Can local Govts implement PM’s Urban Development vision, asks Dr Behnam Ta’i
The Smart Cities Mission is the vision of a pro-active and capable Prime Minister to change the face of urban India. A change that not only brings prestige to the nation, but also induces national growth and prosperity. The Smart Cities Mission complemented by AMRUT and PMAY has the potential to make the Indian experience a global model of good practice and further augment prestige and national pride.
In the past 25 years attempts have been made by Indian Governments to empower and assist local bodies to change the face of urban India. These initiatives include the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act (74th CAA) popularly known as Nagarpalika Bill enacted in 1993 and Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) officially inaugurated by former PM Manmohan Singh in 2005.
The 74th CAA and JNNURM were expected to bring about massive change in the urban landscape; the reality over the past 25 years has indeed been disappointing and has not matched expectations at all. Many of us believe that two factors were responsible — inadequate capacity at the local level to make use of the opportunity provided to them, and inaction at the national and State Government levels to help and build the capacity of urban local bodies.
To fulfill Modi’s vision, two main processes go hand in hand. Action at the national level, which including leading and coordinating activities of the Smart Cities Mission, AMRUT and PMAY, and creating an enabling environment for implementation. It is widely expected that the process at the national level will move ahead under the leadership of the PM and his team, including the Ministries of Finance and Urban Development. Also crucial is providing leadership in collaboration with State Governments to build capacity at the local level.
Action at the local level is, however, the single most important factor responsible for fulfillment of Modi’s vision. Although there exists considerable amount of good intention at the local level, implementation requires more than just good intention. It needs effective local leadership, managerial and technical capacity and skills to push the process through. Thus for municipalities to play their role effectively in implementation, their capacity must be built professionally, systematically and quickly in order to keep pace with the speed the PM wishes the implementation to proceed.
Although local urban bodies need national and State leadership and assistance to build local capacity, equally important is local commitment and initiatives to build their own capacity significantly. lack of growth, sustainable development and increasing poverty in many urban local bodies should not be seen from the perspective of inadequate existing resources alone, but more importantly from the perspective of the lack of local capacity to undertake management reforms, to mobilise resources and deliver better services to the public.
The experiences of Ahmedabad and Bengaluru municipalities are an example of the importance of local capacity in implementation of projects. They both successfully floated municipal bonds and accumulated a large amount of funds for development of specific projects to improve municipal services. However, once money reached their treasury, it was realised that there was inadequate capacity to use the available funds promptly. Thus the money accessed had to be deposited in the bank at a lower interest rate than the municipalities were paying to bond holders. What was missing both in Ahmedabad and Bengaluru municipalities was adequate internal capacity to finalise projects and implement them. History should not repeat itself in the case of the 100 municipalities that will be involved in the Smart Cities Mission and other agencies taking responsibility for AMRUT and PMAY.
Thus, if there is an expectation that the selected municipalities will implement the projects at the speed the PM wants, then building municipal capacity needs to begin now. Building local capacity is much more than training, it entails development of local elected representatives, officials of urban local bodies and stakeholders at the state level; the organisation of municipalities and; the environment within which municipalities operate.
The Government decision to appoint CEOs for Smart Cities, who will drive the concept and execute the programme rather than leave these tasks to municipal bodies alone, is an attempt to import capacity at the level of the organisation of municipalities. Appointment of CEOs is a good decision, however, it can’t completely fill the capacity gap. CEOs need the cooperation of many more stakeholders within and without municipalities for successful implementation. Capacity building should not stop with appointment of CEOs. Further, CEOs will be appointed only for 100 Smart Cities. There will be no CEOs for 500 urban local bodies implementing AMRUT. Therefore the task of capacity building should not be confined merely to the introduction of CEOs.
Capacity building is a complex, long-term phenomenon requiring the development of human resources, the establishment of well-functioning organisations within a suitable framework and supportive socio-political environment, for improving the performance of institutions and personnel.
In this article, however, we focus mainly on development of human resources; knowledge and skills that are considered essential for implementation of Smart Cities Mission. Mayors, local councillors, municipal managers, officials, planners, engineers and stakeholders should be provided training and exposure to good practices in various fields. The process should start immediately.
Modi has highlighted that urban development should be led by city leaders and not by developers. To translate this into action, urban local bodies require significant skills, knowledge and capacity to practise smart town planning; urban and town planning that is proactive and not reactive. Planning that precedes development. However, in urban India, in most cases, development precedes planning. Planning after development is inefficient, less effective and more expensive.
To make urban local bodies proactive and practise smart planning, a strong planning unit in each urban local body must be established and equipped with adequate knowledge and skills in planning. Needless to say, the unit should also develop strong capacity to monitor compliance with planning rules, regulations and building laws.
Another area of capacity concerns Public Private Partnership (PPP). The Smart City Mission, AMRUT and PMAY are expected to draw a large amount of private sector funds for implementation of projects. International experiences have shown that PPP can be a poison or a healing medicine. PPP becomes poison when the local authority does not have the capacity to negotiate contracts and monitor implementation. The result here would be a huge loss to the public sector.
PPP becomes a healing medicine when a local authority has the capacity to negotiate good contracts with the private sector and monitor implementation. The result here will very likely be beneficial to the public. The capacity of municipalities must be built on how to negotiate and sign good contracts with the private sector, a capacity that is largely missing at the local level. Most local authorities may be able to handle small projects but not large and complicated projects associated with Smart Cities Mission.
The Smart Cities Mission presents a golden opportunity to improve the beauty of our cities and promote national prosperity. Never before has there been such volume of commitment at the highest level of Government to change the face of urban India.
We are also anxious because we do not yet see an adequate level of capacity in urban local bodies to implement the vision, or an adequate level of commitment at the national level for building the capacity of local Governments. No doubt there is awareness and good intention, but a clear strategy and action plan are missing. A few sporadic programmes of training would be of little consequence. India is not a small country, it is a continent. Thus the volume of capacity building must match its size.
Urban India has been provided with a golden opportunity not only with the support of the most powerful man in the nation — PM Modi — but also with his strong commitment to the mission. Whether India will make use of this opportunity adequately or not is to be seen in the years to come. It will mainly depend on how seriously we take the capacity of urban local bodies in the context of the mission.
The writer is a town planner, and currently the Managing Director of CBN-IHUDS