local gov-ernments, identifies common issues,conducts research, and often developspolicy platforms and represents localgovernments as a whole in front ofstate and national government.

The ability of associations to advocateon the behalf of local governments isan essential function that should becontinuously improved. An associationneeds to have and use an establishedprocess for developing positions andarguments that includes both memberinput and good policy research. Theassociation should ensure that mem-bers are aware and ready to advocateon key issues as needed. Mechanismshave to be in place to call upon mem-bers to get involved in the process.

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However, as noted earlier, the 74thAmendment does not mandate thatstate governments devolve this pow-ers and attendant fiscal resources, and leaves it to each to determine thescope of decentralization it is willing to support. To date, not surprisingly,few states have chosen to embrace its provisions and devolve authorityand fiscal autonomy and resources to municipal governments.

CMAG has made advocacy for professional, more autonomous localgovernment one of its three key objectives. While the association hasnot yet developed a formal policy platform, legislative and regulatoryissues are addressed through CMAG’snewsletter, workshops, and seminars.In the near future, the associationplans to establish a policy forum ofCMAG members that will focus on advocacy issues and develop a strategy for lobbying the GoG on decentralization issues.

To lay the groundwork for this,CMAG’s senior staff and ExecutiveCommittee members work hard to foster good relations with key state agencies both as members ofCMAG and as partners in the imple-mentation of its programs. Theassociation has gained the respect andear of key state-level officials andagencies, and has had some limitedsuccess in ensuring that municipalinterests are reflected in state policiesand laws. For example, as an outcomeof a November 1997 workshop onImproving the Financial Resources of Urban Local Bodies Through Non-Tax Revenues, the associationsubmitted a memo to the GoGrequesting greater financial autonomyfor municipal governments. The GoG has since authorized local govern-ments to create special developmentdistricts where developers arerequired to pay impact fees to the municipality in order to coverinfrastructure improvement costs.

A second, more important policy-making role for CMAG is its involve-ment in the development of a slumupgradation policy for the State ofGujarat. The Gujarat UrbanDevelopment Department (UDD) recommended CMAG as the “processmanager” for a World Bank funded initiative to develop a slum policy forthe state. This is pioneering work—CMAG’s research so far indicates thatfew countries have developed such apolicy at the state or national level.The Gujarat policy will serve as amodel for a national slum policy, and, potentially, as a model for other countries.

CMAG is using a very participatoryapproach to this task. A series of con-sultative workshops are being held intowns and cities of various types towhich all community stakeholders are invited—local and state govern-ment officials, non-governmental organizations and community-basedorganizations working in the slums,and slum dwellers themselves—toidentify priorities and determine theresources that different organizationscan bring to bear. The association hassubcontracted with three NGOs toconduct studies of slums in eight citiesas well as one on land tenure issues in Ahmedabad to inform the policypaper. The draft policy will be sharedwith a broad cross-section of stake-holders and placed on the Internet for public review and comment, andCMAG will work with the UDD toactively solicit feedback throughroundtable discussions, written inputand other forums. Based on this, revisions will be incorporated into the draft, and UDD will then seekapproval of the final policy from theGovernment of Gujarat.

C I V I C F U N C T I O N S A S S I G N E D T O L O C A LG O V E R N M E N T S

In the Twelfth Schedule of the Indian Constitution

Urban planning

Regulation of land use and building construction

Planning for economic and social development

Municipal roads and bridges

Water supply

Public health and sanitation

Fire services

Urban forestry and environmental protection

Protection of the interests of the weaker sections of society

Slum improvement and upgrading

Urban poverty alleviation

Provision of urban amenities(parks, gardens, playgrounds)

Promotion of cultural, educational and estheticaspects

Burials and burial grounds, cremations and cremationgrounds

Cattle pounds, animal protection

Vital statistics (registration of births, deaths, etc.)

Public amenities includingstreet lighting, parking lots, bus stops and publicconveniences

Regulation of slaughter-houses and tanneries

C M A G AT A G L A N C E

Institutional Membership

■ Municipal corporations (6)

■ Municipalities with populations over 50,000

■ Public and private institu-tions and NGOs involved inurban management researchand training related activities

Individual Membership

■ Municipal commissionersand deputy/assistant municipal commissioners

■ Municipal department heads

■ Class I and II officers working in urban local bodies or authorities

Associate Membership (non-voting)

■ Municipalities with less than 50,000 population

■ Public and private sectorprofessionals involved inurban planning, management,design, or other urban governance issues

■ Students in urban planning,design, and management

2002 Annual budget

4,000,000 Indian Rupees(estimated US $82,035)

Staffing

5 full-time positions, supplemented by consultants as needed

Objectives

■ Information exchange and dissemination

■ Advocacy

■ Training and capacity building for professionaldevelopment

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■■ There is strength in numbers.Associations representing profession-als should seek out ways to work withassociations representing local electedofficials to develop policy positions andadvocate on issues of common concernsuch as fiscal autonomy.

Capacity Building for Stronger Local Government

ISSUE

Local governments, like all organiza-tions, need to continuously increasethe capacity and improve the skills oftheir staff in order to be as effective as possible. In countries where decentralization has given new respon-sibilities to local governments, the need to develop new skills and buildstronger management capacity is even greater.

Local government associations oftenplay a role in providing trainingdirectly to their members, often collaborating with educational andtraining institutions, and can helptheir members identify other relevanttraining opportunities. Associationsmay also develop self-study trainingpackages and/or identify other training books and resources that can assist local government leadersand staff to build new skills andknowledge.

Training programs should be devel-oped with input from members, andguidance from other urban manage-ment experts as appropriate, toensure that they reflect the prioritiesand needs of the association’s mem-bers. Staff can solicit member inputusing a variety of mechanisms such as surveys, the creation of a membertask force focused on professionaldevelopment, discussions at Boardmeetings, or focus groups.

Cooperation with associations ofelected officials on advocacy issues has so far been limited. CMAG’sExecutive Committee (EC) believesthat the association should cater firstto the needs of its members, and thatgreater collaboration with elected officials could impede this objective.However, elected officials can haveassociate membership status, and areinvited to participate in workshopsand other professional activities.

LESSONS LEARNED

■■ Effective advocacy requires a commitment of staff resources andmember involvement. Staff need to work closely with members in conducting research and policy analysis, developing policy positions, developing relations with key state/national officials, and engaging inactive lobbying efforts.

■■ Member involvement on policy andadvocacy issues can occur throughtask forces, committees, policyforums, and other, less formal mecha-nisms such as working lunches andinteraction with state and nationalgovernment officials at other func-tions. Nurturing good relations withstate and national government agencies can pay important dividendsin learning about policy directions and funding sources and help establishthe credibility of the association as an important stakeholder in policy-making.

■■ CMAG staff and EC membersshould take a more active stand oncritical policy issues such as the aboli-tion of octroi tax as a key revenuesource for municipalities in Gujarat.

■■ The association has an importantrole to play in researching successfulmanagement and fiscal decentraliza-tion efforts in other states, using theseas the basis for a platform on similarreforms in Gujarat.

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RESULTS

Training workshops, seminars and avariety of other programs have been a core programmatic focus for CMAGsince its establishment in 1997. Theassociation works to ensure that itstraining programs are responsive tomember needs, and conducts a twice-yearly member survey to identifytraining priorities. Workshop topicsare also generated by CMAG staffbased on discussions with members,state government, partner institutionssuch as Environmental PlanningCollaborative (EPC—a non-profitenvironmental planning consultancy),the Center for EnvironmentalPlanning and Technology (CEPT), and the National Institute of UrbanAffairs (NIUA), and USAID’s FIRE project.

CMAG generally organizes workshopsand other professional developmentevents in cooperation with these andother partners, and maintains a data-base of training and subject expertsthat they can draw on to develop andlead workshops. Evaluations are distributed at the end of all trainingevents to solicit feedback from partici-pants on the usefulness of the contentand how they intend to apply it, thequality and appropriateness of theinstructors, course materials and the training venue.

