Capacity building of municipal functionaries for good governance in Uttarakhand, India

Capacity building of municipal functionaries is identified as an approach to strengthen municipal work practices and thereby improve the performance of municipalities in India. There is increasing evidence to show that orientation programmes are being conducted regularly for the benefit of municipal officials and elected representatives by State level training institutions situated in different parts of the country. The main purpose of this paper is to describe the practices followed by a prominent institution in the conduct of training programmes, and the impact of capacity building efforts in the north Indian hill town of Nainital. The findings of this research are based on the perceptions of trainers and the trainees, as well as personal observation of the ground realities. The study makes the point that the capacity building initiative is showing favourable results. Empirical evidence collected from Nainital town shows that the municipal council has awarded service contracts to various private and public entities for improving service delivery. Such public private partnerships have also helped in the generation of additional funds. Similarly, due to the weak financial condition of the council, some elected ward representatives have successfully mobilised funds from the community for providing basic civic services to the ward residents. The municipal functionaries have reported that new initiatives could be taken up mainly due to their participation in the training programmes, which helped in creating awareness on the efficient functioning of municipalities. It is concluded that the central and State government should make extra efforts to identify and address the growing needs of municipalities in order to have a greater impact of training.