ACTION PLAN FOR GOOD URBAN GOVERNANCE



RECOMMENDATIONS FOR

NATIONAL ACTION PLAN FOR GOOD URBAN GOVERNANCE

1. THE CHALLENGE

1.1 Urbanization: A positive, historical force

India is launching her campaign for good urban governance at one of the most radical turning points in the demographic history of mankind. The entire developing world is witness to an unprecedented shift of human settlements to the cities. While India’s population remains substantially rural, she is emerging as one of the fastest urbanizing countries in the world, and has already a staggeringly large urban population, around 285 million. It is estimated that by the middle of this century or probably earlier, she would reach the same milestone that the world reached at the beginning of this century - of becoming more urban than rural. The economic base of the nation through expanding industries, trade, commerce and services has already shifted to the urban centres. Cities have strongly emerged as the prime engines of the Indian economy and generators of national wealth. It is evident, looking at the past fifty years of India, and the empirical evidence around the world, that the future of India is inescapably urban. As the National Commission on Urbanization stated, urbanization is the inevitable concomitant of economic change. It is time for us to treat urbanization as a positive, historical force and care for our urban centres. It is time that the nation perforce invests in the destined social and economic functions of cities and ensures that cities deliver a quality of life that would enable them to become national assets and engines of economic growth.

1.2 India's urbanization

India’s overall demographic figures of rural-urban divide do not reveal the fact that a sizeable part of the country has reached levels of urbanization that are much higher than the national average. Among the larger States, the States of Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra are very close to the halfway mark and the States of Gujarat and Karnataka are substantially urbanized. The smaller States of Delhi and Mizoram and Goa are wholly or predominantly urban, and so are some of the Union Territories. Even Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar and Punjab that are predominantly rural States have very large urban populations. The graph of metropolitan and mega cities has continued to climb and 35 such cities now dot the Indian landscape. And scores of cities with populations in excess of 100,000 are jostling to join the million-plus city club. These unambiguous facts that stare us in the face clearly demand that the country's urban portfolio is large enough to merit serious concern. India's urban issues with all their related challenges and opportunities demand their firm place on the national agenda and the Nation and urbanized States need to lead in strategizing for cities and their needs.

1.3 Urbanization of poverty

It is no secret that India's rapid urbanization has overwhelmingly been on account of an unprecedented urbanization of poverty. There has been significant migration of rural poverty to select urban locations in search of employment and livelihood. While India has made a significant dent in levels of poverty, urban poverty has proved more stubborn in its decline. These migrants, however, have become vital contributors to the city economy without whom many of the support systems for city life would collapse. But the influx has fuelled the growth of slums in cities dividing them into formal and informal settlements. The non-recognition of this fact has resulted in the unplanning of planned cities and has contributed to enormous strains on urban infrastructure. In the process, the poor seem to have exchanged rural unemployment for demeaning urban survival. It is now estimated that about a third of the urban population lives in informal settlements in squalid conditions. Repeated warnings have already been sounded that poverty no longer remains the preserve of the villages. This trend is not peculiar to India, but a process witnessed across the entire developing world. What is worrying is that cities have not sufficiently taken notice of this phenomenon and its impact on cities. It is evident that if cities fail to deal constructively with poverty, poverty would seriously undermine the sustainability of cities.

1.4 The challenges of urbanization

In the cited context, urban India faces daunting challenges. Cities must cope with greater numbers, plan to provide them services, find resources to meet needs of maintaining and augmenting infrastructure, respond to the urbanization of poverty, preserve their environment and retain their competitive edge. Enmeshed in the web of rigid, inflexible working cultures and erosion of all round capacity, they must reengineer themselves to face these enormously complex challenges.

1.5 The Inclusive City

That reengineering precisely is the goal of the Good Urban Governance Campaign. It envisages improving the quality of life in cities through improved local governance by reinventing a city as an inclusive city. Such a city provides space and voice to all its stakeholders through inclusive decision-making, since such decision-making is at the heart of good governance. The inclusive city allows full flow to women's thoughts and initiatives, since women are one of the biggest levers of positive change in the society. The strategy for achieving the goal and vision is to advocate the norms and country-specific issues of good urban governance and promote inclusive decision-making processes.

