Critically examine the concerns in the underlying constitutional design of urban local governments and discuss how the various parastatal agencies disempower and depoliticize the urban local government with suitable examples. (200 words)
Refer – The Hindu
Enrich the answer from other sources, if the question demands.
IAS Parliament 6 years
KEY POINTS
Flaws in Constitutional design
· Many of the key provisions of 74th Amendment are not mandatory for the State government.
· The functions listed under the 12th Schedule — which a State government is expected to devolve to the local government — do not include essential civic issues such as urban transportation, housing or urban commons.
· The 74th Amendment also contains an industrial township exception whereby a municipality need not be constituted in areas which are declared as industrial townships.
· Even for performing functions that are within its purview (such as levying local taxes or undertaking civic projects above a certain budget) the local government requires State government permissions.
· These provisions have been employed by State governments to keep local governments weak.
Parastatal Agencies
· Elected representatives at the city-level are rendered powerless by making them subservient to the State government.
· In most municipal corporations, while the mayor is the ceremonial head, the executive powers of the corporation are vested with the State government-appointed commissioner.
· This disjuncture in municipal governance has been exploited by State governments to ensure that no city-level politician challenges their control over a city.
· Municipal corporations are further denied their political role by the continued operation of various parastatal agencies created by the State government.
· These may take the form of urban development authorities (which build infrastructure) and public corporations (which provide services such as water, electricity and transportation).
· These agencies, which function with a certain autonomy, are accountable only to the State government, not the local government.
· Even urban planning and land-use regulation (globally a quintessential local government function) is with State government-controlled development authorities.
Disempowerment through Schemes
· Central government programmes such as the Smart Cities Mission seek to ring fence projects from local government.
· This programme mandates the creation of special purpose vehicles (SPVs) for Smart Cities which will have “operational independence and autonomy in decision making and mission implementation”.
· It further “encourages” a State government to delegate “the decision-making powers available to the ULB (urban local body) under the municipal act/government rules to the Chief Executive Officer of the SPV”.
