Reforms in Urban Governance :

The State of Rajasthan is one of few States that are progressive in implementing various reforms. A brief on each reform mentioned below:  Jaipur and Ajmer-Pushkar has been selected as two Mission cities out of 63 across the country for funding under JNNURM and rest all urban centers has been covered in UIDSSMT scheme.

Reforms :

Implementation of 74th Constitutional Amendment Act :

 As a measure of decentralization as envisaged in 74th Constitutional Amendment Act, the State has already transferred 16 activities out of 18 to ULBs, while the remaining two activities, viz., Water Supply & Sewerage and Urban planning, will soon be transferred to ULBs ( Urban Local Bodies )  (as per information from the Directorate of Local Body).

 Repeal of Urban Land Ceiling and Regulation Act :

This will ensure more supply of land within an urban area and will help to solve the problem of housing shortage. The State had repealed this Act.

 Reform of Rent Control Laws :

 A new Rent Control Act is in place since 1st April 2006. In the new Rent Control Act issues like recovery of possession, revision of rents, and fixing of rents have been taken case of by balancing the interests of landlords and tenants (as per information from the Directorate of Local Body).

 Rationalization of Stamp Duty :

 Stamp duty has been brought down to 6.5% from 11% and it will be further reduced to 5% .

 Enactment of the Public Disclosure Law :

This will ensure preparation of medium-term fiscal plan of ULBs and parastatal agencies and release to quarterly performance information to all stakeholders.

Enactment of the Community Participation Law :

This is to institutionalize citizen’s participation and introduce the concept of the Area Sabha in urban areas. State government has proposed three-tier participation at Municipal level, Ward level and at Area Sabha level. A new Municipal Act is formulated and has been implemented from 2010.

 Assigning or associating elected ULBs with city planning functions :

This move is to transfer all special agencies that deliver civic services in urban areas to ULBs and creating accountability platforms for all urban civic service providers in transition. The state has already transferred 16 out of 18 functions to ULBs, while the remaining two activities, viz., Water Supply & Sewerage and Urban Planning will soon be transferred to ULBs. Initiation and commitment of all other reforms that are ULBspecific have been taken place in the towns where projects have been sanctioned by the MoUD ( Ministry Of Urban Development ), GOI.

Introduction of a system of e-governance using IT applications such GIS and MIS for various services provided by ULBs and parastatal agencies.

New Initiatives in the State :

Rajasthan Urban Infrastructute Finance and Development Corporation :

 Urban infrastructure and Public Services for Rajasthan's burgeoning urban population is inadequate. On a conservative basis, a huge investment to adequately address the infrastructure needs of various urban centers in Rajasthan.

Rajasthan Urban Development Fund (RUDF)  :

To overcome the problems of lack of infrastructure in the municipal areas, and also to support the municipalities financially to bridge the gap in any of the projects sanctioned by the Government of India, State Government, others and any other suomoto projects, Government of Rajasthan has established “Rajasthan Urban Development Fund” (RUDF) in March 2010. The fund is managed by Rajasthan Urban Infrastructure and Finance Development Corporation Limited (RUIFDCO) on behalf of the Government of Rajasthan. RUDF will provide financial assistance to ensure that the projects are executed in a time bound manner. The creation of this fund is one of the mechanisms which would help the ULBs in tackling their financial crisis partially for various ongoing and new projects.

Rajasthan Urban Infrastructure System (RUIS)  :

The objective of RUIS is to establish a comprehensive GIS-based information system in the ULBs for planning, management and de-centralized governance. This GIS-based RUIS will be the core support to prepare detailed Master Development Plan / Zonal Development Plans for concerning town/city and also support city administration and egovernance activities. The project involves mapping of six towns namely Jaipur, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Bikaner, Kota & Ajmer under State Urban Agenda for Rajasthan (SUARAJ) project.

Transfer of water supply function to ULBs :

The water supply system which presently is being looked after by Public Health Engineering Department cannot be transferred to ULBs in view of non availability of adequate trained and qualified technical manpower and institutional capacity of ULBs.

Town Planning Department :

The Town Planning department is a part of the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing of the Government of Rajasthan with Chief Town Planner as the Head of the Department and having its jurisdiction covering the whole of the State of Rajasthan.

The objective of the Town Planning Department is to guide physical development of towns through preparation of master plans, sector plans, schemes along with providing technical advice to various government departments, local bodies and other government agencies. This department helps in giving technical approvals, policies, regulations, etc. to various government heads thus acts as a central coordinator between the local and the state government in the process of urban development.

                                                 From a demographic perspective, Rajasthan is one of India’s most critical states. The State recorded the highest growth rate amongst the major states of India in the 1971-81 and 1981- 91 decades. With a decadal growth rate of 28.3 percent during the nineties (1991-01), the State ranked second after Bihar which recorded the highest growth rate of 28.4 percent in the country. The population of an area or state grows as a result of both natural increase (births-deaths) and the inflow of migrants exceeding the outflow.