The state assembly recently passed the Haryana Municipal Citizens' Participation Bill, 2008, under which area committees (area sabhas) will be set up in the municipal areas of the state. There will be one committee for each municipal ward in case of both Gurgaon and Faridabad municipal corporations. Moreover, the bill states that in a municipality where the population of a ward is much more than 10,000, the ward shall be sub-divided into units with a population of 10,000.

According to the provisions, the area committee representatives shall hold office for a duration that will be coterminous with that of the municipality concerned.

These committees will have a major say in preparing the proposals and assigning priority to schemes and development programmes in the area. They will also be responsible for forwarding these proposals to the ward committee or, in its absence, to the municipality. In order to give greater teeth to these committees, the bill has the provision for area sabhas to suggest the location of streetlights, streets, community taps, public wells, public sanitation units and other civic amenities within the area.

These bodies would also identify the shortcomings in the civic schemes and suggest remedial measures.

Comprising of members from civil society, these committees will also motivate people to pay municipal taxes and user charges. The ward committees will also provide assistance in solid waste management and supervise sanitation work in the ward.