Most training is targeted at senior-level municipal officials, and takesplace in Ahmedabad, the capital city.This may prevent members fromother parts of the state from partici-pating, due to the time and expense oftraveling to Ahmedabad. CMAG staffacknowledges that there is a need toconduct more “nuts and bolts” train-ing for front-line staff, and to hold more training events outside of thecapital city.

Citizens’ ChartersAs an outcome of this workshop,the GoG asked CMAG and CEPTto develop a model charter forall Gujarati cities, and a manualon its application. The GoG hasmandated that it be adopted by all cities in Gujarat and displayed in municipal offices in public view.

Operation and Maintenance of Water Supply Systems CMAG organized a workshop to address issues that local governments face in meetingtheir water supply and treat-ment needs. Participantsdiscussed measures to improvesupply efficiencies, and examined new technologies.

Designing a Public GrievancesRedressal SystemCMAG researched best practicesfrom other countries and organ-ized a workshop for participantsfrom the public and private sectors on how to develop aneffective, equitable system foraddressing citizen and businesscomplaints about local govern-ment services. As a result of the workshop, the municipal corporation of Surat modified its grievance redressal system,which has served as a model for other cities.

Assessing the Financial Impact of the 2001 Earthquakeon Municipalities in the Kutch DistrictThe objective of this workshopwas to aid public administratorsin evaluating the fiscal impact on municipal budgets of the devastating earthquake that hitthe Kutch region of Gujarat inJanuary 2001.

Improving Financial Resourcesfor Urban Local BodiesAs noted in the Advocacy section, the resulting memoran-dum to the GoG requestinggreater financial autonomyresulted in the introduction of impact fees in special development districts.

Municipal Accounting andBudgeting ReformsCMAG organized regional work-shops to introduce municipaladministrators to double-entryaccounting and the use of software programs to improvemunicipal accounting and budg-eting practices. The workshopraised awareness and identifiedhurdles to introducing new technologies, including a lack of interest (or fear) in computer-ization on the part of manymunicipal administrators andthe absence of uniform account-ing standards and charts.

Training in Restoration,Retrofitting and Reconstructionof Structures in Seismic AreasFollowing the January 2001earthquake in Gujarat, CMAGpartnered with the GoG and EPCto conduct training workshopsfor engineers in restoration,retrofitting, and reconstructiontechniques in seismic areas toensure that reconstruction andnew building in the devastatedKutch district would meet new seismic standards.

I L L U S T R AT I V E T R A I N I N G W O R K S H O P T O P I C S

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To date, CMAG has elected not to charge its members a fee for workshops and other professionaldevelopment programs, as the stafffeels that it is important to firstdemonstrate that training events andother programs are valuable andworth paying for. For now, such pro-grams are funded either from memberdues or by the sponsoring donor-sup-ported project. CMAG rarely seeksfunding support from state agenciesor national government institutions like the NIUA, because the approvalprocess is complex and long. Staffhave learned how to put on workshopson a shoe-string budget, saving oncosts by doing away with non-essen-tials such as the workshop bags andfancy lunches that many conferences and workshops offer.

The six municipal corporations ofGujarat were selected for documenta-tion because of their size anddynamism in urban governance, andseven of Gujarat’s 143 municipalitieswere also selected based on recom-mendations from the GujaratDirectorate of Municipalities andMunicipal Finance Board. An urbanplanning consultant was hired to document innovative initiatives under-taken by the cities. The consultantfirst conducted a literature review tolearn how other international andnational practices have been docu-mented, and then traveled extensivelyto the selected cities to interview key municipal officials and seek out their best practices and programs for documentation.

A total of 59 practices were written up and compiled in a Best Practicescatalogue, which was distributed to all CMAG members, NGOs and international donors, and is in greatdemand from other government officials (state and municipal) in otherstates. It is also available on CMAG’sweb site. Each practice includes information about:

■■ The situation before the initiative

■■ The strategy adopted

■■ The results achieved/anticipated

■■ Sustainability

■■ Learning

■■ Replicability

To give the practices additional promi-nence and draw some positive mediaattention to urban issues, CMAG gave Best Practices Awards to selectcities. An expert panel was convenedto evaluate all 59 practices and selectten for special awards. These werepresented at a CMAG conference to

Scheduling training events continuesto be a challenge, and CMAG hasfound it difficult to develop its trainingcalendar far in advance. State andlocal government departments andagencies frequently schedule meetingstargeting the same audience on shortnotice, and municipal officers mustgive these events precedence overCMAG workshops and meetings.

Proposed training topics for 2002 include:

■■ Service Contracting

■■ Financial Management

■■ Solid Waste Management

■■ Development Plans/Physical Planning

■■ Property Tax Reform

In addition to training workshops,CMAG has implemented a number ofother innovative and successful pro-grams to help build the technical andmanagement capacity of CMAG members. These include:

Best Practices Program. City man-agers across Gujarat have introducedinnovative measures to improve serv-ice delivery, maximize the use of theirlimited resources, and improve thequality of life. Recognizing the valueof sharing and transferring theseinnovations, in 1999, CMAG initiated a Best Practices Program with sup-port from ICMA and USAID. Theobjective of the program is to identify,document and disseminate informa-tion about innovative approaches tocommon urban service delivery andmanagement problems, to promote the transfer of knowledge, experienceand expertise among local govern-ments in Gujarat, and to develop anddisseminate effective learning toolsand processes.

Best Practices Transfer: demonstratingthe conversion of waste to compost.

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enable all 13 cities that participated inthe program to share their experiencewith other CMAG members. Interestin the program has been great, and since then, CMAG has received several unsolicited best practices from member communities.

Best Practices Transfer Program.

Not satisfied to simply document anddisseminate municipal innovations,again with support from ICMA/USAID, CMAG initiated a process to transfer these good practices toother local governments that wereinterested in replicating them.

At the Best Practices Conference,CMAG staff solicited interest fromattendees in being partnered with one of the award-winning innovatorcities as a learner. The response was enthusiastic, and over 14 commu-nities asked to be matched with one ofthe innovators to learn about one ormore initiatives. CMAG organizedexchange visits to these cities, wheremunicipal professionals and electedofficials from the learner communitieshad the opportunity to learn abouttheir award-winning programs, and todiscuss the strategies and methodolo-gies used to implement them.Following the site visits, the learnercommunities have continued contactwith their innovator partners, usingthem as a resource and mentor.

CMAG has also provided technicalassistance to learner cities in thedevelopment of proposals to theGMFB for financial support to repli-cate the transfer program. While only one community has been success-ful so far in getting funding, it servedto establish an important precedent ofstate government financial support forinter-local learning and cooperation.

The association believes the programhas several advantages over conven-tional forms of technical assistanceand cooperation:

■■ It is a demand-driven process inwhich one party seeks to learn from a peer without any pre-conditions orother agendas and where both theprovider and learner benefit from the exchange;

■■ It is based on the principle that seeing is believing, and facilitateslearning based on proven solutions to common problems;

■■ It is a cost-effective means ofmatching supply with demand forinformation, knowledge, expertise andexperience; and

■■ It is a multi-dimensional form oflearning, that addresses political,administrative, technical and manage-rial issues which may be difficult toaddress in more formal learning environments such as seminars andconferences.

In response to the demand fromCMAG members for a follow-on to the highly-regarded program, the

association submitted a grant proposalto the Ford Foundation in 2001 toimplement a second phase of both theBest Practices Documentation andBest Practices Transfer Programs.Ford has awarded a total of $87,000 to CMAG for these initiatives, whichwill get underway this year. As with Phase I, CMAG will hire a consultantto carry out the necessary research,interviews, and documentation of thepractices and to help facilitate thedissemination and transfer process.

News of the program has spread toother states in India, and delegationsfrom Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, andMaharashtra have traveled to Gujaratto learn about its cities’ innovations.Best Practices programs will be a corefirst-year activity of the new CMAsthat have been formed in eight otherstates. In addition, in the summer of2002, a team of CMAG staff and boardmembers traveled to Indonesia to conduct a training workshop forIndonesian associations interested indeveloping their own Best PracticesPrograms.

