COURSE 3: LAW AND POLICIES PERTAINING TO...

COURSE 3: LAW AND POLICIES PERTAINING TOURBANISATION

Block 1 : Urban Laws and Policies

Unit 1 : Urban Laws and the Indian Constitution ................ 3

Unit 2 : Government Plans and Schemes for Urbanisation..... 15

Unit 3 : Urban Development Policies in India ................... 27

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UNIT 1URBAN LAWS AND INDIAN CONSTITUTION

Contents Page No.

1. Introduction 3

2. Relevant Provisions from the Indian Constitution 4

3. Constitution 74th Amendment Act, 1992 6

4. Some Urban Issues Discussed in Light of Constitutional Provisions 12

5. Conclusion 14

6. References and Recommended Readings 14

1. IntroductionCities are probably the most complex things that human beings have ever created. Theyare the wellsprings of culture, technology, wealth and power. People have love-haterelationship with cities. We are torn between our needs for community and privacy andthe conflicting attractions of urban and rural life. Urban Planning can be defined as thedesign and regulation of the uses of space that focus on the physical form, economicfunctions, and social impacts of the urban environment and on the location of differentactivities within it.

According to the oxford dictionary word urban means a city or a large permanent settlement.The U.S census bureau defines urban areas on the basis of the census blocks. Urban areascan include an entire country or parts of the country; it is a contiguous area of censusblocks. An urban area is usually known as a city. There is no one standard internationaldefinition of a city: the term may be used either for a town possessing city status; foran urban locality exceeding an arbitrary population size; for a town dominating othertowns with particular regional economic or administrative significance. Although city canrefer to an agglomeration including suburban and satellite areas, the term is not appropriatefor a con-urban (cluster) of distinct urban places, nor for a wider metropolitan areaincluding more than one city, each acting as a focus for parts of the area.

An urban area usually consists of residential, industrial and business areas together withadministrative functions which may relate to a wider geographical area. A large share ofa city�s area is generally taken up by houses, roads and streets. Lakes and rivers may bethe only undeveloped areas within the city. Cities generally have advanced systems forsanitation, utilities, land usage, housing, and transportation. The concentration ofdevelopment greatly facilitates interaction between people and businesses, benefitingboth parties in the process. A big city, or metropolis, usually has associated suburbs. Suchcities are usually associated with metropolitan areas and urban sprawl, creating numerousbusiness commuters travelling to urban centers of employment.

Urbanisation in India is characterised by unplanned and uncontrolled growth leading tourban sprawl. Land use planning and the pattern of development, relationship betweenresidential areas and industrial, commercial and office complexes have a considerableimpact on the environment. Most of all, appropriate infrastructure provision has not kept

Urban Laws and Policies4

pace with economic growth. Consequently, the environment of urban areas, particularlyof larger cities, has been deteriorating rapidly.

Urban local bodies (ULBs) in India are faced with a plethora of issues that directly impacttheir capacity to manage municipal service delivery while simultaneously addressingenvironmental concerns.

These include:

♣ multiplicity of organisations;

♣ inadequate resource mobilisation;

♣ lack of capability to adopt proper corporate planning;

♣ lack of information and information systems; and

♣ inadequate monitoring of policy implementation.

Where the municipalities are struggling to provide basic amenities to citizens, issues ofenvironmental pollution or hazard management are not accorded priority till mattersreach the proportions of a crisis. A primary reason for the delay was that local governmentswere perceived to be rivals, rather than complements, by state governments. Hence, localgovernment was generally not a level that was maintained with commitment and sufficientlyempowered in the post-Independence era. For that reason, it could be said that even by2004, the state of West Bengal distinguished itself by its commitment to having regularlocal elections once the current ruling party of West Bengal came to power in the 1970s.Inother states, these bodies were frequently superseded for long periods by state governments.West Bengal�s commitment to local government in fact had an important role to play inthe national recognition accorded local government. Its commitment inspired the 74th

Amendment Act that formerly gave constitutional recognition to local government.

However, it can also be said that there is today a growing awareness of the need andimportance of local self-government, as being a provider of services to local communitiesand as a mechanism for democratic self-government. There are currently two distincttypes of local government system: urban local system and the rural local system. Thestructure of the latter is multi-tiered and will not form the subject of this article, whichfocuses on urban local government.

2. Relevant Provisions from the Indian ConstitutionWhile India, like many other regions, has always had local councils of some sort, themechanisms in existence today are rooted in the period during which it was a colony ofthe United Kingdom. A major foundation of the British roots of Indian local governmentwas Lord Ripon�s resolution of May, 1882, on the subject of local self-government coveringthe structure and establishment of local bodies, their functions, finances and powers. Thisis the root of local self-government in post-Independence India. In the context of theIndian Constitution, local government bodies are the subject of the State List and arethereby governed by State Statutes, or in the case of Union Territories, by the UnionParliament. Federal recognition of local government was substantively expressed in the74th Constitution Amendment Act of 1992.

Urban Laws and the Indian Constitution 5

Constitution may be defined as a document having a special legal sanctity which sets outthe framework and principal function. Aspen of urban laws is widespread and requires aminute study to give it relevancy to the Indian constitution, constitution and urban lawsmaintain a chain reaction as the laws enacted by the law framers supplement the stumblingattribute of urban laws and policies, similarly the laws which supplement these urbanpolicies derive their basis from the constitution itself.

Relevant provisions -

I) Directive Principles of the State Policy

Part 4th of the Indian constitution relates to the directive principles of the state policy.It sets forth the ideals and objectives to be achieved by the state for setting up inIndia a social welfare state as distinguish from the mere police state, which aims atthe social welfare and the common good and to secure to all its citizens, justice socialand economic. The inspiration for including in the constitution was drawn from theconstitution of Ireland, 1937. The basic aim of the welfare state is the attainment ofsubstantial degree of social, economic, and political equalities, as well as the assumptionby the community acting through the State. These provisions that pertain to a welfarestate also, indirectly lend the bearing of an ideal urban India. These provisions areas follows:

a) Article 39 (b) and (c) are very significant constitutional provisions as they effectthe entire economic system in India. It relates to the distribution of the ownershipand control of the material resources of the community. An act falling under theclause of this Article must have in operation in the economic system.

b) Article 39(b) and 39(c) relate to distribution of ownership and control of materialresources of the community. The aim of socialism is the distributions of thematerial resources of the community in such a way as to sub serve the commongood. A socialistic state secure to its people socio-economic justice.

c) Article 39(d) ensures equal pay for equal work. The Article states that the Statehas to ensure that there is equal pay for equal work for both men and women.The Act also ensures that there will be no discrimination against the recruitmentof the women and provides for the setting up of the advisory committees topromote employment opportunities for women.

Parliament has enacted the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976, to implement Article39(d). The act provides for equal remuneration for both men and women workersfor the same work, or work of similar nature and for the prevention of discriminationon the grounds of sex.

Besides the principles of gender equality in the matter specifically embodied inthe Article 39(d) the Supreme Court has extracted the general principles of equalpay for equal work by reading Article 14, 16 and 39(d).

II) Relations between the Union and the States

A federal constitution establishes a dual polity with the union at the center and thestates at the periphery, each endowed with the powers to be exercised in the field


assigned to them. The legislative, executive and the financial authority is dividedbetween the center and the units not by any law passed by the center but theconstitution itself.

The Indian constitution provides a new kind of federalism to meet India�s peculiarneeds. In the matter of distribution of powers, the framers followed the pattern ofthe government of India Act, 1935, which had laid the foundation for a federal setup of the nation.

The seventh schedule to the Indian constitution divides the subject of the legislationsunder three lists, viz. Union, state and concurrent list.

The Union list (list I) contains as many as 97 items and comprises of the subjectswhich affect the entire country and are of general interest and admit of uniform lawsfor the whole of the country. These matters lie within the exclusive legislationcompetence of the union parliament.

The State list (list II) enumerates 66 items and comprises of subjects of local or stateinterest and as such lie within the legislative competence of the state legislatures.

The Concurrent list (list III) enumerates 47 items, with respect to which both unionparliament and the state legislatures have concurrent power of legislation. The unionlist has overlapping and shared jurisdiction over 52 subjects including forests.

III) Environment Protection and Improvement (Article 48 A)

Environment protection and improvement were explicitly incorporated into theconstitution by the constitution (Forty-second amendment) Act 1976. Article 48 A wasadded to the directive principles. It declares: �the state shall Endeavour to protectand improve the environment and to safeguard the forests. Article 51 A (g) in the newchapter entitled the fundamental duties, imposes a similar responsibility on everycitizen.

3. Constitution 74th Amendment Act, 1992The 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments Acts were introduced in the early 1990�s ina bid to achieve democratic decentralisation and provide constitutional endorsement oflocal self governance authorities. These amendments confer authority on legislatures ofStates to endow respectively Panchayats and Municipalities with such powers and functionsas may be necessary to enable them to act as institutions of self�government. For thepurpose, the Panchayats and Municipalities have been charged with the responsibility ofpreparing and implementing plans for economic development and social justice includingthose in relation to matters listed in the Eleventh and Twelfth Schedules of the Constitution.The central objective of these amendments is the decentralisation of planning and decisionmaking procedures. It also has the implicit intention of removing centralised notions ofcontrol and monopoly overdevelopment of resources.

Panchayats - Article 243G provides that, subject to the provisions of the Constitution, thelegislature of any State may, by law, endow the Panchayats, with such powers and authorityas may be necessary to enable them to function as institutions of self-government and


such law may contain provisions for the devolution of powers and responsibilities uponPanchayat at the appropriate level.

The Panchayats have been entrusted with the implementation of schemes for economicdevelopment and social justice including those in relation to the matters listed in theEleventh schedule. The Municipalities have been entrusted with the implementation ofschemes for economic development and listed in the Twelfth schedule. These being,among others,

♣ Urban Planning and town planning

♣ Regulation of land-use and construction of buildings

♣ Planning for social and economic development

♣ Slum improvement and upgradation

♣ Provision of urban amenities and facilities such as parks, gardens, playgrounds

♣ Public amenities including street lighting, parking lots, bus stops and publicconveniences.

Municipalities - Articles 243W provides that, subject to the provisions of the Constitution,the legislature of any State may, by law, endow the Municipalities, with such powers andauthority as may be necessary to enable them to functions institutions of self-governmentand such law may contain provisions for the devolution of powers and responsibilities uponMunicipalities respectively at the appropriate level.

Article 243ZD provides for the creation of a district level planning committee for thepreparation of the District Development Plan. The District Planning Committee has beenplaced with the powers to draft district development plan to consolidate the plans preparedby the panchayats and municipalities, having regard to matters of common interest includingspatial planning, sharing of water and other natural and physical resources, the integrateddevelopment of infrastructure and environmental considerations. Further, the districtdevelopment plans should be prepared to consolidate the plans prepared by the panchayatand municipalities. Article 243ZE provides that for metropolitan areas, a metropolitanPlanning Committee shall be elected by and from amongst the elected members of themunicipalities and chairpersons of the panchayats within the metropolitan area in proportionto the ratio between the population of the municipalities and panchayats in the metropolitanareas having the same mandate as mentioned above for the district planning committee.

Background of The Constitution (74th Amendment) Act, 1992 - Towns and cities contributesubstantially to the economic development of the country. These urban centers also playan important support role in the development of rural hinterland. To keep this economictransformation in line with needs and realities at the grassroot level, it was deemednecessary that the people and their representatives are fully involved in the planning andimplementation of the programmes at local level. Hence the 74th Amendment Act wasenacted with the aim of strengthening the roots of democracy by extending their reachto towns, villages and the cities where the people live.

The Constitution of India has made detailed provisions for ensuring protection of democracyin Parliament and in State Legislatures. Hence, democracy in these institutions has survivedand flourished since last numerous decades. Initially, the Constitution had not made Local


Self Government in urban areas a clear-cut Constitutional obligation. While the DirectivePrinciples of State Policy referred to Village Panchayats, there was no specific referenceto municipalities except implicitly in Entry-5 of the State List, which placed the subjectof Local Self Government as a responsibility of the State.1 As a consequence of thisinadequate Constitutional provision for Local Self Government, democracy in municipalgovernance was not stable. Though the respective municipal acts of the States providedfor regular elections to municipal bodies, they were frequently suspended and supersededfor indefinite periods of time. Frequent and indefinite suspensions or supersessions erodedthe very basis of local self-government and had a negative effect on democracy at thegrassroot level.

The general position with regard to financial resources of the municipal bodies was alsonot satisfactory. Over the years, there was a steady encroachment on the assigned functionsand revenues of Urban Local Bodies by specialised agencies of the State Governments. Asa result, many urban local bodies became weak and were not able to perform effectively.The weakened status of ULBs crystallised public opinion in favour of need for a Constitutionalguarantee to safeguard the interests of urban local bodies in order to provide for

♣ Regular and fair conduct of elections to these bodies

♣ Holding of elections within a specified time limit in case of supersession

♣ Adequate representation of SC/ST and women in the elected bodies

♣ Placing on firm footing the relationship between the State Governments and the urbanlocal bodies with respect to:

� functions and taxation powers of the urban local bodies

� arrangement for revenue sharing between the State Government and the urbanlocal bodies

♣ Involvement of elected representatives at grassroot level in planning at the districtand metropolitan levels

Accordingly, the Constitution (73rd Amendment) Bill was introduced in the Parliament in1991, which was referred to the Joint Parliamentary Committee with Members from bothLok Sabha and Rajya Sabha for consideration. The Committee held several sittings and alsotook oral evidence and written comments from various organisations and individuals. TheCommittee had the opportunity of visiting various municipalities and held detailed discussionswith their officers and elected representatives as well as with several State Governments.This was probably the first time that the Parliamentary Committee had deliberated soextensively on a legislation concerning local self-government.

