Online Citizen Communities to rate urban local bodies across 200 cities of India

October 14, 2015

India’s leading citizen engagement platform LocalCircles (www.localcircles.com) today announced that Swachh Bharat online citizen communities have now been enabled for 200 cities of India thereby enabling citizens and urban local bodies to connect with each other at a city level, work closely and contribute towards making Swachh Bharat a reality in their respective cities. Citizens will be able to rate the service delivery of their urban local bodies now. For the first time citizens will be able give their feedback to the government about the performance of their local bodies.

The online Swachh Bharat Online Citizen Communities initiative was initiated in October 2014 by LocalCircles (www.localcircles.com) and Swachh Bharat Mission, Ministry of Urban Development. Since then, over a period of 12 months, over 335,000 citizens have become part of the National Community called “Swachh Bharat” providing inputs on various aspects of Swachh Bharat Mission ranging from Municipal Reforms to Civic Sense Basics for every Indian. Over 50 whitepapers/checklists have been generated as a result of this effort with another 50 discussions open thereby making it the largest community for the cause.

Recently, a citizen survey conducted in the community with over 40,000 respondents from over 100 cities of India, highlighted that while Swachh Bharat has been successful in creating large scale awareness, especially among school children, the focus going forward has to be on many aspects of the Urban Local Bodies which are responsible for delivery of waste collection, disposal and sanitation services.

To ensure, what Urban Local Bodies are delivering, is in sync with the citizens’ collective pain points from a civic service standpoint, online citizen communities are being enabled across 200 cities of India to bring together citizens and urban local bodies so they can get and stay connected for the cause of Swachh Bharat. Such connectivity will also enable urban local bodies to easily mobilize citizens for Civic Awareness Campaigns or seek expertise/volunteers for various initiatives.

The online communities will have features like Polls that will enable Urban Local Bodies to seek citizen views on initiatives, set priorities based on citizen feedback, schedule events and cleanliness/civic sense awareness drives, seek structured feedback and make Swachh Bharat a true Jan Andolan or Citizen Movement. Citizens will also have the capability to rate their Urban Local Bodies at a Department level.

“The Swachh Bharat Citizen Communities is a one of its kind initiative that has grown from zero to over 3 lakh citizens over the last year connecting Citizens who stand for the cause of Swachh Bharat and have generated whitepapers that we regularly refer to in our Swachh Bharat policy making exercises”, said Venkaiah Naidu, Minister for Urban Development, Government of India. “As the Mission moves into its second year, having local electronic connectivity between Citizens and Urban Local Bodies is a positive step towards enabling the Urban Local Bodies and making Swachh Bharat a “Jan Andolan”, Naidu continued.

“In this day and age of Smartphones and Social Media, these online citizen communities truly make governance participative and transparent and can mobilize collective action towards Swachh Bharat at a local level”, said an Sachin Taparia. Chairman and CEO LocalCircles. “Our hope is that the Urban Local Bodies will embrace them instead of resisting them and work with citizen communities they serve for the cause of Swachh Bharat”, he continued.

All citizens of India committed to the cause of Swachh Bharat must join the Swachh Bharat circle by going to http://www.localcircles.com and use INVITE code – SWACHHBHARAT. Once a member, they will automatically be given access to their respective Swachh Bharat city circle.

About Swachh Bharat Mission - Swachh Bharat Mission aspires to make cleanliness a public movement rather than a Government mission by engaging every citizen of India in the process. Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD), Government of India, is the apex body for formulation and administration of the rules and regulations and laws relating to the housing and urban development in India. It is responsible to enable the Swachh Bharat Mission throughout Urban India.

About LocalCircles - - LocalCircles takes Social Media to the next level and makes it about Communities, Governance and Utility. It enables citizens to connect with communities for most aspects of urban daily life like Neighborhood, Constituency, City, Government, Causes, Interests and Needs, seek information/assistance when needed, come together for various initiatives and improve their urban daily life. LocalCircles is free for citizens and always will be! For more information, please visit: http://www.localcircles.com