2. ISSUES AND OPTIONS

2.1 Issues of good urban governance

Several key issues of good urban governance stand out in the Indian context. These are decentralization, integration of the poor and marginalized, environmental sustainability, mobilisation of municipal finance, transparency and civic engagement, better municipal management and capacity building. In the context of urban local bodies, these issues do not stand alone, but are inextricably linked to each other and mutually reinforce the strengths that each brings to the process of good urban governance. These linkages, however, are not automatic, and the improper structuring or management of one issue contains the potential to impact negatively on some others.

2.2 Decentralization

Decentralization signifies the transfer of certain powers and responsibilities and their devolution from one authority to another. In the urban context, it connotes the establishment of a local representative government endowed with administrative and financial powers to deliver mandated services to its citizens. For municipal administration, decentralization is the very essence of good governance. It has the innate ability of promoting democracy by taking decision-making close to the scene of action. It allows direct, larger, continuous and more meaningful participation by citizens in the development process of their area. This heightens a sense of true ownership of the citizens and their commitment to the civic cause.

Three clear tiers of decentralization are involved in traversing the goal of the inclusive city. The first comprises the functional and financial decentralization that should flow from the State to the cities. The second is the decentralization within the Council from the city centre to its wards. But inclusiveness demands a third level of decentralization that goes beyond the four walls of the Town hall to embrace community groups and civil society stakeholders, the women and the marginalized to share in decision-making and implementation. Indeed, decentralization in the local context connotes citizen participation in its fullness.

While the urban local bodies have found political protection through the 74th Amendment to the Constitution, the other aspects of decentralization have lagged behind. There is also quite some diversity in ways in which States have gone about the implementation of decentralization. It can broadly be said that much ground remains to be covered before cities can experience the freedom and the potential of true, decentralized functioning.

2.3 Municipal Finance

While cities have larger populations and expanding boundaries to shoulder, their financial base remains as fragile as ever. The abolition of octroi and imposition of the Rent Control Act have not helped matters. Cities themselves have not been very prudent in their spending practices, and wasteful expenditures and financial irregularities in urban local bodies are not hard to find. Cities have been shy to tax and their capacities at innovation generally appear to be low. It is quite evident that cities need to put their house in order through prudent financial practices and come up with innovative ways of generating resources.

Government of India has taken certain welcome steps to help urban infrastructure. Tax exemption for municipal bonds and guidelines for their issuance, fiscal incentives for private sector participation in urban infrastructure, permitting FDI inflows into city hardware have heralded the possibilities of great change. Some States and cities have shown the initiative in introducing taxation and accounting reforms, setting up State level Urban Development Funds, issuing municipal bonds and attempting private sector participation in civic services. And yet, a lot is left undone on the path to urban restructuring. The pouring of institutional finance further into urban infrastructure, for instance, is an area that deserves further attention. There is also, at the same time, a case for allowing cities greater borrowing flexibility.

2.4 Urban Environment

Urban environment has been under particular threat as populations in cities have multiplied and commerce and industry have fuelled the generation of waste and non-ecological use of resources. The availability of water and its quality is under severe strain, and discharge of industrial and household effluents in water bodies has emerged as a major hazard. Very few cities have a satisfactory network of sewerage facilities. The proliferation of informal settlements with heavy human concentration and scant urban infrastructure has added to the dangers of disease and epidemics. Solid waste management is pitiable in many cities and sanitary dumping and recycling facilities have not made much headway. In the larger cities, the unbridled rise of automobiles have rendered the air unfit for inhaling and respiratory diseases are steeply rising. Despite such alarming signs, several cities have, through Herculean efforts, shown the way to turn their environment around. Some States have made the preparation of annual environment status reports mandatory and the Judiciary itself has forced the pace on urban environmental care. Many of these examples have been documented and need to be replicated across cities in the country.

2.5 Integration of the Poor and Marginalized

It is now widely recognized that the poor are important contributors to the city economy, and an essential support system to the city’s life. Yet they continue to be dealt with on the periphery. Huddled in high-density informal settlements, the poor are left to fend for themselves to find shelter, water, and services that enable daily life. The women and children face the brunt of the problems in keeping the fragile lives of their family going. Even employment opportunities in the form of informal employment run the constant risk of disruption, uprooting and harassment. Poverty alleviation schemes have helped but their impact has been limited. The recent rapid expansion of thrift and credit groups that Governments have encouraged seem to hold out promise and hope and many NGOs have illustrated how the poor can be organized to help themselves. There is now larger understanding that urban poverty cannot be seen from the mere perspective of rural poverty. It is infinitely more complex and dynamic comprising deprivations of housing, employment, services and physical safety.