Best Practices Transfer: Municipal engineers and architects discuss the role of public-private partnerships in heritage conservation at a restored building.

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responses. When the TAC reviewedthe responses, they realized that data collection was not being doneconsistently within and across munici-palities using uniform accountsheadings. CMAG staff did thoroughfollow up with all cities to collect andclarify required data and information,including visits by staff to ensure thequality and thoroughness of the dataso that a reliable comparison could bemade across cities.

Once the data had been analyzed,CMAG organized a symposium toshare the results with participatingcities, state government officials andcitizens. Results were published in acompendium and CD with an explana-tion of the methodology, a display ofthe results, and lots of easy to readgraphics. Each city received a comparative ranking for each indica-tor, which generated a lively debateamongst participating municipal officials, some challenging the dataanalysis when they were not satisfiedwith their city’s ranking. However, therigorous, transparent process that theTAC used to collect and interpret thedata was hard to dispute.

The general consensus of municipalparticipants was that the measure-ments and analysis provide a veryuseful tool to help them compare theirperformance to cities of similar sizeand to identify areas where their man-agement and service delivery systemscould be improved. CMAG staff andmembers of the TAC made follow-upvisits to individual cities to helpdepartment heads and managers iden-tify areas where they should considerintroducing new practices and management systems.

A technical advisory committee (TAC)was formed that included CMAG staff,experts from ICMA, USAID, theUSAID FIRE project, academic institutions, GoG agencies, and Class Imunicipalities. The TAC agreed tofocus the program on three sectors:finance, environment and health, andworked with CMAG on the develop-ment of draft indicators, drawing onthe urban indicators developed by the UN and the ICMA PerformanceMeasurement Consortium as references.

The indicators were broken down intotwo main categories. Infrastructureindicators considered service levels(e.g. water supply per capita per day,average hours of supply per day, num-ber of supply days per week), servicecoverage (e.g. percentage of house-holds with a water supply connection,percentage of pipe length to total roadlength) and service costs and effi-ciency (e.g. cost of supply per liter,amount of unaccounted for water).Finance indicators examined resourcemobilization (e.g. property tax collec-tion rates, number of propertiesassessed per staff, percentage of utility bills paid), expenditure manage-ment (e.g. per capita expenditure onwater supply, per capita expenditureon general administration), and debtmanagement (e.g. debt service ratio,outstanding liabilities per capita).Different weights were assigned toeach indicator to come up with anoverall score for each city.

The TAC held a one-day meeting toreview and refine the draft indicatorsbefore sending out a detailed ques-tionnaire to six corporations and ten“Class I” municipalities, receiving ten

Urban Indicators and Performance

Measurement Program. There is agrowing demand on the part of munic-ipal and state agencies, policy makers,elected officials, municipal managers,NGOs and citizens in India for analyti-cal tools and reliable data on urbanservices to enable better informedplanning and decision-making.Reliable comparative data on the per-formance of municipalities is also indemand from financial institutions,investors and credit rating agencies.

In response to this demand, in 2000,with financial and technical supportfrom USAID and ICMA, CMAG initiated an Urban Indicators andPerformance Measurement Program(UIPM), drawing on the experience ofthe private and public sectors in othercountries in the use of such tools toimprove public services. Specifically,the objectives of the program are:

■■ To create a database of indicatorsand performance measures for thecities to enhance their developmentalplanning work;

■■ To develop UIPM as a managementand analytical tool for monitoring andevaluation of programs;

■■ To develop UIPM as a tool to measure the impacts of programs;

■■ To identify critical issues and assessthe severity of the problems;

■■ To help local governments prioritizeactions and allocate resources efficiently.

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Now that participating cities knowhow their performance compares tothat of cities of comparable size, anelement of competition to improvetheir ranking has been introducedbetween them. The UIPM is viewed as a great success by CMAG, whichhas received requests for informationon the program from Malaysia,Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand,Indonesia and several of the otherCMAs in India. Academic institutionshave also been interested in learningabout the process, and CMAG hasbeen invited to make presentations inDelhi and Mumbai.

CMAG staff note, however, thatmunicipal administrators are not yet really using the measures as a toolto improve their performance. For the process to be taken to this next,important phase, participating citiesneed ongoing motivation and technicalsupport. To this end, CMAG has writ-ten a grant proposal to USAID andNIUA to expand the program, addingmore cities and providing technicalassistance in interpreting the data and using it to introduce changes toimprove management and servicedelivery systems. Over time, CMAGhopes that the UIPM process can helpdevelop sector norms and perform-ance benchmarks, which currently donot exist in India for urban develop-ment agencies and services.

Responding to the 2001 Earthquake.

On January 26, 2001, a massive earth-quake hit Gujarat. Over 14,000 peoplewere killed, and entire communities in the western region of Kutch were decimated. In Ahmedabad, over 1,000 died and 200 buildings collapsed.While many were afraid to enter damaged buildings, CMAG staffimmediately returned to their office to demonstrate that it was safe and tobegin mobilizing resources to respond

to the disaster. The association’sphones began ringing off the hook ascities, towns and villages affected bythe earthquake looked to CMAG forsupport. Requests flooded in fromNGOs, disaster relief agencies, donoragencies and other organizations andexperts seeking information abouthow they could help. In partnershipwith EPC and Kutch NavnirmanAbhiyan (KNA), an umbrella organi-zation of disaster-response NGOs inKutch, CMAG formed an informal network, the Earthquake TechnicalAssistance Cell (ETAC) to coordinatethe response to the disaster.

In the first week following the earth-quake, EPC, which had alreadycarried out a regional planning exer-cise in the region, prepared digitalmaps of different districts showingtransportation routes and the locationof buildings using the data they hadalready collected. These maps weregiven to CMAG, which with fundingfrom a private trust distributed them

to state agencies, disaster relieforganizations, and NGOs. An ETACteam also rushed to Bhuj, one of thehardest hit communities, to assess thedamage and determine how to targetassistance most effectively.

CMAG recruited structural engineer-ing experts from around the country,who traveled to Kutch in volunteerteams on a nine-day tour to assess andcategorize the damage. The engineersconducted community workshops toexplain the structural stresses on thebuildings, how to retrofit remainingbuildings for seismic conditions, andhow to ensure that new construction is seismically sound. Based on theengineers’ assessment, EPC devel-oped and published maps that showedwhere the damaged buildings wereand the extent of damage to each,which are being used to inform redevelopment planning work beingfunded by US-AEP.

CMAG staff assess damage caused by the January 2001 earthquake with municipal officials.

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■■ Assistance to the city of Bhuj in documenting the importance of theirhistoric buildings, and developing a walking tour to educate citizens aboutthe city’s architectural heritage andattracting tourists to the city.

CMAG played a critical role in coordi-nating the response to the 2001earthquake, brokering partnershipsbetween the governments of affectedcommunities and NGOs, identifyingcritical technical assistance andhumanitarian needs, and mobilizingresources to get them to the rightplaces. The association’s profile hasbeen raised, and it has garneredgreater respect and trust from theGoG, donor organizations, NGOs and,perhaps most importantly, from mem-ber communities.

CMAG is an active partner in theGujarat State Disaster ManagementAuthority—a coordinating mechanismfor reconstruction and planning forthe future. CMAG was asked by theAuthority to put together a workshopon disaster preparedness for hospitals,and the Ahmedabad MunicipalCorporation (AMC) had CMAG evalu-ate the response of all AMC municipaldepartments in first ten days after the earthquake, which CMAG didgratis. The city has also contractedwith CEPT to develop a DisasterManagement Plan with input fromCMAG.

LESSONS LEARNED

■■ Associations can serve an importantcoordinating and clearinghouse role inthe event of a natural or man-madedisaster. They can help to identify and mobilize resources to respond inthe early days after the event, putgovernment agencies, disaster relieforganizations, and NGOs in contactwith each other, and help them avoidduplication of effort and target theirresources, provide technical assistance

The ETAC quickly wrote funding pro-posals for urgently needed programsto support the rehabilitation process,resulting in a number of initiatives:

■■ The establishment of a ResourceCenter in Bhuj for local people seek-ing assistance.