The Bill as reported by the Joint Parliamentary Committee was taken up for considerationand passed by the Lok Sabha on 22nd December, 1992 and by the Rajya Sabha on 23rdDecember, 1992 and it received the assent of President on 20th April, 1993. It waspublished in the Government Gazette on 20th April, 1993 as the �Constitution (SeventyForth Amendment) Act, 1992. The 74th Constitutional Amendment Act came into force on1st June, 1993. It had introduced a new part to the Constitution namely, Part IXA in the

1 Entry-5 reads as under: �Local Government, that is to say, the constitution and powers ofmunicipal corporations, improvement trusts, district boards, mining settlement authorities andother local authorities for the purpose of local self-Government or village administration.�


Constitution, which deals with the issues relating to municipalities. The main provisionsintroduced by the above Act are as under:

i) Constitution of Municipalities - It provides for constitution of 3 types of municipalitiesdepending upon the size and area namely -

a) Nagar Panchayat for an area in transition from rural to urban area;

b) Municipal Council for smaller urban area; and

c) Municipal Corporation for larger urban area.

Demographic and other conditions, which are determining factors for constituting aparticular type of municipality differ a great deal from one State to another. It has,therefore, been left to the State Legislatures to decide which specific type ofmunicipality will be constituted for particular urban area.

ii) Composition of Municipalities - The seats are filled by direct elections. Besides theseats filled by direct elections, some seats may be filled by nomination of personshaving special knowledge and experience in municipal administration. Persons sonominated shall not have the right to vote in the meetings of the municipality. TheLegislature of a State may, by law, also provide for the representation in a municipalityof members of the House of the People and the members of the Legislative Assemblyof the State representing constituencies which comprise wholly or partly the Municipalarea and also the Members of the Council of States and the members of the LegislativeCouncil of the State registered as electors within the municipal area. The manner ofelection of Chairpersons of municipalities has been left to be specified by the StateLegislature.

iii) Constitution of Wards Committees - This provides for constitution of Ward Committeesin all municipalities with a population of 3 lakhs or more.

iv) Reservation of seats - In order to provide for adequate representation of SC/ST andof women in the municipal bodies, provisions have been made for reservation ofseats. The proportion of seats to be reserved for SC/ST to the total number of seatsshall be same as the proportion of the population of SC/ST in the municipal area. Thereservation would be made in respect of seats to be filled by direct elections only.Not less than one-third of the total number of seats reserved for SC/ST shall bereserved for women belonging to SC/ST. This is a mandatory provision.

In respect of women, the seats shall be reserved to the extent of not less than one-third of the total number of seats. This includes seats reserved for women belongingto SC/ST. These reservations will apply for direct elections only. This is also a mandatoryprovision. There will be no bar on State Legislatures from making provisions forreservation of seats in any municipality or office of Chairperson in the municipalitiesin favour of backward class of citizens. This is an optional provision.

v) Duration of Municipalities - The municipality has a fixed term of 5 years from thedate appointed for its first meeting. Elections to constitute a municipality are requiredto be completed before the expiration of the duration of the municipality. If themunicipality is dissolved before the expiry of 5 years, the elections for constitutinga new municipality are required to be completed within a period of 6 months fromthe date of its dissolution.


vi) Powers and Functions of the Municipalities - All municipalities would be empoweredwith such powers and responsibilities as may be necessary to enable them to functionas effective institutions of self-government. The State Legislature may, by law, specifywhat powers and responsibilities would be given to the municipalities in respect ofpreparation of plans for economic development and social justice and forimplementation of schemes as may be entrusted to them. An illustrative list offunctions that may be entrusted to the municipalities has been incorporated as theTwelfth Schedule of the Constitution.

vii) Finances of Municipalities - It has been left to the Legislature of a State to specifyby law matters relating to imposition of taxes. Such law may specify:

♣ Taxes, duties, fees, etc. which could be levied and collected by the Municipalities,as per the procedure to be laid down in the State law

♣ Taxes, duties, fees, etc. which would be levied and collected by the StateGovernment and a share passed on to the Municipalities

♣ Grant-in-aid that would be given to the Municipalities from the State

♣ Constitution of funds for crediting and withdrawal of moneys by the Municipality.

viii) Finance Commission - The Finance Commission constituted under Article 243-I toreview the financial positions of Panchayati Raj Institutions shall also review thefinancial position of the municipalities and will make recommendations to the Governor.

The recommendations of the Finance Commission will cover the following:

♣ Distribution between the State Government and Municipalities of the net proceedsof the taxes, duties, tolls and fees leviable by the State

♣ Allocation of share of such proceeds between the Municipalities at all levels in theState

♣ Determination of taxes, duties, tolls and fees to be assigned or appropriated bythe Municipalities

♣ Grants-in-aid to Municipalities from the Consolidated Fund of the State

♣ Measures needed to improve the financial position of the Municipalities.

ix) Elections to Municipalities - The superintendence, direction and control of thepreparation of the electoral rolls for, and the conduct of, all elections to the panchayatsand municipalities shall be vested in the State Election Commissions.

x) Audit and Accounts - The maintenance of the accounts of the municipalities andother audit shall be done in accordance with the provisions in the State law. The StateLegislatures will be free to make appropriate provisions in this regard depending uponthe local needs and institutional framework available for this purpose.

xi) Committee for District Planning - Planning and allocation of resources at the districtlevel for the Panchayati Raj institutions are normally to be done by the Zilla Parishad.With regard to urban areas, municipal bodies discharge these functions within theirrespective jurisdictions. However, some important questions may arise, which wouldconcern the urban-rural interface, and it may be necessary to take an overall view


with regard to development of the district as a whole and decide on allocation ofinvestments between the rural and urban institutions.

Provision has, therefore, been made for the constitution of a Planning Committee atthe district level with a view to consolidating the plans prepared by the Panchayatsand the Municipalities and preparing a development plan for the district as a whole.

The District Planning Committee in preparing the Draft Development Plan shall haveregard to:

♣ Matter of common interest between the Panchayats and the Municipalities includingspatial planning

♣ Sharing of water and other physical and natural resources

♣ Integrated development of infrastructure and environment conservation

♣ Extent and type of available resources, whether financial or otherwise.

The Draft District Development Plan so prepared and recommended by the DistrictPlanning Committee shall be forwarded by the Chairperson of the Committee to theState Government.

xii) Metropolitan Planning Committees - It is provided in the Act that in every Metropolitanarea (with a population of 10 lakhs or more), a Metropolitan Planning Committee shallbe constituted for preparing a draft development plan for the metropolitan area asa whole. The Metropolitan Planning Committee shall take into account the followingfor preparation of the Draft Development Plan:

♣ Plan prepared by the Municipalities and the Panchayats in the metropolitan area

♣ Matter of common interest between the Municipalities and Panchayats includingcoordinated spatial plans of the area

♣ Sharing of water and other physical and natural resources

♣ Integrated development of infrastructure and environmental conservation

♣ Overall objectives and priorities set by the Government of India and the StateGovernment

♣ Extent and nature of investments likely to be made in the metropolitan area byagencies of the Government

♣ Other available resources, financial and otherwise.

In terms of Article 243ZC of the Constitution, nothing in Part IXA shall apply toScheduled areas and Tribal areas as referred to in Article 244 of the Constitution.However, Parliament may by law, extend the provisions of Part IXA to these areassubject to such exceptions and modifications as may be specified in that law.

Implementation of Part IXA - In order to provide time to allow changes to be made inthe then existing laws which were inconsistent with the provisions of the Constitution (74th

Amendment) Act, a transition period of one year was provided for. Immediately after theConstitution (74th Amendment) Act came into force on 1st June, 1993, the Ministry of


Urban Development took necessary steps to ensure that the provisions of the State MunicipalLaws are brought in conformity with the provisions of the above Act. As a result of varioussteps taken up by the Ministry of Urban Development through correspondence and alsoorganising meetings of the State level Secretaries, the State Governments brought in placethe conformity legislations by target date i.e. 31st May, 1994.

The amended State municipal laws provide for detailed provisions for constitution andcomposition of municipalities, reservation of seats for SC/ST and women, fixed term of5 years and re-election of municipalities within a period of 6 months in case of dissolution,functions and financial powers of municipalities, setting up of State Finance Commissionetc.

What has actually changed after 74th Constitution Amendment Act of 1992?

Municipalities have been in existent in several cities of India before 1992 as well.The question that arose hence was that what exactly have changed after thisAmendment. The difference between the municipal bodies functioning pre and postthe 1992 Amendment Act are as follows:

♣ The municipalities in pre-1992 era did not have the constitutional status and theState governments were free to extend or control the functional sphere throughexecutive decisions. This was done away with post 1992.

♣ Before the amendment, the State government could control the municipalitiesby controlling the funds. Amendment the State government is mandated totransfer the funds in accordance with the recommendations of the State FinanceCommission.

♣ The subject of jurisdiction was clearly defined in the 74th amendment withmunicipalities having exclusive control over 18 listed subjects.

♣ Representation of SCs/ST and women was laid down in the Act itself making themunicipalities a more representative body.

4. Some Urban Issues Discussed in Light of ConstitutionalProvisions

I) Constitutional provisions pertaining to Noise Pollution

Noise by definition is unwanted sound. Noise pollution can be divided into twocategories viz. Natural and man-made. Natural causes of noise pollution are air, noise,volcanoes, seas, rivers, exchanging voices of living organs including man and animals.Some of the chief causes of man-made noise pollution are machines and modernequipment of various types, automobiles, trains, planes, use of explosive, bursting offirecracker and new age machineries.

Noise affects human life in many ways. It affects sleep, hearing, communication andmental health and physical health and finally the peace of living. It may even leadto madness in some persons. However, noise, which is melodious whether natural orman-made, cannot always be considered as a contributor to pollution.


The Right to means of expressions and sound: The Indian Constitution under Article19 grants fundamental right to every citizen to freedom of speech and expression,with reasonable restriction of decency, morality, security of State, defamation,incitement of offence etc. The use of loudspeaker as a means of expression isregulated by reasonable restriction so as to meet public order and safety. Havingregard to the provision of Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution, it cannot be said thatthe District Magistrate, Sub-Divisional Officer and the Police authorities are the soleauthority who can grant at will permission without having any regard to the fundamentalrights of the fellow citizens.

A bye-law of a municipality requiring permission for using a loudspeaker does notinfringe Article 19(1)(a). State can regulate the use of loudspeakers and mechanicalor other contrivances to amplify sound, and does not amount to an infringement ofthe right under Article 19(1) (a). Similar is the case with explosives, fire cracker,etc. Article 25 of the Constitution also grants the right to use loud speaker protectingthe freedom, conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion.

Some legal response to Noise Pollution:

1) Railways Act, 1890 and noise: A large amount of noise pollution is advanced bythe noise emitted from railway engines and carriages. There is no check to curbthis noise pollution under the Railways Act, 1890 (Act No. IX OF 1890) statutoryauthority for the use of locomotives to railways administration. [7]

2) The Motor Vehicles Act, 1988: The Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 through Sections 20,21 (j), 41, 68, 68 I, 70, 91 and 111 empowers a State Government to frame rulesfor the un keep of motor vehicles and control of noise produced by them in thisjurisdiction. It is submitted that the Motor Vehicles Rules made by States do notcontain any effective control measures to control noise pollution except a meagercontrol of horns and silencers of the motor vehicles.

II) Constitutional provisions pertaining to Sanitation

If the human race is to survive and progress, preservation of good health is a must.Worldwide, nations are seeking viable answers to the question of how to offer ahealth care system, healthy living conditions and good quality health is not only anecessary requirement it is also an recognised fundamental rights for each and everyIndian and do play crucial factor for socio-economic maturity of the nation. Thecountry�s policy towards health has been traditionally identified by the provision ofprimary healthcare as the states responsibility.

At the beginning of 2000 one-sixth of the world�s population was without access toimproved water supply and two-fifth lacked access to improved sanitation.2 In theabsence of proper sanitation, people suffered from high levels of infectious diseasesleading to high incidences of morbidity and mortality. Inadequate sanitation likeunsafe disposal of human excreta, open defecation, lack of infrastructure (sewerage,drainage/silages), and absence of hygiene management constitute a major threat tothe health of the people. Despite the efforts and investment many low-income countriescontinue to suffer from inadequate and unsafe sanitation India falls one of those

2 Global Water Supply and Sanitation Assessment Report, 2002.


countries. Despite the global commitments, the improvements made by many countriesduring the last one decade are very poor and the constraints identified are: financialdifficulties, institutional problems, inadequate human resources, and lack of politicalcommitment, insufficient community involvement, inadequate operation andmaintenance, lack of hygiene education, poor water quality, people�s attitudes towardssanitation and insufficient information and communication.

5. ConclusionUrban laws and Indian constitution can be called as two sides of the same coin, so if thecoin loses any of its side than the coin is useless. The framers of the constitution whilemaking it were well aware of the circumstances and the need of law as it was the meretransfer of the laws from white hall to south hall many of the laws need to be looked uponminutely and there was urgent need of their enactment. As after the mid 90�s the concernof the legislative as well as executive is to bring a change in the society and to promoteurbanisation for which directive principles have been laid down and constitutional 74th

amendment enacted several other laws have been enacted which we elaborate in detail,constitution of India gives a concrete structure to the urban laws and policies, constitutionof India is there to maintain the equilibrium in implementing as well as strengthening theurban laws.

6. References and Recommended ReadingsIndian Constitutional Law, M.P. Jain.

Constitutional law of India, Prof. Narender Kumar.

Study of Education in Urban India, NIUA, 2004.

Nehru, J.L; The discovery of India, Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund, New Delhi,1981.

Basu D.D; Introduction to the Constitution of India, Prentice-Hall India,1997.


UNIT 2GOVERNMENT PLANS AND SCHEMES FOR URBANISATION

Contents Page No.