While the effort to help the city poor has to be multi-pronged, as an initial and important step, city planners need to go beyond spatial concepts and look at the socio-economic realities that propel the city’s economy. Quite definitely, the poor and the marginalized can no longer be dealt with on the fringes of cities but need to be integrated into the entire planned process. There are indeed numerous proven positive multiplication effects for both the city's economy and social makeup of providing secure land tenure and basic services to the poor. Disregard to this monumental issue has very dangerous portents for the sustainability of cities. As part of the anticipated expansions of urban population especially that comes from immigration, there is need to protect the Constitutional right of these migrants against exclusion from older city dwellers, who may wish to treat city boundaries sacrosanct to protect in-migrations. Supporting Cosmopolitan City development which creates spaces for multi-cultural and multi-ethnic neighbourhoods, which co-exist, is vital for peace law and order and safety in cities.

2.6 Transparency and Civic Engagement

Transparency connotes the conduct of public business in a manner that affords stakeholders wide accessibility to the decision-making process and the ability to effectively influence it. In the context of urban governance, transparency assumes added significance. Aspects of life and services that are closest to citizens are transacted and delivered at the local level. Their quality or their absence directly affects the daily lives of citizens. Quite naturally, their concern with such matters is much larger than the attention they would care to give to national and global issues. Since it is also possible to foster, build and cement close relationships among various civic actors in a city, having the advantage of a compact, circumscribed geographical area, transparency has the enormous potential to craft an inclusive city. Transparency also imports greater accountability and integrity in the discharge of public functions by public officials. This process currently seems to be drawing strength from an urban-based media.

One of the encouraging features of urban life is the rise of multiple civil society organizations and their urge to increasingly participate in affairs of their cities. Civic engagement has enormous potential to promote transparency, accountability, equity, and more mature and wholesome city functioning. It can thrive in a city in several ways such as participation in policy formulation, resource allocation, service delivery and monitoring, civic education and poverty alleviation. Nothing can build consensus and a deepening of true democracy better in a city than civic engagement.

Several city governments are attempting to open their gates wider, allow more information flow, declare charters for citizens and benchmark municipal response to citizens' demands and promote civic engagement in civic services. Citizens in some cities have also shown nascent vibrancy, and charted both partnership and adversarial courses in their attempt at holding civic bodies responsible. But the overall national impact has been limited and the principles of civic engagement and transparent functioning have yet to strike fertile soil.

2.7 Municipal Management and Capacity Building

Municipal management covers the entire gamut of administrative facets that make for efficiency and excellence in handling city organizations. Envisioning a city, setting its priorities, strategizing to achieve set objectives, organizing public consultations, promoting civil society participation and norms of good urban governance, budgeting for expenditures, raising resources, monitoring works, collecting taxes and fees and charges, all form part of the management task. Attempts at toning up municipal management have been partial and sporadic, and generally sectoral rather than holistic. They have also been driven by individual champions and their departure from the scene has seriously affected the sustainability of good urban management practices.

Indeed, sustainable municipal efficiency needs capacity not merely within the municipal ranks of elected representatives and officials, but also outside among civil society stakeholders. Capacity building for good urban governance is complex because the urban scene is dynamic, and capacities tend to get eroded quickly. The demands of capacity building in cities also largely vary with the size of urban local bodies, and it has often been found that small city officials find it difficult to relate to the problems of very large ones and vice versa. Capacity building, in any event, needs to be demand-based and dynamic in its content. It should cover a wide spectrum of stakeholders and should address itself to a sufficiently large and widespread group to achieve impact. In view of limited resources, their optimum use through a well-designed capacity building programme cannot be overemphasized.

3. COMMITMENTS TO NATIONAL ACTION PLAN

The National Action Plan for good urban governance envisages implementation of its recommendations in a period of three years. It envisages commitment of all concerned stakeholders to examine what is in the Plan that fits their own objectives and mandates, and help carry forward that part of the Action Plan. Government of India, State Governments, Urban Local Bodies, Civil Society, NGOs, the Private Sector, Financial Institutions, International Agencies, Multilaterals and Bilaterals consider that the points enumerated below are important for the furtherance of good urban governance and commit themselves to examine ways in which they could provide support to take these action points forward. With that objective, all stakeholders would set up a body to strategize on the part they would like to play. Government of India would continue to take the lead in coordination, exhortation, guidance and advice.

