Keep politics away from urban development
It is disappointing that the first-phase implementation of a project of national importance such as the Smart Cities one has been criticised for being ‘politically-motivated’. The Opposition is claiming that the 20 cities listed for development in the first round have been selected to keep vote-banks happy in the run-up to key Assembly elections and that most of them are located in States ruled by the BJP or its allies. In essence, the allegation is that the Government is using the mega scheme to dole out patronage to a favoured few. Yet, even a quick analysis will rubbish this argument. For one, not all the big States going to polls this year have a presence on the list.
There is not a single city from West Bengal, which will be a crucial battleground for the BJP, while there is only one from Assam — Guwahati. Instead, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, which have no Assembly elections scheduled for this year or the year after, feature with four cites — Kakinada and Vishakapatnam from the former, and Davangere and Belgaum from the latter. Another important State is Uttar Pradesh, which will be electing a new Government in 2017 and where too the BJP will look to establish its own administration, especially since it performed remarkably well in the State during the 2014 lok Sabha poll. A 2017 win in Uttar Pradesh will be a huge endorsement for the BJP (then already gearing up for the 2019 parliamentary poll) and perhaps even help make up for the 2015 loss in Bihar. Yet, neither Uttar Pradesh (not even the Prime Minister's own constituency in the State, Varanasi) nor Bihar has made the cut.
Also, election considerations notwithstanding, the fact that some of the country's poorest and least developed States, such as West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, were left out of the first list only highlights that the focus was not on who has the least resources or funds but, instead, on who can make the most of this opportunity. This also explains why, quite a few cities from States ruled by the BJP or its allies are indeed on the list — such as Jabalpur, Indore and Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh; Ahmedabad and Surat in Gujarat; Jaipur and Udaipur in Rajasthan; and ludhiana in Punjab. In general, BJP-ruled States are more economically developed and better governed, hence better positioned to facilitate the transition of its urban hubs into smart cities. But what is most important is that the selection was done in a competitive and transparent manner. The criteria were listed clearly and publicly, and all States were given equal opportunity to present their cities which they thought would best fit the bill.
Politics apart, the hard work on the smart cities project begins now. Funding will be the key. Though the Centre has earmarked a large sum of money, State Governments will have to do their bit. The private sector will have to get involved — in providing, say the technological know-how for many of the smart platforms and sponsoring urban beautification projects. These dynamics will have to be worked out on a case-by-case basis. The Government should also learn lessons from past schemes such as the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, which was supposed to be a massive urban development project but devolved into a Delhi public transportation scheme and dwindled away.