School for devpt

MUMBAI: Faced with rapid urbanisation, the Maharashtra government has launched specialised courses in urban development and management for government officials and NGOs.

The courses, diploma in urban management and post graduate diploma in urban management, offer a comprehensive package that deals with all the facets of the urbanisation. Conceived by YASHADA, Pune-based state institute for urban development, both the courses have been recognised by the Washington-based World Bank Institute and has received affiliation from the Bombay University. The Union urban development ministry too has joined hands with YASHADA in developing the module.

The courses revolve around eight themes such as urban governance, planning, finance, infrastructure, urban poverty, environment management, IT and communication, and municipal management.

Besides, they will also delve into regulatory role of urban local bodies, laws applicable to municipal management, organisational behavior, consensus building, labour laws, project management and disaster management.

“Such is the demand for this type of curriculum that the Chennai municipal body has booked all seats of the first batch for its staff,” a official from the chief minister’s office told ET. The courses target senior government officers, academicians, professionals, infrastructure consultants and NGOs. “Being the only such mechanism that imparts training in urban management, we expect good response from other states,” he said.

Both courses can enrol 25 ‘students’ and the fee would be Rs 41,000 for diploma and Rs 1.25 lakh for post graduate diploma. Students of the diploma course will have 11-day on-ground experience of working with local municipal bodies, while the PG course has an international exposure.

“Being the most urbanised state, it was natural for Maharashtra to take initiative in evolving this kind of mechanism,” chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said. “Around 4.15 crore people in Maharashtra live in cities. There was a need to train people who run the municipal bodies,” he added. The state has over dozen cities that are home to a million people each.

The courses also offer a glimpse into various laws and judgements that have some impact on the city management. The latest addition is the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission, launched by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last December. The participating officials will be informed how to extract maximum aid from the Centre under JNURM.

The state government is planning to make completion of the course as one of the pre-conditions for promotion to select category of government officials. “We are talking to centre as well to make the participation mandatory,” an official said. The completion of diploma may also entitle officials to an additional increment.

Another incentive would be an interest free loan for buying laptops for officials. It is talking to other state governments to offer 15-day special leave for participants.