1. Introduction 15

2. Urbanisation in Governmental Five Year Plans 16

3. Policy Responses to Urbanisation 22

4. Conclusion 25


1. IntroductionUrbanisation is the physical growth of a urban area as a result of global change. Urbanisationis also defined by the United Nations as movement of people from rural to urban areaswith population growth equating to urban migration. It is closely linked to modernisation,industrialisation and the sociological process of rationalisation.

Each year India adds more people to the world�s population than any other country.1

Managing the ever-burgeoning population of the mega-cities continues to be one of thecrucial issues in the urban agenda of developing countries. A policy of urbandecentralisation � limiting or discouraging growth within the core cities while encouragingpopulation concentration in the smaller urban centers in the periphery � is an approachthat has been commonly adopted for spatial planning in many such countries over the pastdecades.

The urbanisation of India is taking place at a faster rate than in the rest of the world.By 2030, 40.76 per cent of India�s population will be living in urban areas compared toabout 28.4 per cent now.2 At the same time, according to the United Nations� �State ofthe World Population 2007� report, it is also said that metropolitan cities like Mumbai andKolkata have a far greater number of people moving out than coming in.

According to the report, over 90 per cent of slum-dwellers live in developing countrieswith China and India accounting for 37 per cent of them. About 56 per cent of the urbanpopulation lives in slum conditions. The report also says that in countries like India,Pakistan and Bangladesh, the literacy rate of women living in slums is as low as 52 percent. For countries like India, the report says, getting ready for the aging population isanother big challenge. In Chennai, it says, total fertility rate has fallen to below replacementlevels. The city has closed down 10 maternity clinics and reopened them as geriatric units.

It is predicted that a few years down the line, half of the world�s population would beliving in urban areas. But in most regions, the rate of urbanisation is showing a declineexcept in growing economies like India.3 The population of towns and cities in developingcountries like India is set to double in the space of a generation, while the urban populationin the developed world is expected to grow relatively lower, the report says.

1 UNDP Report, 2010.2 United Nations� �State of the World Population 2007� Report.3 Nesim Tumkaya, United National Population Fund representative in India.


What is urbanisation?

Urbanisation refers to general increase in population and the amount ofindustrialisation of a settlement. It includes increase in the number and extent ofcities. It symbolises the movement of people from rural to urban areas.

Urbanisation happens because of the increase in the extent and density of urbanareas. The density of population in urban areas increases because of the migrationof people from less industrialised regions to more industrialised areas.

Urbanisation can thus represent a level of urban population relative to total populationof the area, or the rate at which the urban proportion is increasing. Both can beexpressed in percentage terms, the rate of change expressed as a percentage peryear, millennia or period between censuses. Urbanisation can result from either:

♣ an increase in the extent of urban areas

♣ an increase in the density of urban areas

For instance, the United States or United Kingdom have a far higher urbanisationlevel than China, India, Swaziland or Nigeria, but a far slower annual urbanisationrate, since much less of the population is living in a rural area while in the processof moving to the city. The rate of urbanisation is much higher in countries like Indiaand China. Australia is at the opposite of the former two (US and UK) in terms ofurbanisation rate but also the latter two (India and China) in urbanisation level,making it one of the most urbanised countries in the world. The most urbanisedContinent is Australasia.

In terms of a place, urbanisation means increased spatial scale and/or density ofsettlement and/or business and other activities in the area over time. The processcould occur either as natural expansion of the existing population (usually not amajor factor since urban reproduction tends to be lower than rural), thetransformation of peripheral areas or due to in migration towards a particular city.

2. Urbanisation in Governmental Five Year PlansThe onset of modern and universal process of urbanisation is relatively a recent phenomenonand is closely related with industrial revolution and associated economic development. Asindustrial revolution started in Western Europe, United Kingdom was the initiator ofIndustrial Revolution. Historical evidence suggests that urbanisation process is inevitableand universal. Currently developed countries are characterised by high level of urbanisationand some of them are in final stage of urbanisation process and experiencing slowing downof urbanisation due to host of factors. A majority of the developing countries, on the otherhand started experiencing urbanisation only since the middle of 20th century.

With growth in urbanisation rate in India, there is also an increase in the pressures ofurbanisation related issues. One of the major evils born out of urbanisation is the increasein slums.

However, India has lifted 59.7 million people out of slum conditions since 2000. Slumprevalence fell from 41.5% in 1990 to 28.1% in 2010. This is a relative decrease of 32%.

Government Plans and Schemes for Urbanisation 17

Lessening poverty and improving conditions in slums are part of India�s urban developmentpolicy. It has achieved this, first, by building the skills of the urban poor in their chosenbusinesses, and by providing them micro-credit; second, by providing basic services anddevelopment within slum settlements, thus improving living conditions; third, by providingsecurity of tenure to poor families living in unauthorised settlements, improving theiraccess to serviced low-cost housing and subsidised housing finance; and fourth, byencouraging the poor to take part in decision-making and community development efforts.

The policies of urban development and housing in India have come a long way since 1950s.The pressure of urban population and lack of housing and basic services were very muchevident in the early 1950s. In some cities this was compounded by migration of peoplefrom Pakistan. However, the general perception of the policy makers was that India is pre-dominantly an agricultural and rural economy and that there are potent dangers of overurbanisation which will lead to the drain of resources from the countryside to feed thecities. The positive aspects of cities as engines of economic growth in the context ofnational economic policies were not much appreciated and, therefore, the problems ofurban areas were treated more as welfare problems and sectors of residual investmentrather than as issues of national economic importance.

Let us now examine the five year plans of the government related to urbanisation andhousing:

1) First Five Year Plan (1951-56) - In the First Five Year Plan, the emphasis was givenon institution building and on construction of houses for Government employees andweaker sections. The Ministry of Works and Housing was constituted and NationalBuilding Organisation and Town & Country Planning Organisation were set up. A sizeablepart of the plan outlay was spent for rehabilitation of the refugees from Pakistan andon building the new city of Chandigarh. An Industrial Housing Scheme was also initiated.The Center subsidised Scheme to the extent of 50% towards the cost of land andconstruction.

2) Second Five Year Plan (1956-61) - The scope of housing programme for the poor wasexpanded in this plan. The Industrial Housing Scheme was widened to cover allworkers. Three new schemes were introduced, namely, Rural Housing, Slum Clearanceand Sweepers Housing. Town and Country Planning Legislations were enacted in manyStates and necessary organisations were also set up for preparation of Master Plansfor important towns.

3) Third Five Year Plan (1961-66) - The general directions for housing programmes inthe third five year plan were co-ordination of efforts of all agencies and orienting theprogrammes to the needs of the Low Income Groups. A Scheme was introduced in1959 to give loans to State Govts. for a period of 10 years for acquisition anddevelopment of land in order to make available building sites in sufficient numbers.Master Plans for major cities were prepared and the State capitals of Gandhi Nagarand Bhubaneswar were developed.

4) Fourth Five Year Plan (1969-74) - Here the balanced urban growth was accordedhigh priority. The Plan stressed the need to prevent further growth of population inlarge cities and need for decongestion or dispersal of population. This was envisagedto be achieved by creation of smaller towns and by planning the spatial location ofeconomic activity. Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) was established


to fund the remunerative housing and urban development programmes, promising aquick turnover. A Scheme for Environmental Improvement or Urban Slums wasundertaken in the Central Sector from 1972-73 with a view to provide a minimumlevel of services, like, water supply, sewerage, drainage, street pavements in 11 citieswith a population of 8 lakhs and above. The scheme was later extended to 9 morecities.

5) Fifth Five Year Plan (1974-79) - This plan reiterated the policies of the precedingPlans to promote smaller towns in new urban centers, in order to ease the increasingpressure on urbanisation. This was to be supplemented by efforts to augment civicservices in urban areas with particular emphasis on a comprehensive and regionalapproach to problems in metropolitan cities. A Task Force was set up for developmentof small and medium towns. The Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act was enactedto prevent concentration of land holding in urban areas and to make available urbanland for construction of houses for the middle and low income groups.

6) Sixth Five Year Plan (1980-85) - The thrust of the planning here was on integratedprovision of services along with shelter, particularly for the poor. The IntegratedDevelopment of Small and Medium Towns (IDSMT) was launched in towns with populationbelow one lakh for provision of roads, pavements, minor civic works, bus stands,markets, shopping complex etc. Positive inducements were proposed for setting upnew industries and commercial and professional establishments in small, medium andintermediate towns.

7) Seventh Five Year Plan (1985-90) - The seventh plan stressed on the need to entrustmajor responsibility of housing construction on the private sector. A three-fold rolewas assigned to the public sector, namely, mobilisation for resources for housing,provision for subsidised housing for the poor and acquisition and development of land.The National Housing Bank was set up to expand the base of housing finance. NBOwas reconstituted and a new organisation called Building Material Technology PromotionCouncil (BMTPC) was set up for promoting commercial production of innovative buildingmaterials. A network of Building Centers was also set up during this Plan period. TheSeventh Plan explicitly recognised the problems of the urban poor and for the firsttime an Urban Poverty Alleviation Scheme known as Urban Basic Services for the Poor(UBSP) was launched.

As a follow-up of the Global Shelter Strategy (GSS), National Housing Policy (NHP) wasannounced in 1988. The long term goal of the NHP was to eradicate houselessness,improve the housing conditions of the inadequately housed and provide a minimumlevel of basic services and amenities to all. The role of Government was conceived,as a provider for the poorest and vulnerable sections and as a facilitator for otherincome groups and private sector by the removal of constraints and the increasedsupply of land and services.

The National Commission of Urbanisation submitted its report. The Report eloquentlypointed out the reality of continuing and rapid growth of the urban population as wellas the scale and intensity of urbanisation, the critical deficiencies in the various itemsof infrastructure, the concentration of vast number of poor and deprived people, theacute disparities in the access of shelter and basic services, deteriorating environmentalquality and the impact of poor governance on the income and the productivity ofenterprises.


8) Eighth Five Year Plan (1992-97) - In the backdrop of the report of The NationalCommission of Urbanisation, for the first time, the eighth plan explicitly recognisedthe role and importance of urban sector for the national economy. While growth rateof employment in the urban areas averaged around 3.8% per annum, it dropped toabout 1.6% in the rural areas. Therefore, the urban areas have to be enabled toabsorb larger increments to the labour force. The Plan identified the key issues in theemerging urban scenario:

♣ the widening gap between demand and supply of infrastructural services badlyhitting the poor, whose access to the basic services like drinking water, sanitation,education and basic health services is shrinking

♣ unabated growth of urban population aggravating the accumulated backlog ofhousing shortages, resulting in proliferation of slums and squatter settlement anddecay of city environment

♣ high incidence of marginal employment and urban poverty as reflected in NSS 43rd

round that 41.8 million urban people lived below the poverty line.

The response of the Plan to this scenario was the launching of Urban Poverty andAlleviation Programme of Nehru Rojgar Yojana (NRY).

9) Ninth Five Year Plan (1997-2002) � The ninth five year plan also stressed onurbanisation and housing policies, to say the least. In order to overcome the deficienciesin urban policies and to approach the desirable urbanisation pattern, additional fundswere dispatched across the country which are estimated to be almost double theprevious plan�s outlay.

10) Tenth Five Year Plan (2002-2007) - The Constitution (74th) Amendment Act, 1992was intended to give a more focussed thrust to decentralisation and the creation ofa democratic governance structure with local responsibilities being assumed andmanaged at the local level. It was to address the inadequacies of the existing systemof municipalities, redefine the relationship between the states and municipal bodiesand lay the foundations of a new approach to urban management and governance thatcould fulfill the needs and aspirations of urban residents for development. Article243W of the Act mandated the setting up of elected municipalities � urban localbodies (ULBs) - as the �institutions of self-government�.

The important features of the Act are well-known but bear repetition since all of themhave not been acted upon. These are :

♣ Regular elections under the supervision of the state Election Commission;

♣ A clear tenure of five years for the elected body;

♣ Protection for the elected body against arbitrary dissolution;

♣ Constitution of Wards Committees for greater proximity to the citizens;

♣ Mandate to state legislature to endow the ULBs with such powers and authorityas may be necessary to enable them to function as �institutions of self-government�;

♣ The Twelfth Schedule which illustrates the range of responsibilities to be given tothe ULBs;


♣ The constitution of State Finance Commissions (SFCs) to review municipal financesand make recommendations regarding distribution of the proceeds of state-leveltaxes between the state governments and the ULBs, criteria for grants-in-aid,measures needed to improve the financial position of the municipal bodies, etc.;

♣ Setting up District Planning Committees and Metropolitan Planning Committees forintegrated as well as coordinated planning for urban and rural areas by thevarious agencies involved in providing civic, transport, economic and social services.

It is significant that apart from the traditional municipal functions, Article 243Wallocates to ULBs the function of �preparation of plans for economic development andsocial justice�, and the Twelfth Schedule of the constitution contains �urban povertyalleviation� as a municipal responsibility. These take municipal bodies from beingmere providers of civic amenities to a much wider arena of action encompassingeconomic and social planning. The Constitutional amendment has designed the ULBsas comprehensive institutions of urban self-government, and has left the details to beworked out by the state legislatures.

The state governments have carried out the required amendments to the municipallaws in accordance with their own requirements and some states have even enactedfresh legislation. Elections under the new dispensation have been held in most states,more than once in many. The enthusiasm among urban residents for the ULBs has beenamply demonstrated by the fact that voter turnout in elections has been in the rangeof 65 to 70 per cent, much higher than the participation in elections to Parliamentand state legislature. There are around 73,000 elected representatives in the ULBs allover the country. It has, therefore, rightly been observed that �the democratic structureof the country is no longer limited only to the Parliament and the state legislatures�.Now there is no denying the fact that the elected ULBs are full-fledged institutionsof local self-government, a key part of democratic decentralisation in the country.

