Crisis of urban governance in India

In the light of rapid urbanisation, it is important to cross the present boundaries of the existing laws and enact mandatory provisions that would give real powers to urban local bodies. At a practical level, the policy makers must think of what is doable if revolutionary changes are not possible at once

Urbanisation boom is a fact in India and the country is in the midst of this process. If we take the figures of Census 2011, 377 million Indians comprising 31.1% of the total population lived in urban areas. According to UN-habitat world series report this could have risen to 420 million in 2015. India’s level of urbanisation is lower than some other developing countries experiencing massive urbanisation. For example, China (45%), Indonesia (54%), Mexico (78%) and Brazil (87%). Looking ahead, by 2030, India’s urban population is projected to increase to 600 million. This positive trend is also accompanied by its own unique set of issues. Indian cities are confronted with challenges in terms of deficits in infrastructure, governance and sustainability. These problems are going to aggravate in the near future with rapid urbanisation, and can also possibly cumulatively pose a challenge to India’s growth trajectory.

Keeping in mind the challenges that the country is going to confront in future, the government launched the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT)). This was intended to harness the agglomeration economies of the urban centres and making cities engines of growth. The policy lays emphasis on creating infrastructure, improving service delivery, making cities smarter for improved livelihood and providing for faster and integrated mobility. It also envisages convergence across various initiatives taken by the government such as AMRUT, Smart Cities, HRIDAY (National Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana), Pradhan MantriAwasYojana and Swachh Bharat.

The intent must be matched with a corresponding mobilization of resources. For 2018-19, the government increased the budget for the housing and urban affairs ministry by 2.8%, to Rs41,765 crore. The government has also formulated separate policies for urban sanitation, transport, transit-oriented development. It also has come forward with a national mission on sustainable habitat, each with a specific mandate and vision. The government wants that each individual should have a house by 2022.

Lack of comprehensive framework
But what is lacking is a comprehensive framework that takes a holistic approach to the interrelated challenges that have an impact on the growth of cities. Sustainable urban development needs to be led by the central government working closely with state and local governments.

Need of National Urban Policy
India needs to address this on urgent basis to salvage the situation. The country needs to develop its own national urban policy (NUP) as an instrument for applying a coherent set of interventions in relation to the future growth of cities, in partnership with all stakeholders. Globally, around one-third of countries have a NUP
in place.

The importance and objectives of the cities must be outlined and highlighted in that policy. There is a need to update our definition of urban areas, understand the importance of cities and what we can achieve through urbanisation with responsive infrastructure.

Sunita Sanghi, senior adviser and public policy specialist at NITI Aayogsays “India needs to fine-tune this vision in light of the aspirations of citizens, state capabilities, historical legacy, cultural context and present economic situation.Once the vision is outlined, this national framework will also highlight the key enablers, cross-cutting principles, desired outputs and eventual outcomes. All these ingredients will further direct the policy discourse towards urban issues—which, unfortunately, have remained on the back burner for the major part of independent India’s history.”

Complexities of urbanisation
There is no denying the fact that urbanisation in India is a complex issue because majority of city-related issues are state subjects. States need to take the lead in order to not only make cities vibrant economic centres but also propel national economic growth. But what is required is to build adequate capacity at the state/urban local bodies level to prepare cities for future challenges. The National Urban Policy needs to set the common minimum agenda, involving participation of all stakeholders.

If we look at NUP across the globe national urban policy document identifies objectives of productivity, sustainability, livability and governance as key agenda drivers for its cities. It is actually required in India too. Setting up such an agenda would encourage programmes and policies to be integrated and aim at operationalizing the spirit of the 74th Amendment. The importance of such a common minimum agenda is of immense importance. It is required to get the entire eco-system of urban-related stakeholders on the same page as a starting point. The problem is that it’s not happening and every stake holder is working independently without any coordination.

The important point is that 21st century is different from the traditional urban world of 20th century. It is much more complex today. Earlier the stakeholders were only citizens, government and civil society to a large extent. The present urban scenario has new stakeholders who are more connected than ever. There are players who may not be physically present in the cities of operation but make the situation more complex
Sunita Sanghi, of NITI Aayogsays “various aggregators like Uber and Amazon; distance learning universities; the active participation of non-resident Indians; service aggregators such as UrbanClap present a complex web of interdependent and interconnected stakeholders. A NUP framework would recognize all these stakeholders and prevent cities from seeing through these participants. Once their presence is acknowledged, states and cities would be better placed to develop the right processes and systems to utilize the potential of these stakeholders.”

Constitutional changes required
A National Urban Policy will provide a framework for states, which would be encouraged and nudged to adopt a state version of this policy. Urban development in 21st century India needs to change and redefine the paradigm of the process in order to toensure network effects. This is a prerequisite. It’s a must for leveraging urbanisation to the fullest extent and with the greatest efficiency. A solution to India’s current urban woes would not be possible without such a stepping stone and will be considerably more difficult otherwise.

India’s urbanisation process has laid bare the crisis, or rather absence of urban governance. India’s urban local bodies, which are democratic institutions conceived to be closest to the citizens, have almost been rendered inefficient by the governments at the Centre and the States. The 74th Constitutional Amendment Act was brought to devolve power to urban local bodies has till now turned out to be merely a cosmetic exercise which has not brought about any changes in the way our municipalities are governed. States continue to have overriding powers and accountability structures in urban areas are weak. Urban local bodies are still devoid of the three most powerful tools — legal, financial and administrative. In facturban local bodies still remain a tool of party politics at the grass-root level.

In the light of rapidurbanisation, it is important to cross the present boundaries of the existing laws and enact mandatory provisions that would give real powers to urban local bodies. This must be done with the conviction of making the country a genuine democracy. At a practical level, the policy makers must think of what is doable if revolutionary changes are not possible at once. There is an urgent need to review existing constitutional framework to redefine urban governance.