BUILD’s current strategic social interventions: ‘INVOLVE-EVOLVE’: Increasing People’s Participation in Local Governance & Community Initiatives.

‘Involve-Evolve’: means to involve oneself in the social context that needs to be addressed and encourage and motivate people in the context to address the problem and find solutions. Thus this strategic intervention does not make the people as the objects of change but the subjects of change.

Principle Foundation and Strategies

The 74^th Constitutional Amendment Act (Nagarpalika Act/Urban Governance Act) to decentralize the governance to the grass roots forms the basis on which BUILD works out its strategies and programmes and gains legitimacy in the process. Urban poverty and its alleviation and making the poor people their arbiters of their destiny are the main goals of our interventions.

Urban poverty and its alleviation are directly linked with the responses, functioning and quality of services and its delivery of local authorities. While local authorities are subject to national and state control in many ways they must take responsibility for tasks that are within their mandate and for which they are best suited. The aim of our intervention is to sensitize the poor people/ the non-elite about the role and functions of local authorities and inform them about the legislative environment available to facilitate, participate and strengthen their functioning.

Institutions of local self-government are the primary units of governance that ensure and maintain a democratic society. They are the driving force in civic affairs as well as the social and economic life of the urban population.

A decentralized system is crucial for the effectiveness of a municipality. This implies devolution of power to municipal bodies and the active participation of grassroots organizations and people in civic affairs. It is achieved by the partnership of local government with non-government organizations and community organizations.

The degree to which local bodies are effective is determined not simply by the fact that they are or are not carrying out their functions but how they go about fulfilling their functions, duties and obligations is a more significant measure of a vibrant democracy.

Hence devolution to local bodies and grass roots organizations is the foundation for building democracy. The 74^th Constitution Amendment brought into effect since 1992 is designed precisely for this purpose.

Aims of the 74^th Constitution Amendment (1992)

To set up institutional mechanisms to facilitate decentralization and devolve power to the underprivileged or those who are not in the mainstream.
To demarcate the role of urban local bodies and specify their functions to ensure equitable distribution of resources and justice to all especially to the poor.
To ensure the representation of all sections of society many of which have been previously under represented i.e. Women, minorities, backward castes, tribes, non-elite poor people etc.
To specify areas deemed as ‘urban’ in order to encompass newly urbanizing areas into the framework of urban legislation.
To ensure that urban local bodies are not superseded by States or Centre

Objectives:

To undertake Community organization and mobilization programmes and activities among the slum communities to equip and empower them to be in the mainstream of the society.
To impart various capacity building programmes to enhance their level of understanding and organize them for collective negotiations and resistance to any anti-people’s policies of the government or any other forces of corporate or communal.
To campaign and do advocacy for the promotion of human rights including housing rights, food security and livelihood.
To promote and strengthen people’s forums / collectives / CBOs.
To disseminate vital information on civic rights, poverty alleviation schemes, forums for redressal of grievances.
To make the maximum utilization of urban poverty alleviation programmes and projects.
To make local governance more transparent and accountable and to increase people’s direct participation.

Our Reference Group

Households with inadequate income or access to two square meals a day.
Those who are living in slums of Mumbai
The housing status (lower the status, higher preference).
Non availability or poor basic amenities.
The nature of response given to BUILD”s work.
Without an adult member having regular employment.
With the bread earner losing a permanent job.
Women headed households.
With a member engaged in hazardous employment.
Without access to skill vocational training.
With a job with low status.
Without access to credit on reasonable terms.
With a child in the labour market.
With a commercial sex worker.
Having a school drop-out among children
Having an illiterate adult
Without access to sanitary latrine
With high rates of morbidity.
Without adequate sewage and garbage disposal.
Without access to safe drinking water within 150 meters from the dwelling
Without or no security of tenure; unsafe; poor quality of dwelling
From SC/ST and minority communities
Alcoholic and drug addicts in the family

Stakeholders are involved at all levels of planning and implementation of the programmes and they are the one who maintains their bank accounts, the books of records of their proceedings of their meetings, maintains their linkages with the Municipality, bank etc, selection and election of their office bearers, plans activities, draws up plans and strategies of their goals. BUILD plays the role of a facilitator. Participatory method of approach is maintained at all levels including planning, representation to the concerned authorities and decision making.

Strategies:

Community Organization/Mobilization and Networking, Campaigns and Advocacy are two strategic methods used to address the issues. Building up people’s collectives and encouraging them to be active participants in the local governance becomes the key factor in making the system of local governance and the elected representatives to be accountable, transparent and performing. This process ensures the empowerment of the non-elite slum dwellers to attain decent living conditions with basic amenities, secured tenancy rights, livelihood and dignity. Furthermore our intervention envisages challenging and encouraging the Churches, theological institutions and students to be sensitized to the social realities and to encourage them to involve in programmes for social change.

Campaign, Communication and Advocacy: This part of our endeavour will focus on two way effect; one, take the grass root experiences, problems, issues to the larger audience to find solidarity and influence the concerned people; Second, take the issues in the larger society (City, State, National and international) which may determine the lives of the grass roots to the community level to create awareness and mobilize campaigns to make change in such issues and policies. This can influence the policies of the government to have pro poor policies and programmes and also generate opinions among the larger civil society members and organizations through networking. To cite one example, we have been campaigning through the Collective of Aawas Adhikar Sanyukta Kriti Samiti (AASKS) for the regularization of slums to prevent evictions and secure tenancy right for those who are residing before 2000 and yesterday Government of Maharashtra declared regulating the pre-2000 slums.

BUILD’s social interventions is composed of different interconnected and integrated components having a structured design and systematic planning