The challenge to be met in the Tenth Plan period is to assist these elected bodies togrow organically to fulfill the demands of urban residents for a quality of life in linewith world standards. There is no doubt that the urban governance will progressivelybe managed at the local level ensuring better opportunities for people to expresstheir needs and expectations, and with professional competence and capacitysupplementing the democratic nature of the ULBs. The credit for this goes to the 74th

Constitutional amendment, though it has been the subject of much debate from theoutset.

11) Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-2012) - Urban development has been high on agendain the later five year plans including the latest 11th Five year plan. The Eleventh Planaddresses itself to the challenge of making growth both faster and more inclusive. Therapid growth achieved in the past several years demonstrates that we have learnt howto bring about growth, but we have yet to achieve comparable success in inclusiveness.The Eleventh Plan aims at achieving a radical transformation in this aspect of ourdevelopment. It sets a target for 9% growth in the five year period 2007�08 to 2011�12 with acceleration during the period to reach 10% by the end of the Plan. It alsoidentifies 26 other measurable indices of performance relating to poverty, education,health, women and children, infrastructure, and environment and sets monitorabletargets in each of these.


The main focus in the Eleventh Plan is development of infrastructure. Poor quality ofinfrastructure seriously limits India�s growth potential in the medium term and theEleventh Plan outlines a comprehensive strategy for development of both rural andurban infrastructure, defined to include electric power, roads, railways, ports, airports,telecommunications, irrigation, drinking water, sanitation, storage, and warehousing.The total investment in these areas was around 5% of GDP in 2006�07 and the Planaims at increasing this to about 9% of GDP by the terminal annum 2011�12.

Since various social sector and livelihood support programmes for the poor will havethe first charge on public resources, the strategy for infrastructure development hasbeen designed to rely as much as possible on private sector investment throughvarious forms of PPPs. The Plan recognises that the scope for private participation ininfrastructure development in several areas is limited and the infrastructure requirementof these areas therefore, has to be met through public investment. However, it istherefore all the more necessary that the fullest possible use must be made ofopportunities to attract private sector investment wherever this is feasible. Both theCenter and the states have seen varying degrees of success in attracting privateinvestment in areas such as power generation, telecommunications, roads, railways,airports, and ports, though much more needs to be done.

Table 1: Plan Outlay in Housing and Urban Development Sector4

(Rs. in million)

Plan Total Outlay Housing & Urban PercentageDevelopment Share in the Total

First Plan 20688 488 2.1

Second Plan 48000 1200 2.5

Third Plan 85765 1276 1.5

Annual Plan(1966-69) 66254 733 1.1

Fourth Plan 157788 2702 1.7

Fifth Plan 394262 11500 2.9

Annual Plan (1977-80) 121765 3688 3.0

Sixth Plan 975000 24884 2.6

Seventh Plan 1800000 42295 2.3

Annual Plan (1990-92) 1338350 3001 2.2

Eighth Plan 4341000 105000 2.4

Ninth Plan 158800

Tenth Plan 405000

Eleventh Plan 368700

4 Housing and Urban Policy in India, Ministry of Urban Development.


3. Policy Responses to UrbanisationUrbanisation is a global phenomenon. It is a measure of the process by which the proportionof the total population concentrated in the urban settlements increase. In fact all thedeveloped countries in the world are generally urbanised. Population growth is moreprevalent in urban areas. It provides better economic opportunities. Education and healthfacilities are mostly available in urban areas. An urban area can be defined in a numberof ways � legal, demographic or economic � but all towns have the basic characteristicsof being spatial concentrations of people and economic activities. In India, the definitionof �urban� given by census of India is generally accepted which is as follows:

i) A minimum population of 5000

ii) At least 75 per cent of male working population engaged in non-agricultural pursuitsand

iii) A density of population of at least 400 persons per sq.km.

Urban areas account for about 28% of Indian population and 60% of the Gross NationalProduce (GDP) of the country. It creates 57% of India�s employment barring AgricultureSector. India is traditionally considered as a Rural Society and Rural Areas are favoured bydisproportionate allocation under successive plans. The urban areas together get only 15%of plan allocation. Schemes such as Rural Employment Generation Schemes, Rural WaterSupply and other Rural Development Schemes always get priority over Urban DevelopmentSchemes. Urban areas remain traditionally as neglected areas. Both the Central and Statefunds mainly flow to rural areas.

Of late, the Governments are seized of the danger in neglecting the urban areas andresultantly schemes such as Suwarna Jayanthi Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY) and NationalSlum Development Programme (NSDP) have been framed. Still the allocation on theseschemes are far below the requirement. Our urban areas are in severe crisis. Planningprocess is slowly but steadily trying to overcome the deficiencies in urban policies. However,we still have a long way to go as there is a lot to do to overcome urban problems. Thecities are over crowded, urban land has become extremely scarce. The avoid severeproblems, it is suggested that city services and city management must be strengthened.The present urban infrastructure has become outdated. This needs to be rectified i.e.roads, water supply, drainage and sewerage have collapsed. Providing ample parking spaceand open space have been totally neglected. Enforcement of municipal laws has miserablyfailed.

Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Reforms Mission (JNNURM) - India has to improve itsurban areas to achieve objectives of economic development. In this context, the Governmenthas launched a reform-linked urban investment programme, Jawaharlal Nehru NationalUrban Reforms Mission (JNNURM).

JNNURM was launched in December, 2005. Under the scheme, Additional Central Assistanceis provided to the cities and subject to the implementation of a set of reforms.

Historically, the planning response to the urban challenges has been expansion ofinfrastructure with greater capital investment. Decentralised governance was attemptedwith the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1993 delegating the functions of water and


sanitation, among others, to the urban Local Bodies. Yet, the sector performance couldnot be improved to compare with the best practices the world over as evident fromassessments from time to time and from the benchmarking studies. In a paradigm shift,the Government took up the challenge of implementing urban reforms aimed at improvingthe delivery of services in the entire urban sector including water supply and sanitationunder the JNNURM.

It is estimated that urban India will continue to concentrate in 1 million and above cities,as number of these cities will increase from 35 to 61 during 2001-2026. Moreover, as perUN-Habitat (2008), eleven cities, namely, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai,Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune, Surat, Jaipur and Kanpur will have population over 4.0 millionin 2025 and these Mega cities will have total population of 127 million (over 24% of totalurban population). It is pertinent to note that in the Western Region itself, there will befour Mega cities and the corresponding number in Northern and Southern Regions will bethree each. But in the Eastern Region, Kolkata will continue to be the only Mega city.

In terms of urban population distribution, India will be mainly dominated by the 11 statesidentified as first group and 11 Mega cities. This analysis has important implication forfuture urban policy in the country. Any strategy formulated in the country should recognisethese differences and lay out plans accordingly. India�s future strategy should focus on:

a) Inter-government transfers with built-in incentives to improve performance;

b) Capacity building of ULBs;

c) Investments on asset creation as well as management;

d) Integrate urban transport with land use planning;

e) Integrate various urban development and related programmes at local, state andnational levels;

f) Strengthen urban institutions and clarify roles of different organisations;

g) Second generation of urban reforms should further focus on regulation, innovativefinancing and PPP, and climate change initiatives;

h) Different approach of supporting reform-linked investments needed for different statesbased on level of urbanisation.

Facilitating, or at least not hampering, the movement of people from low productivityareas to high productivity areas is now being viewed as an effective way of reaping thegains from localised growth in globalising economies that are experiencing growing ratesof inequality.

Over the years, there has been a wide gap between the requirement and allocation offunds. Keeping in view the shortcomings in the existing programmes and the commitmentgiven in the Common Minimum Programme, the Central government has drawn up acomprehensive programme of urban renewal.

In this strategy, a two-track approach has been envisaged. In the first prong of thestrategy, the JNNURM has been sanctioned to provide financial support of about Rs. 50,000Crores to 63 cities for up gradation and improvement of infrastructure in a planned andintegrated manner. The programme is phased over a period of seven years. The chosen


cities comprise the State Capitals, cities with one million plus population and someselected cities of religious, tourist, cultural and heritage importance. It is expected thatthese cities will have a demonstration effect on others.

In the second prong of the strategy, the need for other cities and towns, which are notincluded in the mission, would be addressed through another scheme of assistance knownas �Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns (UIDSSMT) andIntegrated Housing and Slum Development Programme (IHSDP).

Land Policy and Housing - The Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, 1976 was repealedas a significant step towards reform in the urban land market. Following the repeal of thecentral legislation, a number of state governments have also repealed the state-level law.

However, the Act still exists in some states, while several other state laws like the LandRevenue Act, Land Reforms Act, Stamp Duty Act, and Urban Development Authorities Acts/Town Planning Acts continue to hamper the availability of land for housing and otherconstruction, pushing up land prices.

There is a need to take measures to ease the availability of land so that growth can takeplace through increased construction and housing activity, and land prices can be broughtdown to moderate levels making affordable shelter available to the lower income groups.This will also help prevent the proliferation of unauthorised colonies. This is by no meansa measure to dilute urban planning, where enforcement has often been the weakest link.On the contrary, it will make urban planning more in tune with the changing nature ofcities.

More flexible zoning regulations to permit change of land use where justified, easiersubdivision regulations, and extension of trunk services to new areas/new townships willhelp to reduce congestion and develop the cities in an orderly fashion. Innovative measuresfor land assembly, land pooling, and use of land as a resource to build up infrastructurewill need to be continued and their administration made more efficient and transparent.

Since 2001, 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) has been permitted in thedevelopment of integrated townships. However, investments may not materialise unlessthe conditions relating to land procurement are made simple. In urban areas, especiallythose with Master Plans, the needs of urbanisation should have precedence over landrevenue and land reforms legislations in which restrictions on land ownership, transfers,and land use are incorporated in order to prevent the conversion of agricultural land.Other problems relate to the lack of clear titles, old, protected tenancies and rentcontrol. All these problems, working together, have made it impossible for land to beprocured for development in city centers, barring in small quantities. In prime areas,much of the land is used well below its potential.

Rent control and tenancy laws also prevent the development of rental housing, thuscontracting housing stock. Reform of these laws is a politically sensitive issue, as evidencedby the history of recent efforts to amend the Delhi Rent Act. However, there is someawareness that rent control at absurdly low levels with virtually no relation to marketrates and extraordinary protection to tenants over generations not only hinder thedevelopment of rental housing but also act as barriers to the growth of cities. Dilapidatedstructures cannot be renovated because of the difficulty in evicting tenants, with the


result that rejuvenation of inner city areas is not taking place. Transitory arrangementscan be made to help those who will face hardships, but zoning regulations should take intoaccount the changing nature of inner city areas and permit their redevelopment.

The Housing and Habitat Policy, 1998 has specifically advocated that Government createa facilitating environment for growth of housing activity instead of taking on the task ofhousing itself. Housing is largely a private sector activity in both the rural and urbansectors. This is not to rule out the need for a high degree of involvement of the Governmentand its agencies in meeting the housing needs of the urban poor. The nature of thisinvolvement � it may in some instances extend to house construction itself � is to bedetermined by the needs of a given situation. The National Agenda of Governance alsoemphasised that housing activity would be an engine for substantial generation ofemployment, and all legal and administrative impediments that stand in the way ofvigorous housing activity should be removed forthwith.

What is undisputed is that governmental initiatives � and its �facilitating role� � have asignificant impact on the provision of housing and growth of the sector. These initiativesand interventions relate to legislations concerning ownership, transfers and developmentof land; stamp duty and registration laws; rent control legislation; tax policy particularlyrelating to housing loans; property and land tax laws; town planning law and its actualimplementation, i.e., Comprehensive Development Plans, zoning regulations, land usechange; and building bye-laws.

It also covers urban development activities through parastatals and urban developmentauthorities; sites and services schemes; slum policy; provision of urban infrastructure;urban transport policy and facilities; the institutions in the public sector relating tohousing development and housing finance; and house construction in the public sector.

4. ConclusionThe rate of urbanisation in India is increasing at a fast pace. Urbanisation is a naturaloutcome of the process of development and we must gear up to the challenge to meetthe need for providing infrastructure and utilities in the cities. It will be necessary toupgrade the quality of infrastructure in existing cities to provide improved municipalservices and also to develop new cities and suburban townships in the vicinity of existingcities as satellites/counter magnets to redistribute the influx of population.

Urban infrastructure is expensive to construct and, the financial condition of most of ourcities is such that they will not be able to finance the scale of investment for quite sometime. Accordingly, JNNURM seeks to provide Central assistance for urban infrastructuredevelopment linked to a process of reforms at the city and urban local body level whichwould make these bodies more financially viable, and ultimately capable of financing theinvestment we need in urban areas.

The JNNURM has got off to a good start, but close monitoring will be necessary, especiallyin the Eleventh Plan as well as the coming five year plans so as to ensure successfulimplementation of individual projects and also the larger reforms agenda.

Great progress has been made in developing the framework for reform linked investmentin urban infrastructure. As per population projection in 2026, level of urbanisation will be


different in various states. India�s future urban strategy should recognise these differencesand plan accordingly. To improve urban governance and delivery of services there shouldbe not just constitutional amendments but also administrative actions. Most importantly,inter-government transfers should have built-in incentives to improve performance andcapacity building should be an important component of the future urban programme.

5. References and Recommended ReadingsInvestment Requirements for Urban Infrastructure �Investment Requirements for Sustainable

Urban Transport in India�, NIUA, New Delhi, 2009.

Baud, I.S.A. and Wit, J. De, �New Forms of Urban Governance in India�, Sage, 2008.

�Developing India�s Municipal Bond Market: Constraints to Overcome� Workshop organisedby Government of India, Indo-US FIRE (D) Project and NIUA in July 2008.

Gill, I. And Kharas, H., �An East Asian Renaissance-Ideas for Economic Growth� WorldBank, 2007.