ACTION AREAS

The National Action Plan for Good Urban Governance is not a blueprint. It is a framework for action within which specific and focused Action Plans should be locally developed, consultatively, with full participation of local stakeholders.

3.1 Decentralization

1. Review the performance of States in the implementation of the Constitution 74th Amendment Act, particularly in the areas of devolution of functional and financial powers to urban local bodies. West Bengal’s effort should guide the process of decentralisation.

2. Transfer of power for elected representative to be coupled with right to recall.

3. Review the performance of 35 metropolitan cities in city level decentralization down to the ward committees.

4. Prepare and publish a comparative analysis of the steps taken by 35 metropolitan cities in involving the civil society in the functioning of the city.

5. Similar reviews should be carried in respect of small and medium towns.

6. Prepare and publish a comparative analysis of the levels reached in the empowerment of women in urban local bodies and in mainstreaming gender on the urban agenda.

7. Making Mandatory Constitutional Provisions

• Carrying out of constitutional provisions should be made mandatory.

• Uniformity in basic legal framework between the States should be carried out. The West Bengal Municipal Act, 1993 may be taken as a model.

• Devolution of powers, functions and funds should be expedited.

• The 74th Constitutional Amendment must be reviewed especially Article 243 W and implemented in letter and spirit.

• Decentralisation of fiscal resources by the National Government to local authorities according to duties and functions.

• Devolution of competence and empowerment by the National Governments to Local authorities of all local functions and services.

• Tax sharing between the three tiers of governments on an equitable basic.

8. Defining State Municipal Relationship

• The elected representatives of the local body should have executive control over employees of local bodies. The provision should also be made for transfer of employees from one local body to another.

• The local bodies should have control over the land in their jurisdiction and other infrastructure including roads in their area. They should have power to remove encroachment from public land, construct and maintain roads within their respective municipal areas.

• The relationship between the para-statal bodies and the local bodies should be clearly defined with proper demarcation of respective areas of activities and inter authority coordinations.

• District Urban Development Authorities and District Rural Development Authorities should not overlap the decisions of the local authorities.

9. Tenure and Functions of the Mayor

• The Madhya Pradesh practice should be adopted. People should have the power to recall Mayor.

• There should be uniformity in Mayor’s tenure in all states.

• There should be similar provisions for recall of councillors.

• Nomination of Councillors should not be made on political basis and should include professionals and experts.

10. Nomination of MPs and MLAs as ex-officio local councillor

• MPs and MLAs should not be included in the local bodies.

• Local area development funds of the MPs and MLAs should be used in consultation with the local bodies.

11. Inter-institutional relations and Co-ordination

• Each state should formulate clear rules regarding power and functions of all types of local bodies.

• DPCs and WCs should be given enough financial powers.

12. Financial Resources and Revenue Base of Local Bodies

• The recommendations of the State Finance Commissions must be made mandatory and should be implemented as a matter of course.

• There should not be any delay in releasing funds to the local bodies once the projects are sanctioned.

• Law enforcement powers should be given to local bodies to compel payments of taxes and other charges levied by them.

13. Capacity Building of Local Bodies

• The local bodies must develop proper indicators for evaluating their performance.

• Local bodies should introduce Good Governance Report Cards.

• The local bodies should adopt measures for proper financial management.

• The local bodies must develop systems for information collection and dissemination.

• Involve community participation in civic engagement. The Brazil model of public participation in budgeting should be followed.

• The focus of local bodies should be on delivery of public services.

• National, state level and municipal projects which impact local bodies and localities, should be planned in consultation with ULB.

• There are some recommendations that must be treated as a wish list and segregated from those that are more specific with responsibilities allocated and time frame defined.

3.2 Municipal Finance

With the inclusion of additional municipal functions in the 12th Schedule of Constitution, the requirements for Municipal Finance have increased further. At the same time, the gap in the Municipal Finance for upgrading existing services itself is fairly high. This requires a series of innovative interventions in Resource Mobilisation and Municipal Reforms so that municipal bodies are able to raise requisite funds. The specific recommendations made in the Session on Municipal Finance are grouped under three categories namely:

1) Expanding the Resource Base for Stable Revenue of Local Bodies;

2) Improved and Better Financial Management; and

3) Agenda for Investing in the Reforms.

3.2.1 Expanding the Resource Base for Stable Revenues

1. Land Information System should be updated.

2. Land should be used as a resource to generate revenue.

3. Fiscal Transfers from Central to State and State to Local Bodies should be further rationalised to ensure a better normative base and timely transfer.

