Description

In the democratic context of Puebla, society demands a new style of government where citizen participation takes a relevant role government decisions.

For that, Municipal Government of Puebla starts an open, horizontal, sharing and democratic model through governance, which has brought its management to the most transparent of the country, according to Instituto Mexicano para la Competitividad A.C (IMPCO), where the Municipality of Puebla has get since 2014 first place in the Budget Transparency Index. Moreover, “aregional.com” gave in 2014, 2015 and 2016 the distinction of most transparent municipality of the country, in terms of Transparency and Availability of Information.

Participative Budget is a democratic practice which applies a formulation system, tracing, control and execution of the budget, where citizens, through a collaborative process of debates and consultations can decide where to invest and which are the priorities, works and actions to be developed by the government. This model allows citizens to know how the authority works, generate dynamics of social inclusion and position citizen participation as a key element of the budgets.

This program has a specific methodological and practical efficiency, as well as being an innovative model of public policies and governance of democratic and transparent management, which generates life quality in the poorest areas of La Puebla, taking in account that decisions are made by the society in its benefit.

10th July 2015, Puebla’s Municipality agreed the Opinion submitted by the members of the Municipal Heritage and Public Treasury Committee, by which they issue the Rules of Operation of the Participative Budget Program for the Municipality of Puebla.

According to the established on in the Rules of Operation of the program, we can highlight these aspects:

• During the execution of the program “Participative Budget”, we will practice the consultation, deliberation and co-design of the policies with inhabitants, working in a horizontal way of shared responsibility.
• Inhabitants of Puebla, Municipal Government and Superior Education Institutions will get involved in all the development of the process.
• Integration of a Participative Budget Council.
• Practices related to the proximity government approach will be made in order to consolidate a Municipal Government closer to the citizens, especially in those who live in areas with very high, high or medium marginality of the city, considered as Priority Areas (PA’s), such as popular colonies, auxiliary joints, housing units and/or INFONAVIT properties.
• All neighbors and interested people will be able to represent the colony, housing unity, auxiliary joint or participant area in the program, through the figure of Citizen Representative, according to a series of requirements previously established in the Program. Also, they will have faculties and obligations.
• Municipal Government will release the corresponding convocation in the areas susceptible of being attended, with the purpose of inviting the inhabitants to participate in the Program. For the diffusion of the convocations will be used medias like the radio, television, and publicity in general, which will be more intensive in the areas to intervene.
• Informative meetings will be hold with neighbors and interested people in the places where it is necessary to intervene.
• The presentation of the projects (properly requested) will be seven days after the informative meeting and will be done in a public way in a representative space in the area to intervene. Once the projects are presented, they shall be voted on in a free and secret manner by the attendees. The scrutiny of the votes will be done in public after all the presents.
• Once the actions, works or projects have been executed, the formal delivery will be made to the neighbors of the assisted areas, in a maximum period of 10 days after the conclusion of the vote. A receipt must be drawn up to be signed by the Citizen Representatives and the corresponding areas.

It is important to highlight that during 2015, 289 actions were performed by the citizens of 5 different areas 1) Bosques de Manzanilla, 2) Clavijero, 3) San Pablo Xochimehuacan, 4) Balcones del Sur y 5) Guadalupe Xonacatepec. Unlike year 2010, 8 million invested, in 2015 40 millions of pesos were invested, and it was the inhabitants of the areas who defined the actions and works to be executed.

This represents a major advance in terms of investment in the budget in the Program, which allows a substantial increase in Citizen Participation.