Pathak, V. K., Presentation on �Land as a Resource for Financing Urban Infrastructure�during Workshop on Alternate Sources of Financing Urban Infrastructure, NIUA, NewDelhi March 26, 2009.

Spence, M., Aneez, P.C., Buckley, R. M., �Urbanisation and Growth� Commission on UrbanGrowth, 2009.

Redkar, S., �New Management Tools for Mumbai�s Solid Waste Management� in Baud, I.S.A.and Wit, J. De, 2008.

�Integrated City Making� Urban Age, London School of Economics and Political Science,2008.

Mathur, O.P. and Thakur, S., �India Municipal Sector- A Study for Twelth Finance Commission,NIPFP, New Delhi, 2004.

Mehta, D. (2006) �Urban Governance: Lessons from Best Pratices in Asia� in Shah P.J. andBakore, M. Handbook on New Public Governance, CCS, New Delhi.

Sivaramkrishnan, K. C. (2006), �People�s Participation in Urban Goverance� I.S.S, NewDelhi.


UNIT 3URBAN DEVELOPMENT POLICIES IN INDIA

Contents Page No.

1. Introduction 27

2. Institutional Mechanisms for Urban Development in India 29

3. National Policies Pertaining to Urban Development 32

4. State Policies Pertaining to Urban Development 45

5. Conclusion 49


1. IntroductionUrbanisation is a broad term and there are wide variations amongst the States and regionsin the level of urbanisation. National Capital Territory of Delhi with 92.73 per centurbanisation and the Union territory of Chandigarh with 93.63 per cent urbanisation arethe most urbanised cities while Dadra and Nagar Haveli at 8.47 per cent urbainisation isthe least urbanized city in the country.1 The states with greater urban concentration areMaharashtra with 38.73 per cent of its population living in urban areas, followed byGujarat (34.40 per cent) and Tamil Nadu (34.20 per cent).

While there has been urban growth in some states, in other states and cities there hasalso been deceleration. Inter-state variation in the annual growth of urban population andurban-rural growth differential (URGD) throws more light on the development of urbanIndia and its underlying characteristics. Except in Kerala, Gujarat and Maharashtra, theURGD is lower in all other states during 1981-91 than in 1971-81. Conspicuous decelerationin urban growth during 1981-91 has taken place in Bihar, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh.

It is interesting to note that the population growth is more in cities that are big. Aboutone-third of Urban India (71 million) lives in metropolitan cities (million plus). The numberof such cities in India has increased from 1 in 1901 to 5 in 1951 to 23 in 1991. It isestimated that the number will go up to 40 by 2001. Out of the total increase in thecountry�s urban population of 58 million between 1981 and 1991, 44 million were addedto Class I cities alone. 28 million persons were added in metropolitan cities.

In spite of its prominent role in Indian economy, urban India faces serious problems dueto population pressure, deterioration in the physical environment and quality of life.According to estimates nearly one third of the urban India lives below poverty line. About15 per cent of the urbanites do not have access to safe drinking water and about 50 percent are not covered by sanitary facilities.

Traffic congestion has assumed critical dimensions in many metropolitan cities due tomassive increase in the number of personal vehicles, inadequate road space and lack ofpublic transport. There is a huge and widening gap between demand and supply of

1 Statistics extracted from website of MoUD.


essential services and infrastructure. Urban poor in India are forced to live under unhygienicconditions in slums, lacking in basic amenities. Slums have grown in almost all major citiesdue to inability of major chunks of population to afford accommodation in planned areasof the cities.

Table 1: Million-plus cities of India

Rank City Population (in million)

1951 1971 1991

1. Bombay (Mumbai) 2.97 5.97 12.57

2. Calcutta (Kolkta) 4.67 7.42 10.92

3. Delhi 1.44 3.65 8.38

4. Madras (Chennai) 1.54 3.17 5.36

5. Hyderabad 1.13 1.80 4.28

6. Bangalore 0.79 1.66 4.09

7. Ahmedabad 0.88 1.75 3.30

8. Pune 0.61 1.14 2.49

9. Kanpur 0.71 1.28 2.11

10. Nagpur 0.48 0.93 1.66

11. Lucknow 0.50 0.81 1.64

12. Surat 0.24 0.49 1.52

13. Jaipur 0.30 0.64 1.52

14. Kochi 0.18 0.51 1.14

15. Coimbatore 0.29 0.74 1.14

16. Vadodara 0.21 0.47 1.12

17. Indore 0.31 0.56 1.10

18. Patna 0.32 0.55 1.10

19. Madurai 0.37 0.71 1.09

20. Bhopal 0.10 0.38 1.06

21. Vishakapatnam 0.11 0.36 1.05

22. Varanasi 0.37 0.64 1.03

23. Ludhiana 0.15 0.40 1.01

Urban Development Policies in India 29

2. Institutional Mechanisms for Urban Development in IndiaIn the federal structure of the Indian polity, the matters pertaining to the housing andurban development have been assigned by the Constitution of India to the StateGovernments. The Constitutions (74th Amendment) Act have further delegated many ofthese functions to the ULBs. The constitutional and legal authority of the government ofIndia is limited only to Delhi and other Union Territories and to the subject which StateLegislatures authorise the Union Parliament to legislate. This is because �urbanisation�generally is a State subject as per Schedule 11 of the India Constitution.

However, the provisions of the Constitution notwithstanding, the government of India playsa much more important role and exercise a larger influence to shape the policies andprogrammes of the country as a whole. The national policy issues are decided by theGovernment of India which also allocates resources to the State Governments throughvarious Centrally Sponsored schemes, provides finances through national financial institutionsand supports various external assistance programmes for housing and urban developmentin the country as a whole. Policies and programme contents are decided at the time offormulation of Five Year Plans. The indirect effect of the fiscal, economic and industriallocation decisions of the Government of India exercise a far more dominant influence onthe pattern of urbanisation and real estate investment in the country.

The Ministry of Urban Development and the Ministry of Urban Employment and PovertyAlleviation are the apex authority of Government of India at the national level to formulatepolicies, sponsor and support programme, coordinate the activities of various CentralMinistries, State Governments and other nodal authorities and monitor the programmesconcerning all the issues of urban development and housing in the country.

The Ministry was constituted on 13th May, 1952 when it was known as the Ministry of Works,Housing and Supply. Subsequently it was renamed as Ministry of Works and Housing whena separate Ministry of Supply came up. The name of the Ministry was changed to Ministryof Urban Development in September, 1985 in recognition of the importance of urbanissues. With the creation of a separate Department of Urban Employment and PovertyAlleviation on 8th March, 1995, the Ministry came to be known as the Ministry of UrbanAffairs and Employment. The Ministry had two Departments: Department of UrbanDevelopment and Department of Urban Employment & Poverty Alleviation. The twoDepartments were again merged on 9th April, 1999 and in consequence thereto, the namehas also been restored to �The Ministry of Urban Development�.

This Ministry was bifurcated into two Ministries viz.

i) �Ministry of Urban Development� and

ii) �Ministry of Urban Employment and Poverty Alleviation� with effect from 16.10.1999.These two Ministries were again merged into one Ministry on 27.5.2000 and named as�Ministry of Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation� with two Departments. Theyare (i) Department of Urban Development and

iii) Department of Urban Employment and Poverty Alleviation.


From 27.5.2004, the Ministry has again been bifurcated into two Ministries viz.

i) Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) and

ii) Ministry of Urban Employment and Poverty Alleviation.

The following business has been allocated to the MoUD:

1) Properties of the Union, whether lands or buildings, with the following exceptions,namely:

a) those belonging to the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Railways and theDepartment of Atomic Energy and the Department of Space;

b) buildings or lands, the construction or acquisition of which has been financedotherwise than from the Civil Works Budget;

c) buildings or lands, the control of which has at the time of construction or acquisitionor subsequently been permanently made over to other Ministries and Departments.

2) All Government Civil Works and Buildings including those of Union territories excludingRoads and excluding works executed by or buildings belonging to the Ministry ofRailways, Department of Posts, Department of Telecommunications, Department ofAtomic Energy and the Department of Space.

3) Horticulture operations.

4) Central Public Works Organisation.

5) Administration of Government estates including Government Hostels under the controlof the Ministry. Location or dispersal of offices in or from the metropolitan cities.

6) Allotment of accommodation in Vigyan Bhawan.

7) Administration of four Rehabilitation Markets viz. Sarojini Nagar Market, Shankar Market,Pleasure Garden Market and Kamla Market.

8) Issue of lease or conveyance deeds in respect of Government built properties in Delhiand New Delhi under the Displaced Persons (Compensation and Rehabilitation) Act,1954 (44 of 1954) and conversion of lease deeds, allotment of additional strips of landand correctional areas adjoining such properties.

9) Stationery and Printing for the Government of India including official publications.

10) Planning and coordination of urban transport systems with technical planning of railbased systems being subject to the items of work allocated to the Ministry of Railways,Railway Board.

11) Fixing of maximum and minimum rates and fares for rail-based urban transport systemsother than those funded by the Indian Railways.

12) Tramways including elevated high speed trams within municipal limits or any othercontiguous zone.

13) Town and Country Planning; matters relating to the Planning and Development ofMetropolitan Areas, International Cooperation and technical assistance in this field.


14) Schemes of large scale acquisition, development and disposal of land in Delhi.

15) Delhi Development Authority.

16) Master Plan of Delhi, Coordination of work in respect of the Master Plan and SlumClearance in the National Capital Territory of Delhi.

17) Erection of memorials in honour of freedom fighters.

18) Development of Government Colonies.

19) Local Government, that is to say, the constitution and powers of the MunicipalCorporations (excluding the Municipal Corporation of Delhi), Municipalities (excludingthe New Delhi Municipal Committee), other Local Self-Government Administrationsexcluding Panchayati Raj Institutions.

20) The Delhi Water Supply and Sewage Disposal Undertaking of the Municipal Corporationof Delhi.

21) Water supply (subject to overall national perspective of water planning and coordinationassigned to the Ministry of Water Resources), sewage, drainage and sanitation relatingto urban areas and linkages from allocated water resources. International cooperationand technical assistance in this field.

22) The Central Council of Local Self-Government.

23) Allotment of Government land in Delhi.

24) Administration of Rajghat Samadhi Committee.

25) All matters relating to Planning and Development of the National Capital Region andadministration of the National Capital Region Planning Board Act, 1985 (2 of 1985).

26) Matters relating to the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH).

27) Matters of the Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) relating to urbaninfrastructure.

28) Administration of the Requisitioning and Acquisition of Immovable Property Act, 1952(30 of 1952).

29) Administration of Delhi Hotels (Control of Accommodation Act, 1949 (24 of 1949).

30) The Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1971 (40 of 1971).

31) Administration of the Delhi Development Act, 1957 (61 of 1957).

32) The Delhi Rent Control Act, 1958 (59 of 1958).

33) The Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, 1976 (33 of 1976).

34) Delhi Urban Art Commission, the Delhi Urban Art Commission Act, 1973 (1 of 1973).

The MoUD is responsible for formulating policies, supporting programmes, monitoringprogrammes and coordinate the activities of various Central Ministries, State Governmentsand other nodal authorities in so far as the relate to urban development concerning allthe issues in the country.


The attached offices to the Ministries are as follows:

♣ Central Public Works Department

♣ Directorate of Printing

♣ Directorate of Estates

♣ Land and Development Office

♣ CCA

♣ CPHEEO

Listed below are some Statutory and Autonomous bodies:

♣ Delhi Development Authority

♣ Delhi Urban Arts Commission

♣ National Capital Region Planning Board

♣ National Institute of Urban Affairs

♣ Rajghat Samadhi Committee

NBCC is a Public Sector Undertakings attached to the MoUD. There are a few joint ventureprojects operational in various parts of the country.

♣ Delhi Metro

♣ Chennai Metro

♣ Kolkata Metro

♣ Bangalore Metro

Some Subordiante Offices are:

♣ Town and Country Planning Organisation

♣ GOI Stationary Office

♣ Department of Publication

3. National Policies Pertaining to Urban DevelopmentUrban congestion may be tackled in three ways. The most popular one is to go vertical.That generally makes matters worse because it increases congestion, escalates land pricesand hurts the poor more and more. Expanding horizontally is another option. That increasescommuting distances, worsens the congestion at the center, and is no better than verticalexpansion from the social point of view: children and parents get separated for long hours.This option, though alluring and more practical, also has various drawbacks in the longrun. Moreover, in times of today�s serious space crunch, this seemingly logical and practicalsolution is not so parctical beyond a point. The third (and so far the least successful)solution is the satellite town. Kalyani near Kolkata and Maraimalainagar near Chennai arestanding examples of their limited appeal. Yet, in the final analysis, the satellite town isthe best option as of today.

For instance, people prefer to live in Delhi and to commute everyday to work in theneighbouring industrial town of Faridabad. This practice sharply contrasts with the US


experience where the fashion is to work in the city but live in far away rural counties.in India, the old city is the dormitory, the satellite town the work place. In the US, it isthe other way round. That happens because American satellite towns offer high qualityservices of the type that may be described as tele-ineffective � the kind of services thathave to be close to the home and are of no use if they are far away. Indian satellite townsare poorly designed in this respect.

What are tele-effective services that is essential for cities or townships?

Tele-effective services are mainly those services without which a city or townshipcannot function. Such services can be identified as follows:

1) Schools: People do not expect colleges to be nearby, but kindergarten andelementary schools have to be close at hand.

2) General Hospitals: People might be willing to go even a thousand miles for open-heart surgery, but maternity hospitals, emergency services and general healthcare services must be accessible at short notice.

3) Retail Stores: Retail shopping is an essential element for everyday living. In anygood locality, easily accessible retail shopping is a must.