4. Implement State Finance Commissions recommendations in letter and spirit.

5. Small/ Medium and Hill Towns be given a special package of support in their efforts for resource mobilisation and financial management.

6. Accessing external sources of funds through the Municipal Bonds, pooled financing and other suitable instruments, create state level pool financing structure/Bond Banks.

7. The current ceiling of Rs. 200 Crores for raising tax-free municipal bonds should be enhanced with a quantum jump.

8. Access to funds of affordable interest rates and longer tenure for urban infrastructure should also be made available from Pension funds, Provident fund and Insurance sector.

9. Property Tax base should be delinked from rental value method and should be linked to Unit Area or Capital value method as applied by Patna, Bangalore and Hyderabad. It will reduce discretionary assessment and promote transparency and tax compliance. Further, the levying of ‘Impact Fee’ for resource mobilisation for new developments in the city be also utilised.

10. Exhort cities to publish an annual subsidy report, highlighting the amounts of subsidy given to a particular service, how was the subsidy funded and who were its beneficiaries.

11. Central and State Government Properties and other properties owned by Government Undertakings including utility service providers should also be brought under Property Tax regime or in the alternative through service/utility charges.

3.2.2 Improved and Better Financial Management

1. Need for commercial accounting through introduction of double entry accounting system.

2. Public Private Partnership in Urban Infrastructure is essential. Environment for such participation should be strengthened.

3. Modern Accounting Manuals should be prepared at state level to encourage cities to switch over to accrual based double entry accounting system.

4. The Second State Finance Commissions should take up the issue of fiscal powers and devolution functions to municipal bodies and resources available with them.

5. Grants should be linked to municipal fiscal performance and reforms with a particular reference to raising own resources and taking up financial management innovations.

6. Role of non-municipal agencies dealing with the municipal services at town or state level should be examined in relation to their functions and their financial implications on municipal bodies.

7. Incentive based funds should be created to accelerate the pace of reforms.

8. Timely Auditing should be promoted with the use of private Chartered Accountants for routine audit and local fund audit to carry out proprietary audit.

3.2.3 Agenda for Investing in the Municipal Finance Reforms

1. Set up a 'City Challenge Fund' as an economic incentive programme for cities that show readiness and commitment to an innovative economic reform process. Any resource inputs in the Municipal Finance Reform sector should be considered as an investment for sustainable city development for making ‘cities to work’.

Resources for such fund can come from Central/State/Local Governments and Financial Institutions.

2. Participatory and normative budgeting should be taken up to improve municipal financial planning.

3. The ULBs should undergo appropriate capacity building for which suitable training programmes, training manuals and networking with other stakeholders would be promoted. Financial Institutions like HUDCO, LIC, IDFC, ILFS etc. can develop the capacity building of ULBS to establish their creditworthiness and capability for project formulation, implementation and absorption capacities.

Application of e-governance is equally important for municipal finance. Adequate software development and application in the financial management sector is the imperative need required at different levels. The best practices should be widely disseminated and applied.

3.3 Urban Environment

1. Formulate strategy through city consultation to identify problems, solutions and implementation.

2. Environmental Status Report for the major cities shall be prepared to monitor the improvements through the participation of multi stake holders.

3. Create community awareness and support for cost effective technologies to be enforced and financed by the Urban Governance.

4. Mass Media along with traditional folk plays shall be used to demonstrate and disseminate the eco- friendly practices like tree plantation, water harvesting, sanitation etc through public participation.

5. The integrated waste management systems, waste water recycling and non conventional sources of energy to be promoted and supported at all levels.

6. Implement Municipal Solid Waste Management Rules 2000 within stipulated time as per Supreme Court guidelines and Govt. of India Notification.

7. Laws/rules/regulations specific to city / local issues should be tried to facilitate planning process, implementation and avoid encroachment of unbuilt surfaces. These should be lucid and easily understood. Participatory mechanism should be so structured that they had legal Entity and administrative powers.

8. Monitoring Mechanisms for the control of various facets of pollution, specially in Metro Cities, should be strengthened in cooperation with research institution, govt. agencies & NGOs so that the people, specially the poor people are not affected.

9. All dry bucket latrines to be converted into two pit pour flush latrines. No schools should be allowed to function without toilets.

3.4 Integration of the Poor and Marginalized

1. Shelter for all to be an agenda for the Government, affordable land and low cost housing finance is essential for urban poor.

