Participatory Planning in Plan Preparation

There has been increasing demand and need for greater public participation in planning processes as discussed in the introduction i.e. devolution of power and finance to local bodies. Delhi Development Authority Act also emphasizes the need for greater public participation. The civil society is getting active and people are willing to participate in the planning process. The problem arises when we try to implement the public participation in the planning process. The limited understanding of the scope and viability of the public participation in the government officials hinders the smooth execution of the participatory planning. The current practices of public participation seem more or less customary or ad hoc in nature. Public participation seems to be done to fulfill the bare requirement of the plan and it is not used and implemented in true spirit of term. There seems to be some resistance by official for sharing information and power of planning with the general public. Now that planning and development is mostly done by a more democratic body like the municipal corporation the expectation for greater public engagement has raised. Read the book to know more and understand.