The 74th Constitutional amendment gave state Governments the option to form wards committees either for every single ward in the urban body or for a group of wards. Though the composition, territorial jurisdiction and the manner of filling up the seats in the wards committee was left to the state Governments, the amendment required the councilor of the ward to be an ex-officio member of the committee.

Under the KMC act, ward committees are to be constituted within a month of the election of the council. The ward committee would consist of:
    The councilors of the corporation representing the ward in the corporation
Not more than 5 persons having knowledge and experience in municipal administration, nominated by the Government
Not more than two members nominated by the Government from such NGOs and CBOs working within the area of the wards committee.

The ward committees that have been set up are not exactly what was envisaged. The members are appointed by the state Government and not necessarily either knowledgeable or concerned about the quality of services in the ward. We need to change that. We form citizens’ council that are representative of the ward, contain people who are knowledgeable about the ward and are willing to work closely with the councilor to monitor public services in the ward.

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