Bharat cant grow unless India does….Isher J Ahluwalia , Ranesh Nair
India’s potential can’t be exploited unless urban governance improves. This column has catalogued ideas that worked
India’s potential can’t be exploited unless urban governance improves. This column has catalogued ideas that worked
We have been recounting aankhon dekhi stories of change in the cities and towns of India based on visits we made in our respective capacity as chairperson of the High Powered Expert Committee on Urban Infrastructure and a consultant to the Committee. The Report of the Committee has just been submitted to the Ministers for Urban Development and Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation. In our last column together, we present some of the highlights of the Committees findings. Ranesh Nair moves on to a new assignment, but Isher Ahluwalia will continue to bring the stories of challenge and response from urban India.
Indian cities are visibly deficient in the quality of services they provide although in the last few years we have seen examples of significant achievements (some reported in this column) in generating a turnaround in the delivery of specific services in some cities. Considering that the Indian economy is now one of the fastest growing economies in the world and that Indias urban population will be close to 600 million by 2031, more than double that in 2001, the few success stories will have to be replicated on a much broader scale.
The Committee has endorsed the norms set up by the Ministry of Urban Development for public services such as water supply, sewerage, solid waste management, storm water drainage, street lights, roads and transport etc and has emphasised that these standards (e.g., 24 x 7 water supply) are to be achieved for all, because sanitation and public health cannot be catered to in enclosed areas or localities. The Report has addressed the enormous challenge of providing public services to meet the norms for the currently unserved and underserved population and to meet the needs of the additional population.
At Indias current stage of development, industry and services sectors are the principal drivers of growth. A few cities of India such as Bangalore and Hyderabad have acted as centres of knowledge and innovation. Many more cities will have to follow in their footsteps, providing a receptive environment for agglomeration and innovation. Planners have to realise that improving the state of service delivery in Indian cities is actually crucial for realising Indias economic potential, besides being an end in itself for improving the quality of life of their residents.
This will take additional resources. The Committee has estimated that a little over R39 lakh crore will have to be invested in urban infrastructure at 2009-10 prices over a period of 20 years. This does not include the cost of land acquisition. Basic urban services such as water and sanitation-related sectors for all will require only 20 per cent of the total investment, while renewal and redevelopment, including slums, will require another 10 per cent. The rest is largely for urban roads and urban transport-related sectors. Altogether, this implies that investment in urban infrastructure will have to increase from 0.7 per cent of GDP in 2011-12 to 1.1 per cent of GDP in 2031-32. Recognising the importance of maintaining the assets, the Committee has estimated that R20 lakh crore will also have to be spent during this period on operations and maintenance of all the urban infrastructure assetsold and new.
Considering that the Government of India spends close to 1.25 per cent of GDP on subsidising fertilisers and petroleum products, and the state governments budgets currently absorb losses of about 0.9 per cent of GDP in power distribution, urban Indias additional need for infrastructure investment of 0.4 per cent of GDP over a 20-year period is small. If the potential for public-private partnership is fully explored and exploited, the draft on government resources will be even smaller.
The Committee takes the view that investment in urban infrastructure is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for improving the state of service delivery in Indian cities. The systems of delivering services need to be radically transformed if larger investments are to result in better service delivery. Even financing the investment needs of urban infrastructure is crucially dependent on the reform of institutions and on upgrading the skills of those who run the institutions, which are responsible for service delivery and revenue generation. The Committees Report available at http://niua.org/ has made detailed recommendations on governance and finance if the recommended investments are to result in service delivery to meet the norms.
The Government of India signalled the importance of the urban sector at long last by launching the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) in 2005. The Committee recommends a New Improved JNNURM (NIJNNURM, a nice acronym in that nij means apna) over a 20-year period, which draws upon the earlier Mission that ends in 2012, and recommends a move towards a reform-linked programme approach rather than a reform-linked project-based approach. The programme must be open to allbig and small, while recognising their different needs. It calls for a separate window for PPPs for cities where capacity for preparing and executing such projects is available. The Report gives top priority to building capacity through setting up Institutes of Urban Management, revitalising Schools of Urban Planning and making other provision for training government officers.
The Committee has called for a single ministry at the Centre. Focusing on the urban poor separately is an inappropriate strategy. The Committee has also recommended a similar convergence of departments at the state level.
State governments have the primary constitutional responsibility for urban development. They will have to provide an enabling environment in which urban local bodies can discharge their responsibilities. This would require legislative changes as in Municipal Acts and Town Planning Acts, and institutional innovations such as the Tamil Nadu Urban Development Fund to help with financing. An independent urban utility regulator at the state level should ensure that service standards are met and that user charges cover costs within a framework which is spelt out in a transparent manner. Building/ strengthening of a municipal cadre and allowing for lateral hiring of professionals into the cadre must also be facilitated by state governments.
The Report recommends devolution so that urban local bodies are not left with unfunded mandates. They must have own sources of revenue, both from taxes and from levying rational user charges for the services they deliver. They must be entitled to predictable formula-based transfers from state governments as part of revenue-sharing arrangements.
There are also recommendations for administrative reforms and capacity building at the urban local body level. The Committee calls for a unified command under a mayor for each city. The choice of how a service is provided (e.g., corporatisation, PPPs or urban local bodies coming together for scale economies) should be left to an empowered city administration led by the mayor. But the mayor must be accountable for service delivery outcomes to the community. eGovernance can play a very major role in enhancing efficiency and transparency in service delivery as reported earlier in our columns.
There was a time not so long ago when urban affairs in India attracted the best and the brightest. Jawaharlal Nehru, Indias first Prime Minister was the Mayor of Allahabad during 1924-1926 and Chittaranjan Das, another prominent national leader was the Mayor of Calcutta in 1924. The time has come when Indias cities once again need leaders of that calibre, leaders who invest their energies in rebuilding cities that can host Indias transition from a low income to a middle income country, and erase the rural-urban divide with bold strokes of development.
Dr Isher Judge Ahluwalia is the Chairperson of ICRIER and chaired the High Powered Expert Committee on Urban Infrastructure. Ranesh Nair served as a Consultant to the Committee. Views are personal
This is the 15th in a monthly series on urban infrastructure