Mysuru: Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) is set to hand over the task of maintenance of public play grounds and parks and collection of water cess and property tax to Women’s Self Help Groups (SHGs) under ‘AMRUT Mitra’ Yojana.

The members of SHGs functioning in the jurisdiction of Town Panchayat, City Municipal Council (CMC), Town Municipal Council (TMC) and the City Corporations in the State, will be henceforth recognised as ‘AMRUT Mitra.’ Apart from the maintenance of public parks, the Women’s SHGs will be shouldering the responsibility of testing the quality of drinking water.

The intention behind this unique scheme is to identify the SHGs formed under Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Antyodaya Yojana – National Urban Livelihood Mission (DAY-NULM) campaign in the limits of Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and provide an opportunity to participate in discharging public duties. It would also open doors for the empowerment of women and increase the responsibilities of the SHGs.

As part of which, in the first phase, they will be entrusted with the task of maintenance of public parks and play grounds and testing drinking water quality and collection of                                                       property tax.

The pilot project in this regard was successfully implemented at Mangaluru in Dakshina Kannada district, where a total of 23 works had been entrusted to women SHGs.

J.S. Bhyralingaiah, Officer of AMRUT 2.0 Campaign, said: “In the first phase, a total of 152 projects at the estimated cost of Rs. 10 crore will be handed over to the Women SHGs, who should have registered under DAY-NULM initiative. They should have a proven record of holding meetings, continuous savings, internal disbursal of loan, time bound repayment of loan and maintenance of records.”

In the State, 152 projects have got approval in the first stage, under which the tasks related to the maintenance of public parks and playgrounds, collection of water cess and property tax will be handed over to Women SHGs.

In the next stage, the responsibilities pertaining to meter reading, bill generation and issuance, collection of fees, maintenance of pump house, beautification of plant area among several other tasks will be handed over to them.

The motive behind the same is to hone the skills, empowerment of women and involvement in community oriented responsibilities, said Byralingaiah.

In the drinking water front alone, the Women SHGs have a herculean task of collecting over Rs. 30 crore towards water bills in Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) limits.

The following Women SHGs have been roped in for the task- Chamundeshwari Women SHG led by Sumalatha, Dhaaneshwari Stree Shakti Mahila Sangha, Alanahalli, led by Meenakshi, Sharathi Stree Shakti Mahila Sangha led by G. Vijayalakshmi, Ankalaparameshwari Stree Shakti Sangha and Arora Mahila Stree Shakti Sangha led by Yashoda.

The property tax estimated at over Rs. 36 crore remain to be collected and the members of following  Women SHGs, have been handed over the responsibility to collect the arrears: Spoorthi Stree Shakti Sangha, Azeez Sait Nagar, led by Reshma, Sanjeevini Stree Shakti Sangha led by Vijayalakshmi and Mallige Stree Shakti Sangha led by H.R. Savitha.

The maintenance of public parks and play grounds has been handed over to the following Women SHGs: Annapoorneshwari Mahila Sangha led by Rashmi, Sri Lakshmi Saraswathi Stree Shakti Sangha led by Jayalakshmi and Shruti, Sammati Stree Shakti Sangha led by Saraswati, Gulshan Stree Shakti Sangha led by Hajeera Sultana Gulshan Bhanu, Noor Stree Shakti Mahila Sangha led by Syed                                                                Salma Banu.

The decision has been taken on handing over the maintenance of public parks and the playgrounds to six Women’s Self-Help Groups (SHGs), who shall start discharging their duties upon receiving the Work Order. —Mohan, Assistant Director, Horticulture Division, MCC

Fourteen Women’s SHGs have been trained in collecting water cess, property tax and maintenance  of public parks and playgrounds. The MCC Commissioner has issued instructions to issue administrative approval. —J.S. Bhyralingaiah, Officer, AMRUT 2.0, MCC

For the first time, Women SHGs are being involved in collecting water cess, property tax and maintenance of public parks and playgrounds, which is considered as a better decision. However, it is essential to provide them adequate security cover during the collection of water cess and property tax. The District Administration and MCC Commissioner should take a look into the security aspect. —Prasanna, State Secretary, Jana Sangrama Parishat