Participatory urban governance and the poor a study of Chandannagar West Bengal

Abstract

Participatory urban governance is widely considered a panacea for the many drawbacks of the development process. It is adopted by governments and international aid agencies in the pursuit of good governance and inclusive development . While in theory, participatory governance espouses an inclusive vision; in practice, it has been found be exclusionary. Studies on Indian cities and elsewhere in the developing world, points towards an elite capture of participatory spaces. The present research is a study of participatory urban governance in West Bengal. Itseeks to understand how far it is representative of the urban poor, their needs and concerns. It also looks into its possibilities and limits for transforming the citizenship practices of the poor. The city of Chandannagar was selected as the field site. The field work was conducted intermittently over a period of 3 years, starting from 2012 to 2014, comprising of four site visits. The study principally uses qualitative research methods. The existing local participatory institutions, such as the ward committees and other citizen s committees, users committees; and their members were studied. The local government, urban poor groups/associations, local political actors (like the Councillor, ward committee members etc) were also included. The relationship and linkages of these different institutions and their members, with urban poor groups was the focus of enquiry. The study reveals that the existing institutions of local governance in West Bengal do not adequately represent the urban poor or their concerns. This is inspite of the proactive political and official efforts at encouraging local participatory governance processes. The field research contributes to an understanding of the different ways in which the poor negotiate the domain of local governance in laying claims to their rights. In doing so, the study argues that a participatory governance framework, which allows for the inclusion of contentious issues of local politics; holds promise for the urban.