In countries like US and UK, tele-effective services are strong in a vicinity in suburbsand localities that resemble satellite towns. In India, the situation is quite theopposite. It is the main city that offers the best schools, medical facilities andshopping, not satellite towns. Satellite towns in India like Maraimalainagar nearChennai lay dormant for decades because it offered no schools or hospitals of repute.Kalyani, near Ahmadabad, started with a university but no schools worthy of note.That is why Kalyani too did not succeed. Basically, satellite towns will take off whentwo conditions are satisfied: One, when they offer superior quality tele-effectivesurvives like schools, hospitals and departmental stores. Two, the cost of commutingto the city is low to access tele-effective services such as universities and airportsthat only the parent city can offer.

These are not onerous conditions but require ingenuity and a new paradigm in habitatmanagement. Therefore, this option is only for the competent and for those with thecourage or willingness to experiment with new ideas. By world standards, prestigioussatellite towns such as Salt Lake City, near Kolkata, and Gurgaon, near Delhi, areover-crowded. So, they do not relieve the parent city as well as they should. Mostof the times, the problem is not physical but political and cultural. Overcoming theinhibition against allocating adequate space, and designing habitats with a minimumaverage of at least 200 square meters of residential space, plus an equal area perdwelling for non-residential use, is Step One in the development and promotion ofsatellite towns.

The space in a city should be evenly distributed. Most cities have hotspots of highcongestion. As a thumb rule, in every locality, minimum allocation per dwellingshould be: 80 square meters of roads, 20 square meters of commercial space, another20 square meters of parking space in commercial centers, 40 square meters ofgardens and parks, 10 square meters for schools and hospitals with another 40 square


meters for industries, etc.2 Uniform distribution of space on these lines is Step Twoin satellite town development. Choosing such a location is Step Three.

All these three steps require high administrative competence to implement. Theurban problem is not merely administrative; it is cultural and political too. As apolitical ploy, State governments in India offer a tax holiday to attract entrepreneurs.That is of limited use. To make satellite towns truly attractive, there must be aholiday for over-restrictive labour laws, the Rent Control Act and extortionate stampduty too. That requires political courage. Fortunately, not much of that may beneeded if these holidays are restricted to satellite towns. These holidays are StepFour.

State governments can help much more. They should take active steps to promotehigh quality schools, hospitals and shopping malls in satellite towns. For instance,they may minimise entry costs for investors by leasing land rather than selling itoutright. In a matching fashion, the government may acquire land from farmers forthe satellite town not by outright purchase but on an annual lease.

Designing a sustainable city plan requires a lot of effort and skill as well as provisions ofUrban service delivery. It also requires a proper legislative and institutional backing. TheInstitutional arrangement for municipal governance and urban service delivery mainlycomprises the Constitutional provisions, State Municipal Laws, role of State FinanceCommission (SFC) and Central Finance Commission (CFC), and status of ULBs and LocalSelf-Governments.

A) 74th Constitutional Amendment Act: Municipal institutions in India have a history ofover 300 years. These refer to ULBs comprising municipal corporations, municipalitiesand nagar panchayats. In 2001, there were about 3636 ULBs in the country. However,the Constitution did not make Local Self-Government in urban areas a clear-cutconstitutional obligation. As a consequence of inadequate Constitutional provision forLocal Self-Government, democracy in municipal governance was not stable. As aresult, many urban local bodies became weak and were not able to perform effectively.In this context, 74th CAA came into force in June, 1993 which sought to strengthendecentralisation. The main provisions include constitution and composition; constitutionof wards committees; reservation of seats; duration of municipalities; powers andfunctions; finances; finance commission; elections; district and metropolitan planningcommittees, etc.

B) State Municipal Laws: Municipal laws in India are very old and often do not enableULBs to implement reforms. Therefore, the GOI has developed a Model Municipal Lawin 2003 to guide States to enact municipal legislations. The basic objectives of themodel municipal laws are to implement the provisions of the 74th Amendment Act intotality for empowerment of the ULBs, and provide the legislative framework forimplementation of the Ministry�s urban sector reform agenda. This initiative is expectednot only to enhance the capacities of ULBs to leverage public funds for developmentof urban sector but will also help in creating an environment in which ULBs can playtheir role more effectively and ensure better service delivery. Four states, namelyRajasthan, Bihar, Orissa and Sikkim have prepared their municipal laws on lines ofModel Municipal Law and many others are in process of amending their laws.

2 Word Standards of Sustainable Habitat, Sustainable Habitat Report, 2009.


Rajasthan Municipalities Ordinance 2008

The Rajasthan Government promulgated the new municipal law on September 26,2008. The Rajasthan Municipalities Ordinance 2008 has introduced some very innovativefeatures that should help to empower ULBs in the State. It is mainly based on ModelMunicipal Law. It also has many enabling provisions to implement various reformsunder JNNURM like:

a) transferring various functions to ULBs,

b) introducing tax on land and buildings on unit area basis,

c) forming Area Sabha for community participation,

d) establishing MPCs and DPCs,

e) making Town Planning a municipal function,

f) introducing rainwater harvesting,

g) encouraging PPP,

h) introducing improved accounting,

i) introducing public disclosure,

j) setting up SFC and implementing its recommendations, etc.

There are also some very innovative enabling provisions for issue of municipal bonds,comprehensive debt limitation policy, setting up a municipal service cadre, etc. TheOrdinance also divided various municipal functions into core, government assignedand other functions. However, water supply and sewerage is not identified as corefunction but a state assigned function.

C) Wards Committees: The 74th amendment provides a framework to enable participationof citizens in urban governance. It contains an enabling mechanism to form wardscommittees for citizens participation. However, it has remained on paper in moststates. Out of 29 states, where wards committee were required to be set up as ofJune 2004, the enabling legislation was in place in only 19 and out of these, wardscommittees were constituted in only eight states.

A study of wards committees in West Bengal, Kerala, Maharashtra and Karnatakarevealed that if wards committee are to function as mechanism for meaningfulparticipation of all people within the wards, they ought to be smaller in size assmaller committees in West Bengal and Kerala. The committees in these two statesare at ward level and are very participative. Whereas in Maharshtra and Karnatkathese are envisaged for a group of wards and are not able to achieve effectiveproximity of citizens to elected representatives. While the provision of these committeeshas been a significant addition to decentralisation process but they have yet tobecome an effective platform for accountability. Concept of Area Sabha (AS) wasintroduced to promote a sense of belongingness, inclusion and participation. AS is tobe constituted of citizens who are registered as voters in one or more than one PollingStations but preferably not covering more than 2,500 voters. Chairperson of the ASwill also represent the area in the Ward Committee concerned. Wards committee andAS are mainly to improve participation and improve urban governance.


D) ULBs: Three broad institutional frameworks are discernible in states in India withregard to water supply and sewerage services. First are the states where the entiresystem is with a department or a parastatal of the State Government; second, wherethe ULBs themselves handle the entire activity and, third, as in some large cities,where exclusive water supply and sewerage boards have been set up for the city.Irrespective of the institutional framework, the failure of the public sector to provideadequate service delivery have been ascribed to public monopoly, organisationalinefficiency, technical flaws in the form of high leakages, lack of preventivemaintenance, unaccounted water as well as over staffing and lack of autonomy. Cityplanning function has not been handed over to ULBs in many states. These state levelorganisations are often not accountable to ULBs. Though 74th amendment expects thatmajor civic functions should be transferred to ULBs many small and medium sizedULBs are not in position to manage water supply, sanitation and town planning functions.

To overcome the short comings in urban planning and management, there are numerouspolicy measures both at central and State level. The foundation of such policy measurescan be traced back to the Constitution 73rd Amendment Act, 1992. The Act providesthe amendments in the definitions of terms used in the Constitution of India andincludes the details of:

♣ The Panchayats

♣ The Gram Sabha

♣ Constitution of the Panchayats

♣ Composition of the Panchayats

♣ Duration of the Panchayats

♣ Disqualifications for membership

♣ Powers, authority and responsibilities of the Panchayat

♣ Powers to impose taxes by, and Funds of the Panchayats

♣ Constitution of Finance Commission to review financial position

Let us now examine the different urban policies existant in India:

I) Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) - To meet the challengesof growing urbanisation and to enable Indian cities to develop to the level of globalstandards, a comprehensive programme, namely JNNURM was launched in December,2005. Under the JNNURM, approximately Rs.10,00,000 million would be investedduring the seven year period 2005-2012 for improvement of urban infrastructure andproviding basic services for the poor in urban areas. The Government has identified65 cities under Urban Infrastructure and Governance component of the JNNURMprogramme. These cities cover about 40% of India�s urban population. Till April 2009,the Government approved 461 projects at total cost of Rs. 4,94,224 million underurban infrastructure and governance component of the programme.3

3 JNNURM, Progress Review, April 24, 2009.


Approval Process: The cities selected under JNNURM first prepared a City DevelopmentPlan (CDP). This plan is to be submitted through the State Government and approved byMoUD. Then a memorandum of agreement has to be signed among the ULB, State Governmentand MoUD to implement the reforms over the seven-year period. The ULBs prepare DetailedProject Reports for the projects identified in the CDP. These DPRS have to be firstapproved by the general council of ULB and then submitted to State Level Nodal Agencies.A Committee chaired by the Chief Minister approved the DPR and then forwards it toMoUD. The DPR is first reviewed by technical experts and then submitted to CentralSanctioning Committee (CSMC) of JNNURM. The CSMC approves the projects based onfinancial and technical review of the experts. GOI grant varies between 35-80% dependingon size of ULBs. Once the project is approved then for projects below less than Rs. 100crore it is directly sent to the Finance Ministry. If it is between Rs. 100-500 crore it is sentto Finance Ministry after The grant is in form of Additional Central Assistance (ACA) andis disbursed in four instalments based on progress of work. The Finance Ministry transfersthis grant to State Government who in turn forwards it to the ULB.

Landmark Initiatives: JNNURM has also catalysed a number of landmark initiatives instates and cities across the country. A few key ones are - the state government of Punjabhas constituted the Punjab Municipal Infrastructure Development Fund for raising resourcesfor ULBs by tapping capital market. Public transportation function has been transferredto the city governments in Punjab. The city of Faridabad has taken Community Participationto the next level by involving the community in monitoring project progress from tenderingto the execution stage. Surat is the first city to set up a dedicated Urban Transport Fundfollowed by Pimpri-Chinchawad. Metropolitan Urban Transport Authorities have beenestablished in the mission cities of Hyderabad, Jaipur, Chennai, Bangalore and Mumbai.Dedicated pedestrian path and cycle track are being created along all the BRTS corridors.Over 14,000 buses have been sanctioned for 54 cities for improvement of city bus servicefor the first time.

Reforms: The States and urban local governments (ULBs) accessing the JNNURM mustcomplete a total of 22 mandatory and optional reforms, during the seven-year period(2005-12). Many of these reforms will help to empower ULBs. These reforms are:

♣ Implementation of 74th Constitution Amendment Act (CAA)

o Elections to ULBs

o Transfer of 12th Schedule functions to ULBs

o Formation of DPCs/MPC

o Formation of SFCs and implementation of its recommendations

♣ Public Disclosure Law

o Regular disclosure budgets, projects, revenues, financial statements, etc.

♣ Community Participation Law

o Formation of Area Sabhas for active participation of community into budget makingprocess, monitoring of project implementation, etc.

♣ Integration of City Planning and Delivery Function with ULBs

♣ Accounting Reform


o Introduction of accrual based double entry accounting system

o Preparation of Annual Balance Sheets

♣ Property Tax Reform

o Introduction of Self Assessment System (SAS)

o More than 90% of properties to be on tax records

o More than 80% of tax collection

♣ User Charges

o At least 100% collection of operation and maintenance expenditure

♣ Administrative and Structural Reforms

o HRD policy

o Municipal Cadre

♣ Encouraging Public Private Partnership

Progress in implementation of the reforms in various states is different in various states.Ten states have transferred functions mandated under the 74th CAA to the ULBs; 19 stateshave constituted DPCs; 4 states have constituted MPCs. In the state of Jharkhand, municipalelections have been held after a gap of 22 years. Legislation has been enacted in thestates of Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram for the establishment of urban localbodies. Few other key achievements are repeal of Urban Land Ceiling and Regulation Act(ULCRA) in all the states except West Bengal and Jharkhand; enactment of Public DisclosureLaw in 14 states enabling greater transparency and accountability in ULBs, rationalisationof Stamp duty up to 5% in 9 states, and enactment of Community Participation Law in 7states. In context of the reform at ULB level 12 cities have implemented e-Governancereforms, 26 cities have fully migrated to accrual based double entry accounting systems,45 cities now have a provision for Internal Earmarking of Budget for Basic Services for Poor.12 cities have achieved 85% coverage of property tax, 6 cities have achieved 100% costrecovery in water supply; 5 cities have achieved 100% Cost Recovery in Solid Waste.Generally, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu have made very good progress. Theimplementation is satisfactory in many other states and cities.

Urban Transport: The Government has approved additional funding for public transportunder JNNURM. A total number of 14,240 buses and cost of Rs. 45,810 millions have beensanctioned. In order to implement the NUTP, 2006, MoUD has suggested the followingactions under JNNURM:

a) Setting up of Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (UMTA) in all million plus cities.

b) Setting up of a Dedicated Urban Transport Fund at city level and State level.

c) Preparation of Comprehensive Mobility Plan for the urban agglomeration.

d) Running of modern city bus service on PPP model, modernisation of bus fleet to havelow floor and semi low floor buses as per urban bus specification and waiving of Statetaxes on city bus service.

e) Revising proper parking policy in terms of regulation of parking requirements throughproper fee, ban on parking on major arterial roads, encourage paid parking loss onPPP basis and using land as a resource to part finance the urban transport projects.


f) Revising advertising policy, banning visual pollution in the city and bringing advertisementin a public transport, intermediate public transport only, so as to serve as a majorsource of revenue.

g) Designating one department as nodal department for urban transport at the Statelevel by change of Allocation of Business Rules.

h) Reserving a lane for public transport/high capacity buses/high occupancy vehicles onall new roads/widened roads.

i) Promoting pedestrianisation and non motorised mode of transport.

j) Launching of awareness campaign for encouraging individuals, families, communitiesto adopt green travel habits.