2. Through a participative process, every city should undertake a city-wide poverty situational analysis to promote a better understanding among all stakeholders of the multiple dimensions of poverty in their city.

3. Since the majority of UN member states including India has agreed to reduce urban poverty and support a campaign of cities without slums, Central and State Government should formulate and actively disseminate their policy on the provision of basic services for the poor, clearly specifying the implementation responsibilities of Local Government and other agencies and stakeholders.

4. Each State should formulate their policy and action plan on land tenure adequately to safeguard poor people’s shelter needs and rights, with security from forced eviction and priority for in-situ upgradation and effective convergence of all pro-poor programmes and resources.

5. Each State should ensure the necessary amendments to the Statutory Planning Processes to incorporate pro-poor participatory city planning.

6. Each city must draw up a city-wide action plan to target integration of the poor and marginalised population into the city with special attention to land tenure, basic services, housing and employment needs, including support for informal enterprise of the poor, particularly women.

7. Local Government should work in partnership with non-government and community-based organisations to support the organisation and monbilisation of the poor, particularly women, to promote constructive dialogue and shared decision making.

8. State and Local Government should actively facilitate the social and economic empowerment of the poor through, among other actions, ensuring access to education, health and other social services, the promotion of self-managed thrift and credit societies linking the poor to formal credit, knowledge sharing and awareness raising.

9. Central State and other institutions should identify successful initiatives and encourage sharing of these experiences between cities by promoting visits and other innovative activities.

3.5 Transparency and Civic Engagement

1. Help cities to work on the simplification of laws, rules and procedures within their purview that are easily intelligible to an average person.

2. Assist cities in the development of transparent public procurement processes.

3. Assist cities in holding wide consultations on city budgeting and planning including social and gender budgeting and auditing.

4. Prepare school textbooks that inculcate and promote good civic sense in real terms.

5. Ensure regular audit of the accounts of local bodies

6. Other Recommendations

• 12th Schedule be made mandatory.

• Actual partnership between Centre, State and Local Government.

• Identifying major bottlenecks at the local governance level through consultative processes like group discussions, public hearings, developing participatory tools etc.

• Reduce Discretionary Powers in Municipal Laws. Discretionary powers should be exercised in favor of classes rather than individually.

• Code of conduct for municipal executives and elected representatives.

• Encourage public-private partnership through legislative and regulatory framework, public education, resource mobilization, good leadership and transparent processes – apply in municipal finance and development work.

• Instruments to improve the efficiency of local bodies through enhanced technical, administrative and financial capacities (database on cities, computerization of cities etc.

• Networking and regular interaction between municipalities.

• Closer networking with media and their engagement in creating public awareness and creating demand for good governance.

• Reducing multiplicity of authorities and roles by coordinating city development, Integrated city development plans, development activities to involve local bodies.

• Replication of good practices.

• Transparent engagement of private sector.

• Citizen’s charter should be brought out by all local bodies. Standards of service should be specified.

• The local bodies need to make public commitments of what services it will provide to the citizen’s as per entitlements with specific reference to the informal settlements, with clear stated information about standards and quality.

• If the services are not provided there must be a clear cut grievance redressal process.

• Establishing the process of public hearings to identify priorities for taking up projects, their costs and contractual arrangements and periodic reviews of progress.

• Charter should spell out areas of local bodies working with citizen’s groups, the various activities in which it will work in partnership with people.

• Vulnerable groups in the cities need to be identified at the ward level and the city should have a statement of how it proposes to address their issues and concerns.

• Process of involving citizens in the preparation of budgets as in the Brazil model should be laid out in the Charter.

• There should be right to information on all matters pertaining to local government.

• Electoral reforms should be introduced at the local level.

• All the recommendations should indicate the agencies responsible to implement the specific recommendations and also the specific time frame.

3.6 Municipal Management

1. For creating efficient, effective and productive services for improving the quality of life, alternative delivery mechanism is the key which can come through diversified mode of Public, Private and People’s Participation through unbundling of service development, supply and billing and collection in partnership with various stakeholders including the private sector, NGOs, CBOs, Banks, City Civic Centres etc.

2. Legislative and Regulatory Framework for action is needed for effective decentralisation and functional devolution of financial and organisational work.

3. To bring in effective city information system including computerisation and IT application in the city management process including GIS leading to efficiency and productivity and also increased revenue generation.

