Municipal Performance Index | Ease of Living Report 2020

To decode the roles, responsibilities, and extent of power that the local municipal bodies wield, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has released Municipal Performance Index 2020 along with Ease of Living Index 2020. The MPI 2020 is developed by the Institute of Competitiveness.

Urban Local Bodies are the third-tier of the government, a status bestowed on them by the 74th Amendment Act. The performance of these in respect of their service delivery, financial management, planning efficiency, technology adoption and governance practises has been evaluated using the Municipal Performance Index 2020.

Which is the best municipality in India?

Indore is the best municipality in India under the million+ category in Municipal Performance Index 2020.

The knowledge about the index will be useful for the IAS Exam aspirants in both the prelims and mains examination.

Basic Facts of the Municipal Performance Index

1. MPI 2020 is the first edition of the index. Ease of Doing Report 2018 (the first-ever edition of the report) only contained the Ease of Living Index.
2. The five pillars on which the index is based are:
   • Services – 30 indicators, including
     • Education
     • Health
     • Water & Wastewater
     • SWM & Sanitation
     • Registration & Permits, and
     • Infrastructure
   • Finance
   • Planning
   • Technology
   • Governance
3. The five pillars are further expanded into 20 sectors and 100 indicators.
4. 111 cities have been assessed in the Municipal Performance Index 2020. 51 cities belong to the million+ category 60 belong to less than a million category.
5. The average score of 111 municipalities is 43.13.
6. Similar to the Ease of Living Index, the Municipal Performance Index also classifies cities into two types:
   • Million+ Municipalities (Population over 1 million or more)
   • Less than a million (Population less than 1 million)

Best Municipalities in India – Municipal Performance Index 2020

According to the latest Municipal Performance Index, the top 10 municipalities under the million+ category are:

1. Indore
2. Surat
3. Bhopal
4. Pimpri Chinchwad
5. Pune
6. Ahmedabad
7. Raipur
8. Greater Mumbai
9. Visakhapatnam
10. Vadodara

As far as the National Capital of India is concerned; the rank of its municipal corporations is as below:

1. South Delhi Municipal Corporation – 28
2. North Delhi Municipal Corporation – 48

According to the latest Municipal Performance Index, the top 10 municipalities under the less than a million category are:

1. New Delhi Municipal Corporation
2. Tirupati
3. Gandhinagar
4. Karnal
5. Salem
6. Tiruppur
7. Bilaspur
8. Udaipur
9. Jhansi
10. Tirunelveli

Poor Performers in the Municipal Performance Index 2020

The worst performing municipalities in India with a population of 1 million and more are:

1. Jodhpur
2. Aurangabad
3. North Delhi MC
4. Srinagar
5. Kota
6. Guwahati (At the bottom)

The worst performing municipalities in India with a population of less than a million are:

1. Itanagar
2. Pasighat
3. Kohima
4. Imphal
5. Shillong (At the bottom)

Region-Wise Performance in Municipal Performance Index 2020

• There is no municipality from the northern region in the top 10 of the million+ municipalities ranking in MPI 2020.
• All southern municipalities are ranked within the top 30.
• According to the report (verbatim), “The north-east region has not only very few municipalities but also most of them rank the lowest among both Million+ and Less than Million municipalities. Significantly lower scores attained in technology and planning verticals have severely impacted the overall performance of these municipalities.”

The best municipalities from the northern, southern, western, central, eastern and northeastern regions under million+ and less than a million categories are:

Pillar-Wise Ranking in Municipal Performance Index

1. Ghaziabad is the best million+ municipality in the ‘Services’ vertical of Municipal Performance Index 2020; while Guwahati is the worst-performing.
2. Bilaspur is the best ‘less than million’ municipality in the ‘Services’ vertical, while Shillong is the worst-performing.
3. Indore is the best million+ municipality in the ‘Finance’ vertical of Municipal Performance Index 2020; while Guwahati is the worst-performing.
4. New Delhi is the best less than million’ municipality in the ‘Finance’ vertical of Municipal Performance Index 2020; while Pasighat is the worst-performing.
5. Indore is the best million+ municipality in the ‘Technology’ vertical of Municipal Performance Index 2020; while Kota is the worst-performing.
6. Tirunelveli is the best less than million’ municipality in the ‘Technology’ vertical of Municipal Performance Index 2020; while Gangtok is the worst-performing.
7. Visakhapatnam is the best million+ municipality in the ‘Planning’ vertical of Municipal Performance Index 2020; while Guwahati is the worst-performing.
8. Kakinada is the best less than million’ municipality in the ‘Planning’ vertical of Municipal Performance Index 2020; while Kohima is the worst-performing.
9. Pimpri Chinchwad is the best million+ municipality in the ‘Governance’ vertical of Municipal Performance Index 2020; while Guwahati is the worst-performing.
10. Kochi is the best less than million’ municipality in the ‘Governance’ vertical of Municipal Performance Index 2020; while Shillong is the worst-performing.

Other Findings

1. Out of 111 municipalities; 87 municipalities updated their master plan/development plan in the last 10 years.
2. 46 out of 111 municipalities have their current development plan of the city built on a geographic information system (GIS).
3. 89 out of 111 municipalities have their land-use plan preparation done by qualified town planners
4. 63 out of 111 follow the practice of local area planning

Get the list and notes of international organizations’ reports in the linked article.

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