No More Urban Legend

The Economic Times     24th February 2021     Save    

Context: 15th Finance Commission has provided some insights for improving the efficiency of urban agglomerations in India.

Benefits of Urbanization

  • Economic:
    • Large market - promotes industries: due to the availability of diverse skills and economies of scale.
    • Low per-capita cost for providing services: like education, health etc
  • Social: Breaks down rigid social structures and promotes national integration due to the presence of a large heterogeneous population with diverse languages, religions etc.

        Challenges to urbanization in India:

        • Slow growth in urbanization: Urban agglomerations with more than 1 million populations have grown from only five cities in 1951 to 53 in 2011. This is due to an ambivalent attitude towards urbanization: 
          • Emphasis on self-sufficient villages: Mahatma Gandhi was all in favour of idyllic self-sufficient villages and less than enthusiastic about technology, railways and urbanization.
        • Spatial and functional fragmentation in the governance of urban agglomerations: because - 
          • Lack of Integrated and coordinated governance across an urban agglomeration.
          • Non-compliance with 74th Constitutional Amendment (Articles 243P and 243ZE) that mandates to constitute metropolitan planning committees in metropolitan areas.

              Some initiatives for planned urbanization

              • Urban employment programme Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY)-1997.
              • Housing programme Valmiki Ambedkar Awas Yojana (VAMBAY)-2001.
              • Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM)-2005.
              • 15th Finance Commission recommendation: proposed a million-plus challenge fund (MCF) of a substantive amount of Rs 38,000 crore for 50 urban agglomerations (with million-plus population)
                • MCF is performance-linked to outcomes in water supply, sanitation and clean air.