■■ A program for planning and partici-patory rehabilitation in both rural andurban areas. The initiative helps localauthorities develop plans for rebuild-ing their devastated communitiesusing a participatory process to get citizen input on where to place important infrastructure such as community wells.

■■ A rapid appraisal of the structuraland financial impact of the earthquakein five of the hardest hit communities.

■■ A financial assessment of the earth-quake’s damage, using an Excel-basedfinancial operating policy software.The software is now being used bycommunities as a budgetary manage-ment tool to guide their financialdecisions as they begin the dauntingprospect of rebuilding their devas-tated communities.

■■ Three-day, intensive training pro-grams for 700 engineers (organized inclusters over a one-month period) onseismic construction and retrofitting.

■■ Assistance to communities in protecting their rich architectural heritage. In a number of communities,damage to historic buildings in areaswhere land values have increased provided a convenient excuse to tearthem down and make way for new,more profitable construction. CMAGcoordinated meetings with conserva-tion-based and other NGOs, disasterrelief agencies, and donor agencies tolobby state and local governments onthe importance of preserving theseunique and irreplaceable structures.

in responding to the emergency, and document and disseminate best practices in disaster response and preparedness.

■■ Associations need to help create ademand for training and professionaldevelopment by ensuring that topicsoffered reflect municipal needs andpriorities and provide new skills andtools that can be easily and practicallyapplied. This is especially important inan organizational culture that does notreward or support professional development.

■■ Associations should seek out oppor-tunities to collaborate with othertraining networks and organizations inthe design and provision of training inorder to leverage resources and avoidduplication. CMAG and another asso-ciation should take advantage ofmember cities’ willingness to providelocal transportation, a venue, andmeals when training is offered in their communities.

■■ It may be necessary for associationsto underwrite training costs initiallythrough donor support or memberdues. However, as demand increases,it is important to gradually reducesubsidies and introduce fees to make the training pay for itself inorder to ensure its financial viabilityand sustainability.

■■ Training needs to be offered in convenient, reasonably-priced loca-tions—not just the capital city—tofacilitate the ability of municipal offi-cials from all size cities to participate.

■■ Dependence on outside funding sup-port for training activities, can make it difficult for CMAG and other associations to say “no” to requests toconduct workshops and other trainingevents. Care needs to be taken thattraining activities are based on mem-ber needs and demand, and are notdriven by outside organizations’ agendas.

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■■ Training needs to reach beyondsenior management: there is also agreat need for “nuts and bolts” training in basic operational and management procedures for front line staff.

■■ Workshops and seminars shouldtypically be between 1–5 days inlength, as it is usually difficult forbusy municipal professionals to getaway from their jobs for longer periods.

■■ Coordination with state and localgovernment departments is essentialin planning events to avoid schedulingconflicts.

■■ Training for adults is most effectivewhen it is interactive and trainershave strong facilitation skills. Case studies should directly relate to participants’ circumstances andwork experience, and offer tools andtechniques that can be adapted inother communities. Setting up trainingfacilities in round tables, using ice-breakers, small group discussions and group exercises can help foster a more participatory learning environment.

■■ There is a huge demand for docu-menting and sharing good practicesamong urban managers. While formaltraining is important and necessary,the value of learning directly from the experience of others cannot beunderestimated. Associations have animportant role to play in facilitatingthis kind of on-the-job learning andcreating forums where peers can cometogether to share experiences.

■■ Programs such as the UIPM helpto identify good practices and inconsistencies in the way that localgovernments collect data, and inject asense of competition between cities toimprove their performance. For suchprograms to achieve their maximumvalue, follow-up training and technicalsupport are necessary to ensure thatnew tools and knowledge are applied.

Communications: InformationDissemination and Networking

ISSUE

In the absence of a strong local government association that bringstogether members from throughoutthe country, local governments willtend to benefit only from the experi-ences of their closest neighbors. Whena certain problem arises, the mayormay call on the mayor down the roadto ask for advice, but probably not themayor in another state or province.

A local government association servesas a communication mechanism for its members. It provides an opportunity for networking in person, and organize the collection and dissemination of information on goodpractices, conferences and trainingand legislative news. Events also keepmembers up to date on current issuesand innovations.

RESULTS

There is a great need for informationsharing between urban local bodies in India, and for access to what is happening both within India and inter-nationally in the urban managementarena. From the very beginning, serv-ing as a clearinghouse for Gujarat’surban managers for best practices,and providing information about leg-islative issues, training and fundingopportunities, and other local govern-ment concerns has been a key functionof CMAG. The association has devel-oped a number of mechanisms todisseminate information and bestpractices to its members and to otherinterested public and private institu-tions, including:

Web site. With financial support fromUSAID and technical support fromICMA, CMAG has developed aninformative, interactive web site in both Gujarati and English:www.cmag-india.org. The site pro-vides information on CMAG’s mission,objectives, and activities, and has all ofCMAG’s publications in downloadableelectronic format. In a recent month,the site registered over 10,000 hits.However, most municipal offices inGujarat lack access to the Internet.Internet connections in India are veryexpensive and connection speeds slow,and many municipal administratorslack computer skills.4 CMAG acknowledges its web site is still usedprimarily by urban professionals inthe private sector and internationalassociates.

Publications. CMAG produces a variety of publications on issues suchas financial management, solid wastemanagement, disaster preparednessand response, and citizen participa-tion. Its Best Practices compendium is in high demand from local govern-ments in other states. All CMAG’spublications can be downloaded fromits web site.

CMAG web site: www.cmag-india.org

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can use as templates. The resources of CEPT will also be made available toCMAG members through a joint lend-ing program. Another key element ofthe URC will be a multi-media center,providing Internet access and CDROMs to CMAG members, most ofwhom lack these facilities at home.

Best Practices Catalogue. As describedearlier, this compendium, modeledloosely after ICMA’s Ideas in Actionseries, includes 59 best practices in urban management identified byCMAG from across Gujarat. A secondvolume of this immensely popular catalogue and related Best PracticesTransfer Program will get underwaythis year with funding from the FordFoundation.

Phone, fax and mail. CMAG staff still relies fairly heavily on the old-fashioned telephone, fax machineand “snail mail” to get word out tomembers on CMAG events and training opportunities, as few munici-pal members have e-mail access.

One page “briefing notes.” These short,informative updates on issues of inter-est to CMAG members are sent out onan ad-hoc basis in Gujarati.

Nurturing partnerships and

relationships. CMAG’s importance as aclearinghouse for information for localgovernments, and the respect that ithas gained from state agencies, NGOsand other urban management organi-zations, garner CMAG invitations to avariety of meetings and forums. Staffparticipate in events at CEPT, NGOs,network discussion groups, thinktanks, and donor meetings. They also attend municipal corporation and chief officers’ statutory coordinationmeetings, a sign of the trust that theseofficials place in CMAG.

CMAG has consciously nurtured goodrelations with the state government,inviting state officials to attend itsworkshops, making an effort to schedule them when key officials areavailable and asking them to giveopening remarks at these events,which gives legitimacy to CMAG programs. This effort has paid off, giving CMAG staff access to officialsand information at important stateagencies such as the UrbanDevelopment Department,Directorate of Municipalities, andMunicipal Finance Board.

International networking. In its firstyear, CMAG established a formal affiliation with ICMA, which has been an important connection for theassociation. ICMA staff continues toprovide technical support and advice,and the two associations have estab-lished a manager exchange programthrough which ICMA and CMAGmembers undertake a two-three week peer exchange to learn fromeach other and develop professionallinkages. In addition to the ICMAlink, CMAG receives frequent invita-tions to participate and share itsexperience in a number of interna-tional forums, including the EuropeanUnion’s Asia Urbs program, theInternational Network for UrbanDevelopment, and training eventsorganized by ICMA in partnershipwith USAID and US-AEP.

