Urban Life in Ancient India

Though there were cities in ancient civilization it is only in the last two centuries that urbanization has become a characteristic form of human life.

2500 B.C. to 1500 B.C

Indian people had built up a city civilization nearly 5,000 years back. Archaeological discoveries have shown that the Indian cities were in existence for a thousand years from 2500 B.C. to 1500 B.C. The Indus Valley Civilization extended over nearly a thousand miles from Ropar in Haryana in the north to Rangpur in Kathiawar in the south and up to Baluchistan in the west. The chief cities were Harappa and Mohenjodaro, which are now in Pakistan.

Each city had a well-fortified citadel, which was probably used for both religious and governmental purposes.

The layout of the cities, the regular planning of the streets, the uniformity in weights and measures, all indicate that there must have been a strong centralized State.

There were wide streets with large blocks of houses two or more storeys high.

Each house had a square courtyard with a number of rooms around like traditional Indian buildings up to the recent times.

The drainage and sewerage of these cities is one of the most unique features of the Indus Valley civilization.

Around 1700 B.C. there was eventual disappearance of Indus Valley civilization. The historians now believe that for about a thousand years after the Aryan invasion there were no cities in India.

But even at the time of Buddha 2,500 years ago, Kasi (Varanasi) and Kausambi were famous cities. In the time of the Mauryas, Pataliputra (Patna) was a big city. The great temple cities of Ayodhya, Mathura, Hardwar, Dwaraka, Kasi, Prayag, Puri, Kanchi and Madhurai are very ancient.

The early historical period - 600 B.C. to A.D. 500

The emergence of new kingdoms necessitated the building of new capital cities, palaces, and consequently, there was the rise of elitist classes of nobles, militia and priests. There was spread of regions through territorial conquest and expansion.

North India

The most important cities that were on the rise (mostly as capitals of different kingdoms) were Hastinapura, the capital of the Kaurav Kingdom of the Puru-Kuru branch of the tribe; Indraprastha, the capital of the Pandavas, Achichhatra, the capital of North Panchala Kingdom, Mathura and Kanyakubja or present Kanauj developed as the twin capitals of the kingdom of the Panchalas; Ayodhya, the capital of the Kosala, was set up on the bank of River sarju near present Fyzabad etc.

Types of towns in the Mauryan period

During Mauryan period many other types of towns came into existence apart from capital or administrative cities. These towns or cities were categoriser as: Rajadhaniya nagara, Sthaniya nagara, Kharveta, Kheta, Putabhedana, Nigama, Pattana and Dronamukha. Out of these the first four were administrative towns, Rajadhaniya being the capital city and the largest of all cities. The latter four types were mainly commercial cities The Putabhedana was a large commercial centre specializing in wholesale trade, the Nigama was an ordinary market centre, the Pattana was a coastal trading town and the Dronamukha served as a port city being located at the mouth of a river. Apart from towns like Khadavara, a military camp and Nivesa, an encampment, there were some specialized centres of learning and religion, arts and crafts and medicine.

South India

The most important Tamil cities that developed in South India were Puhar, the Chola port and coastal capital; Uraiyar, the Chola inland capital; Korkai, the Pandhya coastal capital; Madurai, the Pandhya inland capital; Musiri, the Chera port; Kanchi (Kancheepuram of today), the inland capital of Tondaimandalam; and Vanji or Karur, the Chera inland capital. A distinctive feature of the southern kingdoms (Pandyas, Cholas and Cheras) was the existence of two capital cities for each kingdom.

The Medieval Period - A.D. 600-1800

The Muslim rulers, in general, had not taken to town building but there were some capital cities, which initially received real attention. Delhi and surrounding areas like Agra in 1506 were developed as new urban centers. The major urban centres, during this period, were Mathura, Thaneshwar, Allahabad, Varanasi, Patliputra, Gwalior, Ujjain, Dhar, Somnath, Meerut, Panipat, Broach, Baroda and Srinagar.

Urban development south of the Vindhyas was very different. The entire region situated south of the Vindhyan range witnessed great urban development with the beginning of 7th century A.D. mainly due to stable political situation of the South India Important cities like Ahmadnagar, Bijapur, Golconda, (now in ruins) and Hyderabad were the capitals of Muslim kings, while Hampi (now in ruins) and Pune belonged to Hindu kings. Other major cities were Gulbarga, Badami, Kolhpur, etc. The cities had mostly planned street layouts and large market centres-as seen in the Char Minar area of Hyderabad. Mostly the cities were walled and the centre of the city consisted of great monuments, like mosques or palaces.

Urbanisation in the British Period (A.D. 1800-1947)

The Portuguese were the first in the race, who established new port towns in India at Panaji in Goa in 1510 and Mumbai in 1532. They were followed by the Dutch who set up their first factory at Machilipatnam in 1605 and Nagapattinam in 1658 and subsequently, came the British who established themselves in Chennai in 1639 and Kolkatta in 1690. The last of the European power was the French who set up factory at Surat in 1668, at Pondicherry in 1673 and Chandernagore in 1690.

