Public relations is essential for civic bodies to build trust with citizens and gain consensus for important decisions, according to civic leaders in Ahmedabad. Transparency and accountability are key to effective PR and allow civic work and development to proceed smoothly. A former deputy municipal commissioner discussed how making property tax formulas transparent dramatically reduced objections and increased revenue. Civic bodies must maintain open communication with citizens and conduct satisfaction surveys to ensure feedback is addressed. The mayor of Ahmedabad cited examples like the Bus Rapid Transit System and riverfront project to demonstrate how transparency, communication with beneficiaries, and strong PR campaigns enable good governance.

1. PR is Must for Civic Bodies
Ahmedabad, March 13, 2012:
“Public Relations is must for the governance of civic bodies since these local self governments deal with all
needs of people right from cradle to grave. It is needed for building trust in people about the civic body
and its activities, a pre condition for consensus on important decisions to be taken by a civic body”, this is
how Mr Asit Vora, Mayor, Ahmedabad city and Urban Management Consultant & former Dy Municipal
Commissioner of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation Mr PU Asnani view the role of PR in the civic
bodies.
Speaking on importance of PR in civic bodies organized by the Ahmedabad chapter of Public Relations
Society of India (PRSI), both of them said PR is effective and successful when administration is
committed to accountability and transparency. This makes the work of a civic body smoother and
development of a city better.
Mr P U Asnani who is former Deputy Municipal Commissioner of AMC said that “the role of civic bodies
had a paradigm shift when civic bodies got constitutional status through an amendment in 1994. Now,
civic bodies have independent financial powers and they cannot be suspended at the whims of state
administration”.
Giving example of new property tax system introduced in 1994, Mr Asnani said that “elected wing was
very apprehensive of the success of the system. This is because at that time property tax used to invite
more than one lakh objections and half of them resulted in appeal”.
“But, the Corporation made the property tax formula transparent. Anyone could know the basis of the tax
he had been asked to pay. This transparent system with access to information led to a great success. In the
first year, objections reduced to just 1524 and there were no appeals in these cases. The net result was that
most of people paid the tax and thus the income of the tax increased considerable. Within next few years,
special courts set up for the property tax were closed down which saved millions of rupees on the court
system”, Mr Asnani added.
He said that “ people support in decision making was necessary, whether it is a routine work like widening
of road or some regulatory measure. For this, people must have faith in the administration that the tax
money and other resources at the disposal of the civic administration were used in a right manner for
right cause”.
Mr Asnani further added that “ citizen satisfaction survey must be done to get the feedback of people and
there should be follow up action on it. Effective and efficient local government management directly
depends on how well the local administration manages its communication with citizen”.
Ahmedabad city Mayor Mr Asit Vora who himself is a PR personnel had many success stories to prove
that transparency in the administration and communication with the beneficiaries of a project were most
important for successful governance riding a strong PR campaign. He said “BRTS, Kankaria carnival and
upcoming Sabarmati riverfront project were best examples of the governance strategy”.
Mr Vora said that “the groups of people belonging to different sectors of society are made to experience
the advantage of a new activity like BRTS. This convinces people about the need for the activity and thus
makes the new project successful. BRTS is the best example. It has succeeded in Ahmedabad and has even
won laurels abroad”.
Giving an example of importance of feedback, he said that authorities studies failure of Delhi BRTS and
revamped its routes to ensure that it did not meet the fate of BRTS in Delhi.
For more information, please contact:
Mr Dilip Chauhan
Secretary,PRSI, Ahmedabad Chapter
Cell:98254 46010 Courtesy by-PRSI Ahmedabad Chapter