CMAG newsletter.

Quarterly newsletter. CMAG’s newsletter, published in both Gujaratiand English, includes articles onissues of importance to local govern-ment written by staff and drawn froma number of other sources. It is mailedto all CMAG members as well asdonors, partner organizations, stategovernment agencies, and other institutions concerned with local government affairs. The newsletter is also posted on CMAG’s web site.

Library. CMAG maintains a smalllibrary of urban management publica-tions in its office. It plans to expandthis library into an “Urban ResourceCenter” (URC) in space provided by the AMC. Many CMAG memberstravel to Ahmedabad on business, andthe URC is intended to provide themwith a user-friendly and accessibleplace to obtain relevant information.In addition to books, reports, andnewsletters, at the suggestion ofCMAG members, it will include tender documents, model contracts,municipal ordinances, and other docu-ments that municipal governments

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LESSONS LEARNED

■■ The lack of information technologyand low computer literacy of CMAG’s municipal members can be abarrier to getting information out to members in a timely and effectivemanner.

■■ CMAG must lobby to ensure that afair allocation of the state funds bud-geted for information technology goes to municipal authorities.

■■ For the foreseeable future, CMAGwill continue to rely on the dissemina-tion of information in hardcopyformat, a costly and time-consumingprocess. Interns can be used to helpminimize the demands on staff time to print and mail materials. Somemembers have offered to help with the regional distribution of CMAGmaterials, which would reduce the vol-ume of mailings CMAG must pay for.

■■ The association must help its munic-ipal members overcome their fears ofcomputerization and obtain computertraining—starting with basic skills—so that they can exploit informationtechnology applications and facilitatecommunications and information sharing. CMAG plans to explore partnerships with private institutes to provide this training, and to seekfunding support from private sectorcomputer hardware and software companies that have a vested inter-ested in increasing the computerliteracy of local governments.

■■ Maintaining CMAG’s web site toensure that the information is up todate and useful, and drafting its quar-terly newsletter, are time-consumingactivities that drain its limited staff

resources. CMAG plans to recruitinterns (both Indian and foreign) anduniversity students to write up work-shop proceedings, identify and writerelevant articles, gather informationand documents for the newsletter andweb site and assist with uploadinginformation to the site and preparingthe quarterly newsletter.

■■ Language and length matter: To reach all CMAG members, particularly those from smaller munic-ipalities, written materials should bein both Gujarati and English. Busymunicipal administrators do not havetime to read lengthy documents; information must be presented in abrief, concise way.

■■ CMAG and other associationsshould actively seek out useful materi-als from other sources to enrich theirown publications. A wealth of excellentbooks, training materials, case studies,and other useful documents on urban management already exists, andrather than reinventing the wheel,associations can adapt such materialsto meet their needs.

■■ Networking—regionally, nationally,and internationally—is an importantmeans of educating other institutionsabout associations’ missions, identify-ing funding or opportunities forcollaboration, establishing professionalcontacts and learning about best practices and other resources.

Media Relations and Public Outreach

ISSUE

Local government is an often over-looked institution by the media unlessthere is bad news to be shared, andthe public is usually unaware of localgovernment successes. This is cer-tainly true in India, where localgovernments suffer from a very poorimage and the media tends to coverlocal government affairs only whenthere is a juicy story on corruption orineptness. In an environment wherelocal government has operated as anadministrative arm with little or nopower, it is difficult for the public andthe local officials to feel proud of what-ever successes they achieve. Localgovernment associations can helppresent the work of local governmentsin a positive light, share success sto-ries of individual local governmentswith the media and encourage theirmembers to publicize their good work.

RESULTS

CMAG has worked to develop goodrelationships with the press in Gujaratand to encourage them to give positivemedia coverage to local governments.Media representatives are invited tocover CMAG events, and receive press releases on CMAG programssuch as the Best Practices Award.Staff review daily newspapers for articles on local government issues,and have approached the Gujarat edition of the Times of India, anational broadsheet, about introducinga weekly educational supplement highlighting good practices in munici-pal government, with sponsorshipfrom the private sector.

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CMAG is also invited frequently tospeak at regional, national, and inter-national conferences and workshops(so far in 2002, CMAG has presentedat workshops in Indonesia andAustralia) on the importance of localgovernment in India and the role ofassociations like CMAG in improvingurban management.

LESSONS LEARNED

■■ Local government associations have a key role to play in educatingthe public and media about local governments—their roles and respon-sibilities, the challenges they face due to inadequate training and scarceresources, and, especially, to drawattention to success stories.

■■ Cultivating good relations with jour-nalists (print, radio and TV) can helpgenerate more frequent and positivecoverage of local government affairs.Associations should invite journaliststo observe member events, and issuepress releases highlighting municipaland organizational achievements and awards.

■■ Local government associations needto educate the international donorcommunity about the importance ofgood local governance to meeting the challenges of urbanization and sustainable development. Too often,donor assistance programs are tar-geted at the national or state levels ofgovernment and are oriented towardschanging the national legislativeframework. By documenting and dis-seminating good practices at the locallevel, associations can demonstrate thevalue of using donor support for localgovernment programs to test innova-tions and reforms, and to inform new policies and resource allocationdecisions at the state/national level.

The CMAG secretariat, which ishoused in the offices of the AMC, con-sists of five full-time staff (see below).The EC meets every one-two monthsand on an as-needed basis with staff toserve as a sounding board and counselon program development and imple-mentation and other managementissues. In part because of the frequentchanges in EC members and thestrong sense of hierarchy that isingrained in Indian local governmentculture, the EC tends to be dominatedby a few voices from the largestmunicipal corporations, and not allmembers are actively involved in gen-erating new program ideas. Three ECsubcommittees, one under each vicepresident, are tasked to focus on eachof CMAG’s objectives, but due to theheavy workload of EC members, com-munications problems (lack e-mailaccess, etc.) and the dominance of afew EC members, these subcommit-tees are not really active.

The EC is responsible for making and approving all financial spendingdecisions of over 5,000 rupees (approximately $100 US) based onrecommendations from staff, and onlythe Treasurer or President are able tosign checks on behalf of the associa-tion. This can be problematic when the secretariat needs to take promptaction and neither the Treasurer northe President is available. However,CMAG staff feel that the secretariatretains reasonable autonomy in theday-to-day management of the organi-zation. Staff develops an annual workplan that is vetted and approved bythe EC, and are also empowered to befairly responsive to targets of opportu-nities and member needs.

VIABIL ITY FOR LONG-TERM SUCCESS

Governance, Leadership and Management

ISSUE

Effective governance and manage-ment are critical to the success of any organization. A local governmentassociation that is functioning optimally has a clear organizationalmission and goals, a board of directorsor executive committee that executesits roles with highest regard for serving members, and is non-partisanso that all local governments can be well-represented without bias.

RESULTS

CMAG is governed by a 22-memberExecutive Committee (EC). The“Office Bearers” consist of thePresident, who is always theMunicipal Commissioner ofAhmedabad; three Vice Presidents(two are commissioners from othermunicipal corporations, and one is anindividual member) a Secretary (oneof the deputy municipal commission-ers of Ahmedabad), and a Treasurer(this position rotates amongst CMAGmembers). In principle, a third of theEC’s members are replaced every twoyears to provide new perspectives andinput, while at the same time main-taining some continuity. Because ofthe rotations of municipal commission-ers, in reality there are more frequentchanges in EC leadership. This canchallenge the EC’s ability to providestrong leadership and continuity indirection, and requires staff and otherEC members to devote time gettingnew board members up to speed.

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Staffing/OrganizationalCapacity

ISSUE

Adequate organizational capacity isessential to grow and sustain a munici-pal association. The executive bodymust establish the strategic directionof the organization and provide policy guidance, but its members, who usually hold senior management positions in local governments, do not have the time to manage its day-to-day affairs. Staff with knowl-edge of urban management issues and good communications, organiza-tional, administrative, and program management skills are critical to orga-nizational growth and sustainability.

