New Forms of Urban Governance In India: Shifts, Models, Networks and Contestations;
Edited By I.S.A. Baud and J. de Wit; Sage Publications;
Pages: 402; Price: Rs 850
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Traffic pile-ups, unauthorised constructions, slums, unattended garbage — this and much else have come to symbolise urban chaos in India. With a third of India’s one billion-plus population living in cities and towns, the urgent need to put in place systems of governance that allow for some form of order to prevail is evident. On paper, such systems do exist. The 74th Amendment Act was expected to create participatory governance structures in urban India. They were premised on the belief that smaller, more localised, units of governance are better, more effective and more responsive.
But has this actually happened? Or has devolution been adapted and distorted to benefit the few who have the power and influence to bend systems to suit their interests while leaving the rest to continue suffering the fallout of bad governance? These are some of the many questions that come to mind if you live in any of India’s large or smaller cities or towns.
The 74th Amendment Act has not received the same amount of attention from media and academia as the 73rd Amendment Act that applies to rural areas. This is a little surprising given that half the population of India is expected to become urban in another four decades. Even before that happens, cities have already become sites of huge environmental problems, of poverty levels that sometimes exceed those in rural areas and of intense social and political conflicts over urban resources and their distribution.
This book covers many of these questions and is, therefore, timely. Divided into three sections, it examines different patterns of governance, the role of non-state actors and contestations and urban governance. For instance, the 74th Amendment envisaged setting up ward committees that would be instruments of people’s engagement with the civic government. But these have worked in only a few instances, where local politics has not prevented the formation of representative committees.
Another governance headache is the multiplicity of agencies involved in urban development in larger cities such as Mumbai and Delhi. In Mumbai, for instance, 10 different agencies are involved. Thus, while the maintenance of roads is the job of the Brihan Mumbai Municipal Corporation, the planning and construction of new roads and highways come under the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation. Unless the overlaps between these agencies are sorted out, no new system of governance at the municipal level can make a real difference to the way the city functions.
The second section of the book tackles the fascinating area of the increasing role of non-state actors in the delivery of civic services.
In their desire to involve citizens, many local bodies have handed over tasks such as solid waste management to non-governmental organisations or local committees. This has worked well in some cities. For instance, in Mumbai, the Advanced Locality Management system, although restricted to some parts of the city so far, allows citizens and the municipality to cooperate in efficient garbage clearance. Rag-pickers have been included in the process and given legitimacy. In Delhi, the residents welfare associations represent a narrower interest, and have successfully used their clout with the authorities only to improve their own colonies.
The most important section of the book is the last one on ‘Contestations and Urban Governance’. This touches on the root of some of the problems of urban governance. Good systems can be devised, but their implementation depends on the extent to which contestations for power and space can be mediated. All Indian cities are now divided into two clear sections — the elite and middle class, and the poor.
Although the number of the poor exceed those of the upper classes in many cities, the direction of urban development does not reflect this. Even the courts have tended to reflect middle-class and elite attitudes by justifying forcible relocation of urban poor in the interests of “cleaning” up the city, without any regard to their rights as citizens. These are debates that need to be resolved. Books like this can help take the discussion forward.
Kalpana Sharma is an independent journalist and author of Rediscovering Dharavi: Stories From Asia’s Largest Slum
This review was published in the Businessworld Issue Dated 26 May-01 June 2009
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