Hazare’s favourite ward sabha functions only in Pune

Since 2007,13 ward sabhas have been held in the ward. “In Pune city,no ward sabhas are held anywhere except at Mohannagar. Even in the state,this concept is unheard of,” said Kishore Gadre,director of NGO Janwani,which is pushing for implementation of the Area Sabha Act. Both PMC and PCMC collectively have 248 civic wards.

Mohannagar has a voter population of 10,000,but around 500 citizens attend the ward sabha held every three months or whenever an important civic issue arises. One of the crucial decisions taken by the ward sabha was rejecting the civic administration’s plan to set up a cultural centre on BOT (build operate transfer) basis. “The PCMC administration wanted to construct the cultural centre on 55 gunthas of land,of which 60 per cent of the land was to be handed over to the builder. He in return was to construct the centre free of cost. The ward sabha unanimously rejected the civic proposal as it was clearly in favour of the builder,” said Yogesh Dabhole,a computer engineer who has attended 10 ward sabhas.

Bhapkar alleges that if the ward sabha had okayed the civic administration’s plan,he would have benefitted by Rs 50 lakh. “But the ward sabha made the right move,” he said. Municipal Commissioner Asheesh Sharma said it was true that the work alloted to the contractor was cancelled after Bhapkar made the representation before the civic BOT committee.

Another important decision taken by the ward sabha,said Bhapkar,was rejecting the PCMC plan to convert a garden into a vegetable market.

Before the ward sabha is held,activists put up notices on black board across the ward. The ward sabha is presided over by a prominent personality. The voting is held by show of hands and the resolution in favour or against is signed duly by citizens present. Two months ago,RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal attended the ward sabha and praised the concept which he said was being implemented diligently at least in Pune.