Life is very difficult for many of India’s urban residents. The government has initiated a series of reforms to strengthen local governance and improve the quality of urban life. What important challenges face urban municipalities in India?

Urban local governments aim to maintain and carry out planned development in their areas and ensure that residents enjoy adequate levels of infrastructure and services. For various reasons, however, many local governments are unable to perform these tasks adequately. Poor infrastructure and services are often blamed on local government institutions. This is partly because although they collect taxes to cover service provision costs, they fail to meet citizens’ expectations.

A paper from the Asia Research Centre at the London School of Economics and Political Science in the UK examines recent urban sector reforms and their implications for urban governance in India. Data was obtained on key local government characteristics for six urban centres based in the northern and north-western states of Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttaranchal in India. The key characteristics include constitution and governance, duties, composition, management and finance practices, and state/local-level initiatives and problems.

The study found that India’s urban local governments are overwhelmed by critical problems that affect their ability to carry out their duties efficiently. These include:

• The decision-making process in municipal meetings is influenced by social and economic factors relating to religion, caste and economic status – the wealthy and high castes dominate.
• There is a lack of transparency on the details of project contracts, despite Municipal Act requirements to the contrary. Influential members and authorities tend to have preferential access.
• A high percentage of municipal members are ignorant of the provisions of the Municipal Act. This prevents them from performing and participating effectively, and allows others to take advantage.
• Municipalities are unable to meet the basic service requirements of their populations. A high proportion of households have no piped water or waste collection services.
• Financial management is inefficient, which adversely affects the delivery of basic services.

A new approach is needed to resolve the problems facing local municipalities in India. The study identifies several important questions that Indian municipalities must address if appropriate solutions are to be found. These include:

• What steps should be taken to achieve effective participation by all members in municipal

decision-making processes?

• What steps should be taken to ensure rule of law and transparency in municipalities’ business conduct?
• What steps should be taken to achieve high-level efficiency in municipal management and finance practices?
• What steps should be taken to achieve equity in service availability?
• What steps should be taken to increase the abilities of municipalities to carry out their duties?

Source(s):
‘Challenges for Urban Local Governments in India’, Asia Research Centre Working Paper 19, Asia Research Centre: London, by Rumi Aijaz, 2007 (PDF) Full document.

id21 Research Highlight: 22 January 2008

Further Information:
Rumi Aijaz
Observer Research Foundation
20 Rouse Avenue Institutional Area
New Delhi
110 002
India

Tel: +91 11 43520020 or 30220020
Fax: +91 11 43520003 or 23210773
Contact the contributor: rumiaijaz@orfonline.org

Observer Research Foundation, India

Asia Research Centre
10th Floor, Tower 2
London School of Economics
Houghton Street
London WC2A 2AE
UK

Fax: +44 (0)20 71075285
Contact the contributor: arc@lse.ac.uk

Asian Research Centre, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK

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