RESULTS

Much of CMAG’s success, in particu-lar its ability to begin programmaticactivities quickly, can be attributed tothe fact that it was staffed from thebeginning. Manvita Baradi, who untilJune 2002 served as CMAG’s Directorof Programs and is now an advisor for ICMA and US-AEP on associationdevelopment in Asia, was hired byICMA (through its agreement withUSAID) on an initial three-month contract to help organize the foundingworkshop and operationalize CMAG.Ms. Baradi was selected due to hertraining and experience as an urbanplanner, her contacts in the urbandevelopment and planning field,strong organizational and communica-tions skills, and computer literacy. Hercontract was extended by ICMA foran additional three months so that shecould serve as the project coordinatorfor CMAG’s programs.

While this start-up grant was veryimportant, the organization recognizedfrom outset that it could not continueto rely on outside funding to support

staffing, operational and programexpenses, and needed to turn increas-ingly to member dues and otherrevenues to cover these costs. Manynew municipal associations have a difficult time convincing their targetmembership of the value of payingdues. However, the success and quality of CMAG’s initial activitiesdemonstrated the benefits of joiningthe organization, and membership(and more importantly, membershipdues) began to grow. Starting in April 1998, the EC was able to sign an annual contract with Ms. Baradi as CMAG’s project coordinator, andshe was promoted in March 2000 toDirector of Programs.

The success of CMAG’s workshopsand other programs eventually per-suaded the EC of the need to staff up,and in early 2000 a second full-timeprofessional position—another youngurban planner—was added, fundedfully by member dues.

The trust that the CMAG ExecutiveCommittee had in Ms. Baradi wasvery important to the initial develop-ment of the association. The EC hadconfidence in her ability to manageCMAG’s initial work program and toserve as the organization’s represen-tative before international donors,members, and the state government.This trust and freedom enabled Ms. Baradi to be pro-active and push for the development of new programs such as the Best PracticesDocumentation and Transfer and theUrban Indicators and PerformanceMeasurement Program. Her ability to confidently interact with municipalcommissioners, state government offi-cials, and other high-ranking officialsenabled CMAG to gain visibility andspread the word about its activities.

LESSONS LEARNED

■■ Executive committees/boards canbenefit from training to help themunderstand their roles and responsi-bilities as policy and budget advisors.New members can benefit from an orientation packet with information on the organization’s activities andpublications, copy of the strategic plan and annual work plan, financialstatement, and other backgroundmaterials. This is particularly impor-tant when there are frequent changesin committee/board leadership, as isthe case with CMAG.

■■ Association staff need to be empow-ered to run the organization, makefinancial decisions within definedparameters, and respond quickly totargets of opportunity. Committee/board members need to avoid the urge to micro-manage the day-to-dayaffairs of the organization.

■■ All executive committee/board members should be encouraged to participate in meetings and con-tribute ideas and suggestions to theorganization’s secretariat. Decisionsshould be based on group consensus.

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In July 2000, at the urging of USAID,CMAG hired a full-time executivedirector. This position was supportedby ICMA through its USAID contractfor six months, but has been fully-funded by CMAG dues since 2001. Thejob profile for the executive directorposition was developed by the EC, and ads were placed in newspapers. A selection committee was formed,whose members included the Directorof the University’s School of Planning,a professor from the Indian Instituteof Management, and five EC mem-bers. The selection committee optedto hire an executive director with significant NGO management experience but little background inurban management.

Today, CMAG has a full-time staff offive: three professionals—the execu-tive director (responsible for businessdevelopment, administrative proce-dures, office management, etc.); a program director (responsible forprogram development, membershipneeds and development, workshop/training development, and network-ing); a program manager (responsiblefor project management, workshoplogistics, the web site and newsletter);and two administrative support staff.CMAG contracts with consultants and other institutions for technical and administrative support on an as-needed basis.

Human Resource Development

ISSUE

A crucial indication of the ability of an association to move from being aresponsive, informal organization to one that is proactive and forward moving is its ability to capitalize on its human resources. Excellent human resource management includes documented and accurate personnelprocedures, job descriptions, andoffice procedures. Structuredemployee performance reviews shouldtake place on an annual basis, provid-ing employees and supervisors anopportunity to provide constructivefeedback on each other’s performance,identify strengths and areas forimprovement, and develop perform-ance and professional objectives forthe next year. Employees and membervolunteers should have regular professional development opportuni-ties to improve their skills andknowledge and their ability to con-tribute to the organization’s mission.

RESULTS

CMAG has job descriptions for all full-time staff positions, which are draftedby staff and reviewed and approved bythe Executive Committee. While theassociation intends to develop an operations and employee manual withdocumented office procedures andpersonnel policies, it has remained onthe back burner so far, due to a lack of staff resources to draft the manual.The EC conducts perfunctory per-formance evaluations before therenewal of employees’ contracts, butthere is generally no input in theprocess from the concerned staff person or discussion with the supervi-sor/review team. The evaluation

LESSONS LEARNED

■■ It is important for associations tostaff up from the very beginning, as itis unrealistic to expect the executivecommittee or board to manage theday-to-day affairs of the organization.

■■ While there is often a temptation tohire retired municipal officials becauseof their contacts and inside knowledgeof local government operations, cau-tion should be exercised in taking thisapproach. Association staff need to beenergetic and computer-literate, andwilling to carry out the multitude oftasks—both administrative and pro-grammatic—involved in establishing a new organization. These range fromgetting the organization registeredand setting up and managing its bankaccounts, procuring office space andequipment, to communicating withmembers, funding agencies, and otherconcerned institutions and individuals,to developing and running its programs.

■■ Keeping the organization lean isimportant, especially in its early years. No organization with limitedresources—especially a young organi-zation—can afford to carry any “deadweight,” and all staff need to haveappropriate and multiple skills. As theassociation’s membership and pro-grams grow, additional staff can beadded if needed, and/or consultantshired for specific projects on an as-needed basis.

■■ Staff who will work directly with or for new hires should be given theopportunity to meet with prospectivecandidates, and their input givenappropriate consideration in the selection process.

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process therefore misses an importantand beneficial opportunity for con-structive two-way feedback andteam-building, and may cause resent-ment on the part of staff because ofthe behind-closed-doors manner inwhich it is conducted.

CMAG staff are not able to undertaketravel or attend training programswhere there are costs involved; profes-sional development funds are only formembers. If another funding source is available, they can sometimes participate in training activities.

LESSONS LEARNED

■■ Staff involvement in the drafting ofjob descriptions is important to ensurethat they reflect the perspective ofthose working in the organization on aday-to-day basis, as they are the mostfamiliar with specific resource andskill needs.

■■ Performance evaluations should beconducted in a transparent, consistent,and regular manner, and serve as amechanism for the supervisor to eval-uate the employee’s performance andprofessional objectives, and to discussany concerns. They should also pro-vide an opportunity for the employeeto offer feedback on their supervisor’sability to set clear priorities and objectives, offer appropriate guidance,delegate responsibilities, and provideconstructive comments and support tohelp the employee improve his/herperformance.

■■ The provision of professional development opportunities for staff is important to enable them to continually improve their skills andknowledge and make a greater contri-bution to the organization’s missionand programs. The association shouldstrive to budget funds to supporttravel and related costs for staff training.

Programs: Plan, Execute,Evaluate

ISSUE

Through years of experience and hardwork, associations reach a level atwhich they are able to use participantinput to plan, execute, and evaluateprograms to meet their needs. Astrategic plan can help guide the organization’s direction, objectives,and desired results. With this strate-gic guidance and framework, staff can develop annual work plans thatdetail what actions will be taken toachieve these goals and identify theresources needed to carry them out.Work plans should be flexible enoughto respond to emerging opportunities,and staff should engage in ongoingneeds assessment, outreach, and two-way communication with members to make sure that the organization is responsive to their priorities and needs.