3.7 Capacity Building

1. Capacity Building needs to focus on all the stakeholders to cover areas of policy facilitation, system of restructuring, organisation development, training and knowledge management.

2. Capacity Building is required for “good government” which will bring in efficiency and effectiveness of service and for “good governance” to deal with the empowering of more and more stakeholders and bringing-in transparency and accountability in the various systems of delivery for city services.

3. Capacity building facilities should cover political, administrative, functional and operative grassroot level functionaries including NGOs, CBOs, Private Sector etc.

4. Institutional arrangement through creation of State Institute of Urban Development/Local Administration be taken up. The training and capacity building be organised at the State level, district level, city level and Community Level. A host of systems and delivery options for training and capacity building be initiated through distance learning and other innovative methods and tools keeping in view the different target groups and the different levels of training needs.

5. Creation of a corpus fund of 1-1/2 to 2% of all development funds for IEC, Capacity Building and training be ensured. Additional funding from Central and State governments and National and International funding agencies be also utilised.

6. Platform for sharing experiences and innovations among municipalities to be created.

7. The report card system to be developed for effective service delivery.

4. IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY

The National Action Plan demands a three-tiered implementation: at the National level, at the State level and at the City level.

As a process for moving the Good Urban Governance Campaign forward, deepening it and making it state specific, the National Government will take the Campaign to the States through State level Good Urban Governance Summits.

At each of these levels, however, the Plan would require the concerted effort of all stakeholders that operate

at that level.

At the same time, strategies at one level must be in consonance with strategies at the other levels to prevent activities working at cross-purposes.

For each of the Action Points, milestones would be marked and measurable targets set, and the required resource inputs defined.

For each Action Point, a timeline would be charted, and its content in terms of geographical spread and the density of activities within that Action Point would be worked out based on the kind of commitment and ownership it attracts and the resources it garners.

While it is envisaged that most Action Points would have multiple stakeholders buying in, the Action Point would have to have a primary actor to take responsibilities of implementation, monitoring and follow up.

The overall coordinating role would be taken by the National Government at the National level, the State Governments at the State level and the City Governments at the City level. For this purpose, coordinating committees with multi-stakeholder representation would be set up at those levels, and would be chaired by an Officer of the Government.

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Decentralization allows direct, larger, continuous and more meaningful participation by citizens in the development process and leads to true ownership and commitment…

Cities have strongly emerged as the prime engines of the Indian economy and generators of national wealth…the future is inescapably urban

With a total urban population of 285 million and 35 metropolitan cities and metropolises, India's urban issues with all their related challenges and opportunities demand their firm place on the national agenda…

Urbanization of poverty is one of the key features of India's urbanization…while migrants place enormous strain on urban infrastructure, they must also be recognized as vital contributors to the city economy

The Global Campaign for Good Urban Governance aims to realise the "inclusive city", which provides space and voice to all its stakeholders…

Cities need to improve their finances through adoption of prudent financial practices innovative ways of generating resources…

Sustainability of cities depends in no small measure upon their ability to provide basic environmental sanitation services… potable water, safe wastewater disposal, effective solid waste management...

Urban poverty is infinitely more complex and dynamic than its rural counterpart... it comprises deprivations of housing, employment, services, physical safety and above all, a voice….

Actions Taken:

← Many financial reforms started for improving financial status of municipalities.

← The Central Finance Commission devolved Rs.2000 crores.

← State Finance Commission Reports submitted and action taken by State Government.

← Property Tax Rationalisation being attempted by Municipalities.

← Many fiscal concessions granted for Urban Infrastructure.

← Foreign Direct Investment permitted in Urban Infrastructure.

← Municipal Accounting Reforms being attempted.

← Tax free status granted to Urban Local Bodies to a limited extent.

Yawning gaps in municipal finance demand financial innovation and the commercialization of urban infrastructure

The current exploitation of environment cannot be at the cost of a similar right for future generations

Decision-making at the lowest logical level is the essence of good urban governance

In the final analysis, all good urban governance rests on holistic and sensible municipal management

Good urban management without adequate capacity is a misconception

Transparency has enormous potential to craft the inclusive city... it imports greater accountability and integrity in the discharge of public functions by public officials…

Civic engagement may thrive in a city in ways such as participation in public policy formulation, resource allocation, service delivery and monitoring...

Sustainable municipal efficiency needs capacity not merely within the municipal ranks of elected representatives and officials, but also outside among civil society stakeholders...

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