19 October 2024 : Daily Answer Writing
Q1) Despite constitutional backing, urban planning and governance have given limited dividends on the ground. Enumerating the reasons for the same, suggest measures to ameliorate the situation.
(250 Words/15 Marks)
ANS
Urban governance can broadly be defined as providing the basic socio-economic services in the urban area. Urban planning is recognized as a vital tool of effective urban governance. The constitutional provisions of urban planning and governance can be seen as:
- District Planning Committee:
- The Constitution provides for a district planning committee (article 243ZD, to be constituted by state governments).
- District planning committees are envisaged to consolidate the plans prepared by panchayats and municipalities in the district.
- Metropolitan Planning Committee:
- The Constitution provides for a Metropolitan Planning Committee (article 243ZE) for every metropolitan area in the country.
- The chairpersons of such committees shall forward the development plan to the state governments.
Despite constitutional backing, urban planning/governance have given limited dividends on ground, because:
- As planning is a specialized task, lack of capability and training at the local level is the primary reason for poor urban planning/governance. E.g., worsening condition of solid waste management; prevalent water crisis etc. due to lack of specialised training in these areas.
- Bureaucratic apathy and power tussle between elected and appointed authorities. E.g., indifference of CEOs/municipal commissioners towards elected representatives.
- Corruption at the cutting-edge level. E.g., allegations of corruption as a reason behind the collapse of Morbi bridge.
- Limited technological leverage and pre-emptive preparedness has diluted the effectiveness of municipalities. E.g., unplanned urbanization; deteriorating pollution levels; proliferation of urban slums; urban floodings (Chennai, Mumbai, Bangalore) etc.
- Bottlenecks such as inadequate finances, elections not conducted in a timely manner etc. E.g., many states have not conducted elections to local bodies; appointment of bureaucrats as SECs (Goa) etc.
- Poor devolution of powers from the 12th schedule has rendered the 74th CAA to be cosmetic in nature. E.g., limited powers for economic and social development of the people.
Following measures can be taken to ameliorate the situation and make Urban local bodies an effective instrument of grassroot democracy:
- Re-engineering of urban governance:
- Clear division of roles and responsibilities among various authorities; creation of a more dynamic organizational structure; standardization of the job descriptions of town planners and other experts; devolution of powers under the 12th schedule etc. E.g., Kerala adopted a people’s plan model where 40% of the state’s budget was for local bodies.
- Extensive adoption of technology. E.g., weather forecasting technologies to manage urban floods, cyclones etc; digitization of land records; use of AI to reduce human interface etc.
- India should follow the Scandinavian model, where cities are self-reliant centres of Governance. E.g., The big bang model of power devolution in Kerala.
- Citizen outreach programmes to include public opinion and feedback in the planning process. E.g., management of urban amenities, parks, gardens; grievance redressal under AMRUT yojna etc.
- Ensuring qualified professionals and enabling local leadership for undertaking urban planning. E.g., training modules by universities in urban planning.
- Successful PPP programs should be formulated at both state and city levels to fund city development.
- Further, powers of the Municipalities to raise finances should be re-imagined. E.g., raising of funds through municipal bonds; linking local bodies with schemes like NIP, National Asset Monetisation, Gatishakti masterplan etc.
Urban local governance and planning should be strengthened for the realisation of self-sufficient, resilient and inclusive cities (SDG 11) by adopting global best practices