Reasons for Slow Progress of Reforms

Main reasons for limited improvement in functioning of ULBs inspite of 74th CAA, arethat functions, finances and functions have not been transferred to ULBs in moststates.

These are elaborated below:

♣ Limited understanding of reforms in cities/states.

♣ There is insufficient political consensus at state and municipal levels for thereform agenda, particularly regarding private sector participation and properpricing of services.

♣ Preparation of electoral rolls for ULBs is carried out by State Election Commission(SEC). In many states, SECs prepare separate rolls for local elections and do notadopt rolls prepared by Election Commission for state assemblies.

♣ In many states, governments retain the power of delimitation of wards for ULBelections. In many cases, SECs have to delay local elections till governmentscomplete delimitation exercises.

♣ Elections in some ULBs postponed for more than six months due to reorganisationof ward boundaries, extension of limits, etc.

♣ In most states, elected Mayor does not have executive powers.

♣ Under 12th schedule of the 74th CAAA, it is not necessary that all the identifiedfunctions have to be transferred to ULBs.

♣ Small and medium sized ULBs are not in position to manage all the functionsidentified in the 12th Schedule.

♣ There are no regulations requiring certain minimum pricing of services to recovercosts.

♣ Property tax, the main source of own income of ULBs, has not been able toachieve adequate buoyancy due to constraints like rent control, inefficiency inupdating property rolls, resistance to periodic assessment, etc.


♣ Limited project development and implementation capacity.

♣ There are no regulations requiring provision of certain minimum level of servicesto be provided by ULBs.

♣ ULBs have weak revenue base as tax base is inadequate, user charges are relativelylow and revenue collection is low.

♣ State transfers to ULBs are often low and unpredictable.

♣ Support from Central Finance Commissions to ULBs has been ad-hoc and notlinked to any central revenue source.

♣ Existing administrative structure does not require that there is certain minimumlevel of technical staff in ULBs.

♣ Role of parastal (such as utility boards) and ULBs is often not clearly defined forproject planning, implementation and operation and maintenance.

♣ Presently, DPCs and MPCs play a minimal role in urban planning and investmentdecisions.

♣ Certain industrial areas are exempted from setting up ULBs.

II) National Urban Housing and Habitat Policy - Ministry of Housing and Urban PovertyAlleviation (2007) - This policy document by the Ministry of Housing and Urban PovertyAlleviation outlines the current housing situation in India in the context of urbanisation,the large influx of population from the rural areas to urban areas in the metropolitancities in India, the urgent need for provision of housing and basic services to thepopulation in the urban areas and promotion of sustainable habitats in the country.

In view of this scenario, and the housing shortage and budgetary constraints of boththe central and state governments, the policy highlights the need for promotion ofpublic-private partnerships to reach its goal of Affordable Housing for All. In order todo this, it encourages involvement of multiple stake-holders such as the privatesector, the cooperative sector, the industrial sector for labour housing and the services/institutional sector for employee housing.

III) National Mission on Sustainable Habitat - Many cities in India ranging from largemetropolitan to small transitional cities lack effective storm drainage systems andface problems due to illegal, unplanned development and encroachment often onnatural areas and drainage systems/ways. As the cities develop and grow, benefitsfrom important environmental functions (natural water ways/areas) are often ignoredand overlooked as a result of which natural areas are degraded and damaged. Thisalong with increase in built up area results in increase in incidences of flooding andaccompanied ill effects. The densification of cities is leading to construction of roads,buildings which has resulted in increase in impermeable areas. As a result, oftenpermanent changes to the catchment are caused, leading to changes in runoff patterns,which affect the magnitude, frequency and occurrence of flooding. This necessitatesadoption of sustainable stormwater management practices in cities.


The core of sustainable stormwater management is to consider stormwater as apotential resource rather than as a liability or a waste product. This shift can onlybe initiated by a visionary stormwater management approach which combines thepreventive measures with the traditional curative and reactive measures in appropriatesum so as to minimise negative impacts on human, property and environmentalhealth. In this respect, environmental health would include preserving and maintainingthe natural hydrological cycle, groundwater recharge, natural drainage system etc. Toaddress such concerns in various important sectors, the Prime Minister released India�sfirst National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) outlining existing and futurepolicies and programmes addressing climate mitigation and adaptation on June 30,2008. The NAPCC has set out eight �National Missions� as the way forward inimplementing the Government�s strategy and achieving the National Action Plan�sobjective.

The focus of these missions is on �promoting understanding of climate change,adaptation and mitigation, energy efficiency and natural resource conservation�. TheNational Mission on Sustainable Habitat is one of them.

The National Mission on Sustainable Habitat seeks to promote sustainability of habitatsthrough:

♣ Improvements in energy efficiency in buildings through extension of the energyconservation building code - which addresses the design of new and largecommercial buildings to optimise their energy demand;

♣ Better urban planning and modal shift to public transport - make long termtransport plans to facilitate the growth of medium and small cities in such a waythat ensures efficient and convenient public transport;

♣ Improved management of solid and liquid waste, e.g. recycling of material andurban waste management - special areas of focus will be development of technologyfor producing power from waste.

♣ It also seeks to improve ability of habitats to adapt to climate change by improvingresilience of infrastructure, community based disaster management and measuresfor improving advance warning systems for extreme weather events. It addressessustainability concerns related to habitats, primarily in urban areas.

♣ Conservation through appropriate changes in legal and regulatory framework.

The key deliverables of the Mission include:

a) development of sustainable habitat standards that lead to robust developmentstrategies while simultaneously addressing climate change related concerns,

b) preparation of city development plans that comprehensively address adaptationand mitigation concerns,

c) preparation of comprehensive mobility plans that enable cities to undertake long-term, energy efficient and cost effective transport planning, and

d) capacity building for undertaking activities relevant to the Mission.


With a view to initiating action in respect of the first deliverable i.e. developmentof National Sustainable Habitat Standards, the MoUD has constituted six sub-committeesmandated with the task of identifying standards in six areas i.e. energy efficiency inthe residential and commercial building sectors, urban transport, water supply andsewerage, urban planning, urban storm water drainage and municipal waste.

IV. National Sustainable Habitat Parameters on Urban Stormwater Management - TheMoUD constituted six sub-committees under the National Sustainable Habitat Standards.The committees were mandated with the task of identifying standards in six areas i.e.energy efficiency in the residential and commercial building sectors, urban transport,water supply and sewerage, urban planning, urban storm water drainage and municipalwaste. Sub-Committee for Development of �National Sustainable Habitat Parameterson Urban Stormwater Management� was constituted by the MoUD vide OM No. A-11019/2/2007-PHE.II/CCC dated 12.8.2010 and subsequently, re-constituted on11.10.2010.

The Sub-Committee met under the chairmanship of JS (UD) three times betweenOctober to December 2010 to deliberate and evolve sustainable habitat parameterson �Urban Stormwater Management�. The approach that emerged was that �Whatgets measured gets managed�. The development of parameters is essential fordeveloping legal framework/regulations to improve urban planning in respect of stormwater drainage. Based on detailed deliberations, the following main parameters havebeen identified, which will enable developing legal framework/regulations to improvethe urban planning in respect of storm water drainage and minimise the incidence offlooding in urban areas.

Development of Indices (under sub-committee on Urban Stormwater Management) -To assess and monitor the progress of implementing sustainable stormwater management,there is a need to develop key parameters and indicators. These parameters/indicators aregenerally in the form of indices, for systematic and scientific assessment of situation,progress and deficit. These parameters that have been developed need to be consideredat all stages of development namely, planning, implementation and operation andmaintenance subject to its appropriateness and significance to the specific stage.

1) Master Plan Index: Existing storm water drains are provided based on comprehensiveplanning and designing or in piece-meal manner. The basic assumption is that eachcity has a basic master drainage plan and where none exists, the master plan wouldbe formulated and the indices would also complement the formulation of the drainagemaster plan. This will enable the integration of the city�s drainage master plan withthe CDP.

2) Natural Drainage System Index: This index can be defined as the ratio of naturaldrainage systems up and running to the total natural drainage systems (as existing ona predetermined date) and can be used as an indicator for the sustainability of thenatural drainage system.

3) Drainage Coverage (Constructed) Index: Level of coverage of an urban area withman-made storm drainage systems. This index can be defined as the ratio of thelength of existing constructed drains to the length of total constructed drains requiredfor an area.


4) Permeability Index: This index can be defined as the percentage of the catchmentwhich is impervious. (Note - Attempts should be made through sustainable drainagepractices to restore the permeability index of the catchment to pre-developmentlevels.)

5) Water Bodies Rejuvenation Index: This index is to define the sustainability of thewater bodies (past and present). For the rejuvenation of water bodies, the ratio oftotal area under water bodies planned for rejuvenation to the total area of waterbodies including those encroached upon may be used as an indicator.

6) Water Body Vulnerability Index: In regard to the habitations in the existing waterbodies/flood prone areas, it was proposed that the ratio of total area under waterbodies encroached (present date) to the total area under water bodies (on a datumdate) may be used as an indicator.

7) Water Logging Index: This index is to reflect the sustainability of an area to incidencesof water logging. Presently, the area inundated for four hours or more and havingwater depth more than 6″ are considered as affected by water logging. However, tomake our cities more sustainable and disaster resistant, the duration of 4 hours shouldbe reduced to 1 hour based on experiences in cities like Delhi and Mumbai. (Floodprone area is categorised as one having 15 houses or more which are affected byflood).

8) Area Vulnerability Index: In regard to the habitations in low lying areas / flood proneareas, it is proposed that the ratio of total flood prone as area (present date) to thetotal city area (on a datum date) may be used an indicator.

9) People Vulnerability Index: Identify vulnerable points in the slums - Number ofpeople affected in vulnerable area with or without drainage divided by total numberof people staying in the vulnerable area (with or without drainage) may be anindicator.

10) Flood Moderation Index: Lakes/ponds are the best moderators. The index may bedefined as the ratio of area not flooded due to moderation to the area that wouldhave been flooded without moderation.

11) Drainage Cleaning Index: This is a very important parameter as regards, routineoperation and maintenance / cleaning of drains. It is opined that cleaning should bedone at least three times a year. (i) First, the process must start by 31st March eachyear and be completed one month before the normal arrival of monsoon each year.(ii) The drains should also be thoroughly cleaned after first heavy shower, (iii)subsequently, after retreating of rain i.e. in the post monsoon, the cleaning of drainsis essential. In addition, the ULBs may clean drains regularly, as per requirement. Theavailability of trained manpower and O & M Manual for operating and maintainingdrainage system also need to be ensured.

12) Complaint Redressal index: A certain eligible category of complaints registered andthose addressed may be considered as an indicator of the efficiency of stormwaterO & M. The index may be defined as the ratio of drainage-related complaints addressedsatisfactorily to the total number of drainage-related complaints.


13) Climate Change Stress Index: The matter regarding the overstressing of existingdrainage infrastructure due to climate change was also considered. As per therecommendations of International Conference on Urban Drainage in 2008, 20% increasein calculated discharge suggested for designing for future storm water drains wasagreed. The index may be defined as the ratio of the projected rainfall intensity fora city to the present rainfall intensity being used for design for that city.

14) Stormwater Discharge Quality Index: This may be defined as the ratio of the measuredvalue of Total Suspended Solids (TSS)/Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) of the stormdrain water to the prescribed limits of TSS/BOD.

15) Sewage Mixing Index: Incidences of mixing of sewage with storm water to be avoided/ prohibited. The index may be defined as the ratio of the volume of sewage flowsentering the storm water drainage system to the total volume of flows in the stormwater system.

16) Preparedness Index/ Early Warning Index: This index would enable the quantificationof the preparedness of the city/community and can be defined for each point on thedrainage system as the ratio of lead time to the flow time at the point. Radar basedadvance warning system of rainfall as well as one based on real time rainfall intensityviz. critical rainfall intensity causing flooding/real time rainfall intensity likely tocause flooding in flood prone areas.

17) Rainfall Intensity Index: can be defined as the ratio of the observed rainfall intensityto the rainfall intensity which causes flooding in that particular area. It will enablethe determination of the sustainability of an area to flooding.

18) System Robustness Index: for areas dependent on pumping, the index can be definedas the ratio of rate of incoming storm flow to rate of pumping.

19) Tidal Index: Parameter based on cycle of high and low tide for coastal areas. Theindex may be defined as the ratio of tidal level for which the present protection isadequate to the maximum tidal level observed for that area/city.

20) Rain Water Harvesting/Artificial Ground Water Recharge Index: With reference tothe encroachment of natural streams passing through urban, it was observed that onone hand, the pathway / water line of natural streams are being blocked / constructedand on the other hand, more and more developments are coming on by paving theway in enhancing the run-off causing increased peak flow and frequent inundation inurban area. To overcome this, rain water harvesting to be made mandatory, whilefollowing building bye-laws and at suitable places, considering the overall suitability,artificial ground water recharge also to be encouraged. The recharge index may bedefined as the ratio of the rainwater volume stored/harvested to the ratio of themeasured rainfall volume. In the planning level itself, 2 to 5% of urban area shouldbe reserved for water bodies to work as recharge zone.


4. State Policies Pertaining to Urban Development1) Draft infrastructure policy - Infrastructure Development Department (Government

of Orissa) (2001)

This policy document by the Government of Orissa outlines the draft infrastructurepolicy designed to promote development of the state of Orissa. The policy promotesprivate sector participation through provision of guidelines for private investments ininfrastructure. It encourages public private partnership, and provides a broaderinstitutional and legal framework for implementation of projects through cross sectoralperspective. It provides details of the steps that will be taken to enable betterimplementation of the infrastructural projects in the context of public privatepartnerships.

