Question

The state governments need to decentralise, evolve and empower the cities. Explain this statement with reference to improve the urban local governance.

Answer 1

UN projections suggest that India’s urban population will increase from 461 million in 2018 to 877 million in 2050, with India contributing the largest share of global urban population growth from 2018 to 2050.There is huge challenge regarding the management of availability of clean drinking water, unpolluted air, quality of public transport and traffic management etc.In such situation there is a requirement for improving the urban local governance.

Issues in improving the urban local governance :

• Devolution of funds: Devolution of funds to urban local governments has been unpredictable and hopelessly inadequate.With the enactment of Goods and Service Act, independent power of local governments to raise their own sources of revenue has now been appropriated by the Centre and states. Municipal revenues/expenditures in India have been stagnating at around 1 percent of GDP for over a decade. This is much lower, for example, than the municipal revenues/expenditures in Brazil which account for 7.4 per cent of GDP and 6 per cent in South Africa.
• Limited capacity : Even if the municipal bodies receive funds they just don’t have the capacity to function effectively. Local bodies are highly understaffed;
• Lack of coordination : There are multiple agencies are at work in the city to cater to municipal needs but they rarely cooperate. Due to this, municipal work is not completed in time. As multiple agencies are working in the city , there is poor accountability of these agencies.

Ways to improve the Urban Local Governance:
1.Decentralisation of Governance system : The 74th Constitutional Amendment of 1992 gives the state governments the power to transfer a set of 18 legitimate municipal functions to the municipal governments.State governments should transfer the all 18 legitimate functions to urban local body for better governance system.

2. Devolution of funds: Taxation power of urban local body should be increased by devolution of taxation power to urban local body(ULB).There are many

3. Empowerment of Urban Local Body : Empowering of urban local body(ULB) is possible by solving the issue of understaffing. By increasing the manpower and technology outreach, ULBs can perform in a more effective way. There is also requirement of coordination among multiple agencies working in cities.State government is also required to provide legislative and administrative support.

Way forward:
Central government has taken many initiatives like Swachh Bharat, AMRUT, Smart Cities Mission, and Housing for All for improving the urban infrastructure. And Urban governance system. For empowerment of Urban local body (ULB), there should be assured devolution of funds and better functioning of urban institutions.Empowerment of ULB will only increase the outreach of cooperative federalism.