It is for these reasons that TATA- LAHDC Development Support Programme (Gurja Project- Change for Better) has identified Micro Level Planning (MLP) at the Halqa Panchayat level as a Key component of the project focusing at building the capacity of the local community at the villages to analyze their ecological, cultural, socioeconomic and political conditions and to chart their own plan towards a more sustainable, peaceful and prosperous Ladakh. Micro- Level Planning (MLP) in Leh reflects the shift in the approaches in planning from a centralised one to a People centred one which rests on the principles of in grass- root democracy, democratic decentralisation and people’s participation.
MLP :
makes people aware of the various facets of the real development problems in their region;- organizes people to react collectively and effectively to these problems bringing to light the conflicts that divide the various interest groups;
- provides alternatives to problem situations and finding solutions to various problems and making people technisised in obtaining the necessary tools to put to concrete use the solutions provided by the community; and
- allows people to be subjects of their own development and not simply objects of technology or processes
Objectives of MLP in Leh
Initiate a process of the change in the planning process, shifting from a top- down to a bottom- up approach based on the principles of grass root democracy and democratic decentralization; Capacitate and empower villagers through training and conscientising programmes to make their own action plans of their regions based on the experience and wisdom of their lives coupled with facilitation from formal and technical knowledge of bureaucrats/ technocrats; Facilitate sustainable development through localization and people’s participation; Facilitate a sustainable alternative planning with people’s participation that can be adapted in all the 67 Halqa Panchayats (HPs) of the District Strengthening local democracy and thus capacitating the Panchayati Raj Institutions to promote people-centered development, which is sustainable, equitable and inclusive of the marginalized and weaker sections of the society; Promote convergence and integration between councillors, bureaucrats, NGOs and Panchayats using MLP as a common plan ; and Develop a Local Resource Group (LRG) at the HP level to take charge of, upgrade and sustain MLP in collaboration with he LAHDC, the administration and the HPs.
B. Manjula, faculty from Tata Institute of Social Sciences is in charge of conceptualising and conducting Micro- Level Planning (MLP) in different Blocks of Leh. MLP had a pilot phase in 2005, taking representative panchayats from all the six blocks to learn and understand the grass roots dynamics. The programme had conducted series of conscientisation seminars. orientation programmes, awareness generation workshops and residential training workshops to various stakeholders of the process. MLP in Leh had completed the grass roots planning in Kharu Block covering all the 16 villages and 6 Halqa Panchayats of the Block in December,2006. This democratic decentralization process is a pioneering initiative in the Hindukush Region, in grassroots planning, emerging from an articulation of people’s needs and demands at hamlets level and then integrating it at higher tiers ( village, panchayat and at block); this planning exercise is incorporated in the District plan of Leh. The MLP processes in a tribal district like Leh was taken as a benchmark by the Central Government in its policy formulations and development interventions of the District Planning in the Sixth Schedule areas. As part of this initiative, she has also brought out reports on People’s Initiatives in Leh and has also produced orientation and conscientisation documentaries on the process of MLP in Leh.
