74th CAA: Analysing future of local governance

Experts have demanded reforms in the governance model at the city level time and again. There have been various demands and complaints around implementation of the 74th CAA. Naveen Jain, Mayor of Agra, raised one such demand for one-nation, one-election rule for Mayors during 111th Convocation of All India Mayor’s Council, held in September 2021.
The CAA was aimed to empower the local bodies by fixing their term and giving them constitutional status at the time when some of the major reforms were taking place in the country. However, it failed to clearly demarcate the financial aspect of local bodies as it did not provide capabilities or capacities to the municipalities to become politically and financially active. While they have a few revenue sources, they are heavily dependent on funds from state and central government. India spends just over 2 per cent of the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) on municipalities; in contrast, developed countries such as the United States spend 20-25 per cent of GDP.
Another aspect which the act does not talk about is the inclusion of people. The composition of a city is heterogenous in nature, inhabited by various communities coming from different places of the country. The governance structure of local bodies is a residential model, where only a person living in the area with a voter ID,has a say in the ward. Informal workers, vendors, etc. are also the part of urban ecology, but the act fails to include their interests as urban citizens. Delhi, for instance, has a mix of population from various parts of the country working in formal and informal jobs. As per the Census 2011 data on migration, Delhi has the second highest share of inter-state migrants in its total population. However recent governance models have failed to fully address the issues of all sections and have made some people sceptical.
The proposal for unification of three municipal corporations of Delhi once again raised the question of municipal governance. The Delhi Municipal Corporation Amendment Act, 2022, seems to question the basic idea of “decentralisation” which guided the formation of third tier of government. In a city with population density ranging from more than 22,000 per square km (East Delhi) to around 9,000 per square km (South Delhi), the prospect of a single municipality is rather daunting. How far will this unification uphold the idea of 74th CAA, is still a question.
Another aspect of unification is that it will bring better coordination among departments and more power to elected mayor. It is high time to relook at the reforms required, depending on changes in the demography and topography of cities. The demand for implementation of the 74th CAA should be clubbed together with the demands for the evolution of the Act itself. Urban local bodies provide the foundation on which the democratic structure of this country stands, and it is important to make it as sturdy and inclusive as possible so that every stakeholder of the region can contribute in improving
local governance.