RESULTS

When CMAG was established in 1997,participants at the founding workshopprepared a first-year work plan toguide the organization’s developmentand programs. This work plan servedas an important roadmap for the asso-ciation’s program coordinator as shebegan the task of building the organi-zation. Executive Committee inputand guidance was critical at every step of the way, and Ms. Baradi worked closely with several EC mem-bers to identify resources for programimplementation and new programdevelopment, recruit members andget them to pay their dues, and createand expand CMAG’s network.

In 1999, CMAG carried out a comprehensive strategic planningprocess with technical support fromICMA/USAID. The EC and otherassociation members came together in a two-day workshop facilitated byICMA to develop a five-year strategicplan for CMAG. The resulting docu-ment mapped out the association’smedium-long term goals and strategicobjectives and identified the actionsteps, activities and the expected timeline for achieving them, as well as who has lead responsibility forimplementing each.

While CMAG’s program director usesthe strategic plan as a reference, ithas not really been used as a workingdocument to guide the association’sdirection and activities in the way that was originally intended. New ECmembers are not briefed on the plan,and the committee (many of whosemembers have joined since the planwas adopted) does not review progressagainst its goals at their meetings.The strategic plan was recently put onCMAG’s web page, and staff have dis-cussed convening a member retreat toreview and revise the strategic planand using it to help develop annualwork plans.

No formal work plans have been pre-pared since the first year’s plan; staffwork with the EC to develop a sched-ule of workshops and other programactivities. This provides flexibility tothe organization, but can also posechallenges when staff have to respondto competing priorities and lack aclear roadmap to guide their work.

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LESSONS LEARNED

■■ It is important for a new local gov-ernment association to have clearorganizational objectives and priori-ties, and to develop a work plan thatprovides clear guidance to staff in howto target their time and resources anddirect the growth of the organization.

■■ Once the association has been established, staffing is in place and an initial one-two year period of programming and growth hasoccurred, the organization can carryout a strategic planning process toguide its direction and expansion inthe medium to long term.

■■ Extensive member input should be sought in the strategic planningprocess to ensure that the resultingdocument reflects the priorities andneeds of all members, not just aminority that are actively involved in the association’s governance.

■■ The strategic planning process maybenefit from an outside facilitator with expertise in strategic planningand urban management.

■■ A strategic plan is only useful if it is treated as a working document, is used by association staff and executive board/committee as aroadmap and serves as the basis forthe development of annual work plans.Staff should report on progress inimplementing the plan at executiveboard/committee meetings, and lookfor ways to engage members in itsimplementation. The strategic planneeds to be flexible enough to respondto changing circumstances and emerging opportunities.

■■ New executive board/committeemembers should be provided with acopy of the organization’s strategicplan and be briefed on its status. Allassociation members should be aware

of the plan, and the association shouldmake it available to members, stateagencies, donor organizations, NGOsand training institutes so that areas of shared interest and opportunitiesfor collaboration can be identified.

Member Involvement

ISSUE

Member communication and participation is an essential part of awell-functioning association. A mem-bership organization that is drivenonly by its executive board or commit-tee, executive director and staffwithout broad member input is miss-ing crucial input and information.Association staff and leadershipshould be friendly and respectful of members—welcoming them into the association’s office and awardingexcellence. Two-way communicationvia a variety of means should takeplace on a regular basis and mecha-nisms sought to get member input,such as task forces and committees.

RESULTS

CMAG places a high value on commu-nicating with members. As notedearlier, the lack of computerizationand e-mail in municipal offices inGujarat and relatively poor telecom-munications infrastructure poses achallenge to easy communication, butCMAG staff works hard to reach outto members in a variety of other ways.This includes phone calls, participationat member governments’ statutorymeetings and informal meetings withmembers at their offices, encouragingmembers to visit CMAG’s offices whenthey are in Ahmedabad, solicitingmember feedback on association pro-grams and training workshops andusing of the CMAG newsletter andweb page to share information. TheBest Practices Award Program isanother means to acknowledge andhonor members’ successes.

To date, CMAG has not created mem-ber committees and task forces toassist the EC and staff on issues such as financial diversification andresource development or policy development and advocacy. Staffacknowledge that this is somethingthat they need to do in order toengage more members in the association’s affairs.

This year, the organization is issuingits first annual report, which will be an important way to share the resultsand successes of its first five yearswith members, partner organizations,state and national government, associations in other states and countries, and the international donor community.

LESSONS LEARNED

■■ Member involvement requires aconscious, continuous effort on thepart of association staff, in particularwhen there is a low rate of computeri-zation and computer literacy amongstmembers.

■■ Association staff have a vestedinterest in encouraging and facilitatingthe use of information technology bylocal governments. The increasing useof e-mail and web-based applicationsgreatly reduces the time and cost ofcommunicating with members and disseminating information, andexpands the association’s reach.

■■ Members like to feel special. Staffshould make a special effort to wel-come them to the association’s offices,and seek out ways to recognize theiraccomplishments (e.g., Best Practicesawards, articles highlighting theircommunities in the association’snewsletter, etc.).

■■ It is important to involve membersin identifying training and informationneeds to ensure that association programs are demand-driven.

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Financial Viability

ISSUE

Of all the issues that must beaddressed in order to be a successfulassociation, financial viability cannotbe overlooked. Without a well-devel-oped, stable source of revenues—bothmember dues and other sources, thebest intentions of the association willnot be met. Membership should be asbroad as possible and other entrepre-neurial activities that support themission and goals of the associationshould be encouraged.

Determining the membership struc-ture of a municipal association andcreating a dues structure that isviewed as equitable by all memberscan be challenging. Issues that need to be examined include:

■■ Whether to have both individual and institutional members;

■■ Whether to limit membership tothose working in the public sector or also to include organizations andindividuals working for NGOs and the private sector on urban manage-ment-related issues;

■■ How to structure membership feesto cover operational and program-matic costs in a transparent andrational manner;

■■ How to ensure the respect andgood will of members and theintegrity of the association and attractnew resources through transparentand accountable administration of allassociation funds.

RESULTS

CMAG’s founders developed a quitecomplex membership structure, with three categories of members—institutional, individual, and associate.Institutional and individual member-ship was initially limited to the largestcities (those with a population of100,000 or larger), as CMAG’s leader-ship felt that it should not try tospread its membership base too thinlywhile the organization was gettingestablished and stabilized.

The membership structure wasreviewed during the 1999 strategicplanning process, and the EC decidedto extend institutional and individualmemberships to Class II cities (thosewith populations between 50,000 and100,000). The membership structurelimits Class III and Class IV munici-palities and municipal officials toassociate, non-voting member status.They have no representation onCMAG’s EC, in spite of the fact thatthese front-line, lower-level adminis-trators represent a sizeable portion of municipal employees. The totalnumber of individual members cannotexceed 50% of institutional members.

The six largest municipal corpora-tions, each of which is allocated tenrepresentative slots, pay 85% ofCMAG’s dues, while smaller cities,individual and associate members paya token annual fee. While the munici-pal corporations seem to be on thewhole comfortable with the heavycross-subsidization that they support,CMAG should undertake a compre-hensive examination of its duesstructure in the future. It should eval-uate whether the existing structure is equitable and ensure that revenuesfrom dues are sufficient to meet mem-ber service and programming needsas well as operational costs.

The collection of dues from all CMAGmembers remains a challenge, andCMAG continues to let members whohave not remitted dues participate inassociation activities, justified by thebelief that as the benefits of member-ship are better understood, they willbegin to pay dues.

In spite of this, CMAG has been fairlysuccessful in generating sufficient rev-enues to cover its basic operationalcosts and to finance basic memberservices such as the CMAG newsletterand information sharing. The organi-zation’s start-up costs and initialtechnical support were largely borne by USAID and US-AEP, andthe AMC provides CMAG with officespace. While this saves the associationfrom having to pay rent, it limits itsability to expand, and creates the per-ception amongst some members thatthe organization gives the city specialtreatment. Workshop costs are paidfrom member dues or co-funded withdonor organizations.

