As India’s cities strain under the pressures of rapid urbanisation, meaningful governance reform, rooted in data, accountability, and community engagement, is critical to improving the quality of life.
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India has made significant progress in its urbanisation journey. This is evident from the changes in land use patterns and socio-economic activities, as well as the shifts in administrative status of settlements and the growing urban population, accompanied by high revenue generation in cities. India’s urban population size in 2024 was 530 million. Only China has a higher urban population of 942 million.
This article describes how Indian cities are governed and the conditions prevailing therein. A lot of work needs to be done to improve people’s quality of life. The article concludes with a list of suggestions for better governance of cities.
The responsibilities of city governance are shared between the urban local governments (or municipalities) and numerous state-level agencies (such as development authorities, water and housing boards). Many of these entities are supported by the relevant national government ministries, such as the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), state urban development departments, and the central and state finance commissions.
The responsibilities of city governance are shared between the urban local governments (or municipalities) and numerous state-level agencies (such as development authorities, water and housing boards).
In 1992, an attempt was made through the Constitution (Seventy-fourth Amendment) Act (74th CAA) to further empower municipalities with necessary powers and responsibilities and to constitute committees at the municipal ward level. In addition, training programmes were initiated in various Indian states to foster municipal capabilities. Some provisions of the 74th CAA—including administrative decentralisation and devolution of powers and functions—have not been satisfactorily implemented, as most states have been unwilling to transfer these to municipalities.
Of late, civic agencies in various Indian states have employed novel governance methods and technologies for the maintenance of proper conditions in cities. Under the integrated hospital management information system project implemented in Vadodara, health records of all patients in the 34 primary health centres have been digitised for effective disease surveillance. The system helps the administration in making timely decisions on the interventions required. In Mangaluru, solar rooftop systems facilitate a clean energy supply at affordable rates. To some extent, such measures are helping meet the diverse needs of urban populations.
In the past, civic agencies engaged in a limited capacity with non-government entities for city management. Their focus was on strengthening their managerial and financial capabilities through legal and administrative reforms. Over time, the significance of an inclusive approach in urban governance was realised. It was recognised that knowledge available outside government circles could help develop better and sustainable solutions. This led to greater engagement with communities, research institutes, universities, and private companies. Moreover, non-government entities have also been involved in project implementation as well as the provision of basic services. For example, some non-government organisations (NGOs) are offering sanitation services in cities. This arrangement has helped reduce the strain on underfunded civic agencies.
Some provisions of the 74th CAA—including administrative decentralisation and devolution of powers and functions—have not been satisfactorily implemented, as most states have been unwilling to transfer these to municipalities.
The various governance initiatives undertaken have yielded some positive results. For example, mobility in cities has improved due to the contribution of the private sector in the development of metro rail, electric buses, and app-based taxi services. Citizens are also benefiting from the wide range of participatory and technology-based projects implemented under the Smart Cities Mission, including those related to cultural identity, skill building, energy transition, water, sanitation and drainage, education, public health, non-motorised transport, and blue and green spaces. Further, with the development of information technology infrastructure, a large number of public services can be accessed online, facilitated by the increasing use of online payment services.
Despite the multitude of city governance initiatives, the quality of life in Indian cities today represents a mixed picture at best. There is tremendous population pressure on land, infrastructure, and services in some cities, and civic agencies have so far lagged in meeting the diverse and growing demands of urban populations. The result is that only a few areas within every city are effectively managed, and people’s quality of life varies even within a city, depending on where they reside and their ability to access civic resources.
Despite the multitude of city governance initiatives, the quality of life in Indian cities today represents a mixed picture at best.
The inability of civic agencies to address the pressures of urbanisation has resulted in the emergence of numerous problems. These are faced by people of all ages and abilities—newborns, adolescents, adults, the elderly, and the differently abled. Among others, some pressing civic issues include: safe drinking water and sanitation facilities are not available to everyone; slum dwellers struggle for basic needs every day; air quality is poor during most months; incidents of crime are common; drainage infrastructure is inadequate; and the condition of many surface water bodies and nature reserves meant for safeguarding biodiversity has deteriorated. Thus, citizens generally lead a stressful life, with the economically underprivileged at the receiving end of the worst of this lot.
The many problems observed in Indian cities need to be urgently addressed through better management of the pressures of urbanisation. This requires a display of superior work efficiency and better governance by the civic agencies. Some suggestions in this regard include:
The many problems observed in Indian cities need to be urgently addressed through better management of the pressures of urbanisation.
India’s rapidly urbanising landscape presents numerous challenges concerning the quality of life in cities. These problems are emblematic of the deficiencies in urban governance and a lack of citizen care. For India to achieve the vision of a developed nation (or Viksit Bharat) by the year 2047, city governments must work with communities to improve the quality of governance.
Rumi Aijaz is a Senior Fellow with the Urban Policy Research Initiative at the Observer Research Foundation
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Rumi Aijaz is Senior Fellow at ORF where he is responsible for the conduct of the Urban Policy Research Initiative. He conceived and designed the ...
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