‘Rajasthan not among states with functional ULBs’
THINK TANK RAP Niti Aayog director says only 11 states have devolved municipal functions to urban local bodies Not even a single city in India can be a match to the cities like London, New York or even Johannesburg in terms of the city governance. GEORGE CHERIYAN , CUTS international director
Only 11 states have devolved municipal functions to urban local bodies (ULBs) even 25 years after the passing of the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992, aimed at strengthening democracy at grass root level through local bodies, NITI Aayog director Sanjay Kumar Singh on Wednesday said.
Singh said that municipal bodies are dependent on state for funds and decision making and Rajasthan is among the states which have not been able to devolve the requisite functions to ULBs.
Singh was addressing a national conference on 25 years of the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act, organised by the CUTS International in association with the NITI Aayog here.
He asked if the concept of untied funds shall be put forward to devolve funds to ULBs to be used as per needs of the city. The central schemes such as AMRUT, Smart City, and Housing for All are incentive based and open up huge opportunities for ULBs which have to come forward and grab them, Singh said.
The ULBs have to demonstrate their work through initiatives and should work to map their potential sources of revenue rather than depending on the Central and state grants, he added
Enacted in 1992, the Constitution (74th Amendment) Act, and also known as Nagarpalika Act, the legislation came into force on June 1, 1993 and was aimed at supplementing the inadequate Constitutional provision for Local Self Government.
Associate professor from National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA), Dr Debolina Kundu said the ULBs should have financial autonomy and there should be ways of revenue generation to make them self-sufficient.
The concept of ward committees, she said, is followed only in Kerala and West Bengal.
As per fifth finance commission recommendation, Rajasthan shall receive 7% of total devolution to states of which 25% goes to ULBs and the rest to Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs).
CUTS International director George Cheriyan said the objectives of the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act were historic and not implementing its provisions in letter and spirit is unfortunate.
Quoting the findings of a study, he said out of 18 delegated functions
JAIPUR:
recommended under 12th schedule of the Constitution, Mumbai and Pune are the two cities which have devolved 14.5 functions (14 fully and one partially), while Jaipur has devolved only seven functions.
“Not even a single city in India can be a match to the cities like London, New York or even Johannesburg in terms of the city governance,” he added.
According to a study conducted by CUTS International on urban local governance and role of multiple parastatals, the existence of more than 14 agencies related to urban development and lack of coordination between them poses the challenge towards efficient governance in the city. As per interviews with representatives in seven municipal corporations in Rajasthan including mayors and deputy mayors, the ULBs feel lack of autonomy, powers and funds in comparison to duties allotted to them.
The elected representative feel the need and importance of multiple agencies due to technical and other expertise they have but at the same time raised concern over parastatals taking over the role of municipalities. There is urgent need for state government to take action to strengthen the role of mayor and municipality and move from present state inspection to municipal inspection in the city. Other recommendations include formation of a municipal corporation regulatory authority and independent municipal ombudsmen.