CMAG staff are interested in pursuingnew, entrepreneurial approaches tofinancing association activities. Theyplan to approach certain industrialeducation trusts such as Tata, a majorIndian conglomerate, and the GujaratiIndustrial Development Board aboutsponsoring events, and have discussedthe idea of holding an exploratoryworkshop with private sector organi-zations such as the Gujarat Chamberof Commerce to discuss opportunitiesfor public-private partnerships. So far,the EC has vetoed the idea out of con-cern that the organization will becomebeholden to corporate sponsors.

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LESSONS LEARNED

■■ Opening up membership in munici-pal associations to a wide range ofmanagers and administrators enablesthe entire municipal organization totake advantage of opportunities toupgrade skills and make a greatercontribution to improving urban management systems.

■■ Membership categories should be as clear, simple and equitable aspossible.

■■ The member dues structure shouldbe reviewed periodically (e.g. every2–3 years), to ensure it is equitableand and bears a relationship to theorganization’s operational and pro-grammatic needs. Program-basedbudgeting will help to identify fiscalshortfalls that need to be offset byoutside sources.

■■ A strong commitment to collectingmember dues from all members needsto be made. In the medium to longterm, those members who fail to paytheir dues should not be permitted tocontinue participating in associationevents and reaping the rewards ofmembership.

■■ Fees for services and training pro-grams need to be gradually introducedto ensure that they cover their costsand are financially sustainable. Thiswill also help ensure that workshopsand courses are based on demand.

■■ For the foreseeable future, CMAGand other CMAs in India will continueto rely to a certain extent on outsidefunding support. Care should be takento limit this dependency, and to diver-sify funding sources beyond one donor.In the case of CMAG, this means look-ing to other bilateral and multilateraldonors beyond USAID and US-AEP.Foundations can also be an importantfunding source, as CMAG’s $87,000grant from the Ford Foundationdemonstrates.

■■ Diversifying funding sources can help municipal associations retaintheir autonomy and not become amechanism for implementing otherinstitutions’ agendas.

■■ Associations should consider theestablishment of a member-staff taskforce focused on financial diversifica-tion that can research and pursue newfunding sources. The task force shouldbe empowered to be entrepreneurial.

■■ Associations should capitalize on thegrowing culture of corporate citizen-ship and seek strategic partnershipswith private sector firms that have an interest in improving urban governance. Other local governmentassociations that have established cor-porate partnership programs, such asICMA, Local Government ManagersAustralia, and the Association ofMexican Municipalities can serve asresources in how to structure partner-ships with the private sector to avoidany appearance of preferential treat-ment or conflict of interest.

CONCLUSION In its short five-year history, CMAGhas made a significant contribution tostrengthening and professionalizinglocal government in Gujarat. Itsaccomplishments in training andcapacity building, documenting andsharing of best practices, networkingand peer exchanges, and fostering a

collaborative, equal partnership withthe state government serve as a modelfor other CMAs in India and, indeed,around the world. This is well-illus-trated by the technical advisory roleCMAG’s former program director isplaying in the establishment of newCMAs in other Indian states, its frequent invitations to share its expe-rience with associations in othercountries, and the respect in which itis held by its state, regional, nationaland international partners. CMAG hashelped to demonstrate the importanceof professionalizing local governmentmanagement to effectively address thechallenges of urbanization. Unless anduntil local governments are able toimprove service delivery and becomemore transparent, responsive andaccountable to citizens, the goal ofenvironmentally and economically sustainable development will not beachieved.

ICMA is proud of its collaborationwith CMAG, and congratulates theorganization on its impressive results.Our organization is committed to helping emerging local governmentassociations throughout the world tofulfill their mission and expand theircapacity to serve local governments intheir countries. We look forward tocontinuing and expanding our fruitfulpartnership with CMAG and thegrowing number of CMAs in India andother countries around the globe.

Endnotes

1 Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, MadhyaPradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan,Tamil Nadu, and Uttaranchal.

2 The Center for Environment, Planning andTechnology in Ahmedabad plans to intro-duce an urban management post graduate program in the near future.

3 The six municipal corporations retain theright to collect the octroi tax.

4 Nonetheless, e-governance is catching on inthe largest municipal corporations in statessuch as Karnataka and Andrha Pradesh, and there is a growing recognition that local governments must embrace information technology to improve their efficiency andperformance. The state government ofGujarat recently developed an informationtechnology policy and is setting budget fundsaside for the procurement of computer hard-ware and software by government agencies.

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C M A G

The City Managers’ Association, Gujarat (CMAG) is a membership-based association of municipal bodies andinstitutions/individuals working in the field of urban governance in the Indian state of Gujarat. Established in1997, CMAG’s mission is to nurture excellence in local governance and improve the quality of life of citizens by building professional management capacity within urbanlocal bodies, and to strengthen and promote urban localbodies as centers of opportunity, leadership and gover-nance. CMAG provides a forum for Gujarati city managersand others working in the urban development and manage-ment field to network, exchange information and bestpractices, participate in training and professional development activities, and advocate for stronger, moreprofessional and democratic local government.

More information about CMAG can be found at its Web site:http://www.cmag-india.org.

I C M A

The International City/County Management Association is a professional and educational membership association ofappointed local government managers and administrators inthe United States and abroad. ICMA has more than 8,000members who work for cities, counties, and regional localgovernments as well as educational institutions and organi-zations with an interest in local government. ICMA offersmembers access to technical and management assistance,training, publications, and online resources. ICMA membersare committed to a code of ethics, which is enforcedthrough peer review by the membership. Since 1990, ICMAhas worked in more than 40 countries to improve profes-sional local government management throughout the worldwith support from several donor organizations including the United States Agency for International Development(USAID) and the World Bank.

To learn more about ICMA, please visit www.icma.org.

This case study was funded by theInternational City/County ManagementAssociation (ICMA) and written byCorinne Rothblum, Senior ProgramManager, ICMA. It was developed prima-rily for presentation and distribution ata workshop funded by the U.S.-Asia-Environmental Partnership (US-AEP) forAsian Municipal Associations that tookplace in Parramatta, Australia in May2002. However, ICMA hopes that thepositive experience of CMAG can serveas a useful example to newer associa-tions seeking to support andstrengthen local government in theircountries.

Documentation of the experience ofCMAG would not have been possiblewithout the input and support of theCMAG staff, members, office bearers,and other stakeholders.

S P E C I A L T H A N K S G O T O :

Yashesh Ananatani, Executive Director,CMAG

P.U. Asnani, Vice President, CMAG andAdvisor to US-AEP and the U.S. Agencyfor International Development (USAID)

Lee Baker, Chief of Party, FinancialInstitutions Reform and ExpansionProject (FIRE), USAID

B.R. Balachandran, Executive Director,Environmental Planning Collaborative

Manvita Baradi, Association Advisor,ICMA/US-AEP, Asia

Nabaroon Bhattacharjee, ProgramManager and Regional Training Advisor,Regional Urban Development Office for South Asia, USAID, New Delhi

Indu Capoor, Member, CMAG ExecutiveBoard and Director, CHETNA

Dharaiya, Directorate of Municipalities,Government of Gujarat

Raju Gupta, Municipal Engineer, Navsari Muicipality

Meghna Malhotra, Program Manager,CMAG

Ashwin Mehta, Deputy Commissioner,Surat Municipal Corporation

M.C. Mehta, Engineer, BhavnagarMunicipal Corporation

P. Panneervel, President, CMAG andMunicipal Commissioner, AhmedabadMunicipal Corporation

Bimal Patel, Managing Director,Environmental PlanningCollaborative

Surendra Patel, CMAG Executive Board and Chairman, Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority

Amitabh Ray, Sr. Advisor, PADCO and US-AEP

Suresh Sheth, Chief Officer, Navsari Municipality

H.M. Shivanand Swamy, Member, CMAG Executive Board and Director,School of Planning, Centre forEnvironmental Planning andTechnology

Chetan Vaidya, Member, CMAG and Sr. Advisor, FIRE Project

August Von Millard, Former CountryDirector, US-AEP/India

10.02

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