2) Gujarat integrated township policy - Gujarat Urban Development Company(Government of Gujarat) (2008)

The document includes the Gujarat integrated township policy by the Gujarat UrbanDevelopment Company (GUDC) (Government of Gujarat) that aims at promoting thedevelopment of townships with high quality built in environments and services withreliable infrastructure. The proposed �Township Policy� provides a framework forensuring that this happens in an efficient manner in predefined areas for townshipdevelopment.

3) Rajasthan urban housing and habitat policy (RUHHP) and guidelines for action plan- Urban Development and Housing Department (Government of Rajasthan) (2006)

The RUHHP-06 is broadly in consonance with the National Housing and Habitat Policy-2005. The document goes on to highlight the present urban and rural situation inRajasthan, the increasing population density in the urban areas because of migrationof people from rural to urban areas and the housing issues arising because of thisincreased density of population in urban areas. The policy thus focuses on balanceddevelopment, promotion of in situ- urbanisation, vertical construction and the use ofsustainable development models.

4) Public-Private partnership policy - Planning Department (Government of Rajasthan)(2008)- This document provides details of the Rajasthan Public-Private Partnership(PPP) Policy, which seeks to provide a fair and transparent framework to help facilitatethe process and encourage Public-Private Partnership in upgrading, expanding, anddeveloping of infrastructure in the State of Rajasthan. The document provides furtherdetails on the objectives and the details of implementation of the policy.

5) Policy on public private partnership - The Assam Gazette (Government of Assam)(2008) - This policy document provides a brief background and guidelines on theimplementation of the Public Private Partnership (PPP) in infrastructure developmentproposed by the Government of Assam.

6) Draft regulatory reform bill - Secretariat for Infrastructure (Planning Commission)(2009) - This document is a draft regulatory reform bill that has been made inresponse to the economic liberalisation process that has been claimed to distance therelationship between State ownership and its responsibility for providing infrastructure


services, as compared to the earlier situation, where infrastructure was providedalmost exclusively by the public sector. This has ushered a gradual shift towardsprivate investment in infrastructure services where independent regulation assumesa critical role.

7) The Andhra Pradesh infrastructure development enabling act - Finance Department- Government of Andhra Pradesh (2001)

This document provides the details of the Andhra Pradesh infrastructure developmentenabling act, which extends to the whole of the State of Andhra Pradesh. It includesthe following information:

♣ Short title, extent, application and commencement of the Act

♣ Definition of the terms in the Act

♣ Details of the establishment, conduct of business and employees of theinfrastructure authority

♣ Infrastructure project delivery process

♣ Details of the generic risks disclosure and allocation, securitisation, right of lendersand facilities to be provided by the government agency or the local authority

♣ Establishment of the conciliation board

♣ Details of the conciliation proceedings

♣ Details of the establishment of the infrastructure projects fund

8) The Uttar Pradesh urban planning and development act - Housing and UrbanPlanning Department (Government of Uttar Pradesh) (1973)

This document describes the Act, which intends to provide for the development ofcertain areas of Uttar Pradesh, where the problems of town planning and urbandevelopment need to be tackled resolutely and the existing local bodies and otherauthorities inspite of their best efforts have not been able to cope with these problemsto the desired extent. The document provides the details of the process ofimplementation of the Act.

9) The Bangalore development authority act - Bangalore Development Authority(Government of Karnataka) (1976)

This document provides the details of the Act and includes details of the developmentschemes and the process of implementation of the schemes.

10) The Bangalore metropolitan region development authority act - BangaloreMetropolitan Region Development Authority (1985)

This document provides the details of the Act and includes the details of the BangaloreMetropolitan Region Development Authority, and the powers and functions of theauthority.

11) The Karnataka urban development authorities act - Department of UrbanDevelopment (Government of Karnataka) (1987)

This document provides the details of the Act and includes the definitions of the termsused in the Act and details of the urban development authority.


12) The Karnataka urban water supply and drainage board act - Department of UrbanDevelopment (Government of Karnataka) (1973)

This document describes the details of the Act and includes the details of theconstitution of the Board, powers and functions of the Board, investigation, preparation,execution and maintenance of the schemes by the Board.

13) The Karnataka town and country planning act - Ministry of Environment and Forests(Government of Karnataka) (1961)

This document includes the details of the Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act,1961 and includes

♣ Short title, extent and commencement

♣ Definitions of the terms in the Act

♣ Appointment of director of town planning

♣ State town-planning board

♣ Local planning areas and planning authorities

♣ Present land use

♣ Outline development plan

♣ Comprehensive development plan

♣ Town planning schemes

♣ Town planning officer and his duties

♣ Disputed ownership, preliminary schemes and final scheme and its sanction andenforcement

♣ Finance, accounts and audit

♣ Land acquisition

♣ Offences and penalties, rules and bye-laws

14) The Orissa water supply and sewerage board act - Government of Orissa (1991)

This document describes the details of the Orissa Water Supply and Sewerage BoardAct, 1991 and includes:

♣ The short title, extent and the commencement of the Act

♣ The definitions of the terms used in the Act

♣ The details regarding the establishment of the Orissa Water Supply and SewerageBoard, conduct of business duties and powers of the board

♣ The details of vesting of property, assets, liabilities and obligations and transferof property to the board

♣ Contract, finance, account and audits of the board

♣ Fees and charges decided by the board

♣ Definition of supply of water for domestic purposes under the Act

♣ Right of the owner or occupier to obtain sewer connection


♣ Penalties and proceedures

♣ External control

15) Notification I: Draft of the Karnataka town and country planning rules - Governmentof Karnataka (2007)

This is a draft document for the Karnataka Town and Country Planning Rules, 2007 andincludes:

♣ Details of the title and commencement of the rules

♣ Definitions of the terms in the rules

♣ Proceedure for application

♣ Manner of enquiry

♣ Screening committee for regularisation

♣ Proceedure and conditions of regularisation

♣ Utilisation of funds

16) The Orissa municipal corporation (amendment) act - Housing and Urban DevelopmentDepartment (Government of Orissa) (2008)

This document describes the Orissa Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Act and includes:

♣ Short title and the commencement of the Act

♣ Insertion of a new section 24-A

♣ Obligations of the Corporation

17) The Karnataka municipalities act - Government of Karnataka (1964)

This document describes the Karnataka Municipalities Act and includes:

♣ Details such as the short title, extent and commencement of the Act

♣ Definitions of the terms used in the Act

♣ Constitution of municipal areas

♣ Transaction of business by municipal council

♣ Municipal property and fund

♣ Obligatory and discretionary functions of municipal councils

♣ Municipal taxation

♣ Recovery of municipal claims

♣ Improvement schemes and improvement boards

♣ Powers and offences

♣ Prosecution, suits and powers and police

♣ Municipal accounts and administration reports

♣ Control

♣ Rules and bye-laws


♣ Appointment and powers of municipal commissioner or chief officer and othermunicipal officers

♣ Town panchayat

♣ Provisions for the conversion of panchayat area into a smaller urban area and foramalgamation and division of smaller urban areas

18) Towards faster and more inclusive growth: An approach to the 11th five year plan- Government of India (Planning Commission) (2006)

This document by the Government of India describes the approach to the 11th fiveyear plan. The document is divided into seven chapters and includes:

♣ Chapter 1: The objectives of the eleventh five year plan and the existing challengesin the country in terms of disparities and divides

♣ Chapter 2: Growth potential in the eleventh plan

♣ Chapter 3: Sectoral policies for the eleventh plan

♣ Chapter 4: Strategic initiatives for inclusive development

♣ Chapter 5: Bridging divides: including the excluded

♣ Chapter 6: Public Sector Plan: an enabling environment

♣ Chapter 7: Conclusions

19) Housing and urban policy in India - Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation(2010)

This document provides information on the evolution of the Housing and Urban Policyin India since the 1950s, and describes how the policy evolved from the First Plan in(1951-1956) to the Eighth Plan in (1992-97), which for the first time explicitly recognisedthe role and importance of urban sector for the national economy. The document goeson to describe the key features of the policy.

5. ConclusionAttitudes to urban growth within the country tend to swing between two extremes. Citiesare seen either as an unavoidable evil or in a more positive way as �engines of growth�.The former view is held by those who focus on the growth of slums and squatter colonies,the congestion on the roads and environmental degradation. The others, in contrast, focuson the bustling formal and informal sectors in urban areas and their contribution to theeconomy, the diversification of occupations away from traditional land-based ones tonewer forms of production and services, and the lower levels of poverty as compared torural areas.

There is, in fact, evidence to show that urbanisation is likely to have been a key determinantof economic growth in the 1980s and 1990s, boosted by economic liberalisation. From thispoint of view, the moderate pace of urbanisation in the country has been a cause ofdisappointment. There is, however, no rural vs. urban conflict either in terms of nationalgrowth, or in development priorities. In fact, perhaps because of the success of ruraldevelopment programmes along with the limited availability of land for squatting incentral urban areas, there seems to be no runaway migration from rural to urban areas.


Good urban governance calls for adequate policy and legal frameworks, the existence ofregulatory and planning authorities, human skills, a sound revenue base, accounting andaccountability. Substantial work has already been done to upgrade the urban infrastructureand several parastatals and urban development authorities have acquired considerableskills in planning and executing projects. Programmes such as the Mega City project forfive selected cities, the Integrated Development of Small and Medium Towns (IDSMT), andthe Accelerated Urban Water Supply Programme (AUWSP)have shown varying degrees ofsuccess in meeting some of the urban needs. In particular, parastatal agencies and bodiessuch as development authorities, need to play a supportive role to the elected bodiesrather than taking over functions which properly belong to the ULBs. The objective ofdevolution and decentralisation should be carried forward by making parastatals andauthorities partners and agencies of the democratically elected ULBs, thus making agradual transition to local management while continuing to use the expertise of theorganisations set up and supervised by the State Governments. Initiating the necessaryprocesses for partnerships between the State and its agencies on the one hand, and theULBs on the other, is a part of the exercise of �capacity building� in the ULBs.

Experiences of few cities provide some important lessons for improved urban governance.These lessons are:

a) Build credibility of local government through improved administration;

b) Make initial efforts in a few critical areas that are �visible� and affect daily lives ofmost residents;

c) Changes have to come from within the system, not forced by state or nationalgovernment;

d) Demonstration effects are important and more cities will learn from few successstories;

e) Dissemination and networking of local governments is crucial;

f) State and national governments may not always support the initiation of changes, butwill yield only when citizen support is received; and

g) Responsive administration for citizen grievances is essential.

The strategy for improved governance should include enablement, participation, and capacitybuilding.

Triggering Urban Reforms - Reforms can be triggered by creating external pressures onmunicipal bodies and city administration. For instance, in Surat, extreme circumstancessuch as the plague in early 1990s lead to various progressive reforms. Local leadership interms of Commissioner in Ahmadabad, Mayors in Alandur and Indore, and President ofTextile Exporters Association in Tiruppur lead the reforms in these cities. The StateGovernment played a key role in reforming Hyderabad city. The Bangalore Citizens ReportCards was an attempt towards improving accountability by involving citizens in performanceassessment of public agencies.

JNNURM has also played a crucial role in introduction of far reaching reforms in ULBs. Arecent report by TERI (2009) has said the following could trigger reforms:

a) Informed and tax-paying citizens demanding better services and greater accountability;


b) Creating competitive pressure by comparing performance of ULBs;

c) Linking all Government and multilateral funding to performance of ULBs on MoUD�sStandardised

6. References and Recommended ReadingsAgarwal, O.P., Presentation to High Powered Expert Committee on Estimating Investment

Requirements for Urban Infrastructure �Investment Requirements for SustainableUrban Transport in India�, NIUA, New Delhi, 2009.

Baud, I.S.A. and Wit, J. De, �New Forms of Urban Governance in India�, Sage, 2008.

Gill, I. and Kharas, H., �An East Asian Renaissance-Ideas for Economic Growth� WorldBank, 2007.

Pathak, V. K., Presentation on �Land as a Resource for Financing Urban Infrastructure�during Workshop on Alternate Sources of Financing Urban Infrastructure, NIUA, NewDelhi March 26, 2009.

Spence, M., Aneez, P.C., Buckley, R. M., �urbanisation and Growth� Commission on UrbanGrowth, 2009.

Redkar, S., �New Management Tools for Mumbai�s Solid Waste Management� in Baud, I.S.A.and Wit, J. De, 2008.

�Integrated City Making� Urban Age, London School of Economics and Political Science,2008.

�Local Governance: Sixth Report� by Second Administrative Reforms Commission, Governmentof India, 2007.

Mathur, O.P. and Thakur, S., �India Municipal Sector- A Study for Twelth Finance Commission,NIPFP, New Delhi, 2004.

Mehta, D. (2006) �Urban Governance: Lessons from Best Pratices in Asia� in Shah P.J. andBakore, M. Handbook on New Public Governance, CCS, New Delhi.

Sivaramkrishnan, K. C. (2006), �People�s Participation in Urban Goverance� I.S.S, NewDelhi.

Ramachandran, M, Address on the occasion of the release of the report �An Explorationof Sustainability in the Provision of Basic Urban Services in Indian Cities� TERI, April20, 2009.

Vaidya, Chetan, �Successful Municipal Resource Mobilization in Indore� in India InfrastructureReport 2006, 3-I Network, 2006.

Vaidya, Chetan. and Vaidya, H., �Creative Financing of Urban Infrastructure in Indiathrough Market-based Financing and Public-Private Partnership Options� in MetropolisCongress, Sydney, 2008.

World Bank, GFDRR and ISDR, �Climate Resilient Cities Primer�, 2008.

World Bank, �World Development Report 2009: Reshaping Economic Geography�, 2009.

UN-Habitat, �State of the World�s Cities 2008-09�, 2008.

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