The centres of commercial activity that they established became important urban centres in small span of time, e.g., Goa, Pondicherry, Chandernagore, Mahe, Yanam, Karikal, etc. The three centres of Kolkatta, Mumbai and Chennai were entirely new cities established by the British.

In 1881 the level of urbanisation was 9.1 per cent, which rose only to 10.84 per cent by 1901. By this time India had 25 cities with one lakh or more population and 69 cities with a population of 50,000 or over. The major contributions of the British, during the 20th century, to the urban scene were.

The creation of Metropolitan cities

It has been already discussed that the British influence made Kolkatta, Chennai and Mumbai as the most important cities with the concentration of administrative, commercial and industrial activities. Mostly the city's focal point was the central commercial area, with tall, European-style buildings, occupied by the banks and headquarters of commercial and industrial houses. Rail and road transportation formed junction at the city's focal point.

Civil lines and cantonments

Apart from the administrative headquarters that emerged as the most prominent towns and cities, there were some smaller administrative centres known as 'Civil Lines' and the Cantonments that were mostly built near major towns for providing security.

Hill stations and plantation settlements

Britishers established a number of hill stations at selected spots on the hills and mountains of North, Central and South India. The British belonged to the region of cool temperate climate and for them extreme hot condition during summer season was intolerable, inhospitable and they considered it a threat to good health and longevity. For instance, Shimla-Mussoorie-Nainital near Delhi, Nilgiri-Kodaikanal near Chennai and Mahabaleshwar in the Western Ghats near Mumbai. The plan and architecture of these cities followed English style and mostly the common Indians remained alienated from these resorts.

Urban development in the Post-Independence Period

After independence urban development in India entered a new and more important phase under the planned economy of the Indian Government. The rate of urban growth in the post-independence period was very rapid. The number of one-lakh and million cities increased and along with them increased the urban population.

The proportion of urban population to total population increased from 17.3 per cent in 1951 to 25.7 percent in 1991. A dramatic change occurred in the urban scene as it went through different quinquenium of planned growth.

Rehabilitation of refugees and urbanisation

To rehabilitate the refugees during partition, 14 new towns were built-one was in West Bengal, five in Uttar Pradesh, four in the Punjab, three in Gujarat and one in Maharashtra. Additionally, some refugee colonies (new townships), designated as model towns, were set up near existing cities The model towns added new dimension to the level of urbanisation in India.

Creation of new state capitals

The partition of India in 1947 and the reorganization of states on linguistic lines led to the creation of many states. The new states were without capital cities. These states with Central assistance built new capital cities. Chandigarh, Bhubaneshwar, Gandhinagar and Dispur are examples of such towns. Most of these settlements are planned. Chandigarh, for example, has been laid on a grid plan.

Development of Industrial cities

The steel cities of Rourkela, Durgapur, Bhilai Nagar and Bokaro are best examples of this situation. Other new industrial cities were the refinery towns of Barauni, Noonmati, Haldia and Ankaleshwar; the fertilizer towns at Sindri, Mittrapur, Naya Nangal and Namrup; port towns such as Kandla and Paradeep; and aluminium towns like Korba and Ratnagiri.

Metropolization

In the post-independence period the areas served by the metropolises and their activities have increased considerably. 

Urban census concepts

The term ‘urban’ means characteristic of or situated in a city or town. It is customary to define ‘urban area’ in terms of physical characteristics, namely size and the density of people and the concentration of employment in Secondary and Tertiary Activity.

In the Census of India 2011, the definition of urban area adopted is as follows: (a) All statutory places with a municipality, corporation, cantonment board or notified town area committee, etc. (b) A place satisfying the following three criteria simultaneously:

i)    a minimum population of 5,000;

ii)   at least 75 per cent of male working population [3]engaged in non-agricultural pursuits; and

iii) a density of population of at least 400 per sq. km. (1,000 per sq. mile).

Besides, the Directors of Census, Operations in State/Union Territories were allowed to include in consultation with the concerned State Government/Union Territory Administration and the census commissioner of India, some places having distinct urban characteristics as urban even if such places did not strictly satisfy all the criteria mentioned under category. Such marginal cases include major project colonies, areas of intensive industrial development, railway colonies, important tourist centres, etc.

Apart from these, the outgrowths (OGs) of cities and towns have also been treated as urban, as explained later under 'Urban Agglomerations'.

Year	1901	1911	1921	1931	1941	1951	1961	1971	1981	1991	2001	2011
Urban population (% of total Population)	10.8	10.3	11.2	12.0	13.9	17.3	18.0	19.9	23.3	25.7	27.8	31.16

An Urban Agglomeration[4] is a continuous urban spread constituting a town and its adjoining urban outgrowths (OGs) or two or more physically contiguous towns together and any adjoining urban outgrowths of such towns. Examples of OGs are railway colonies, university campuses, port areas, etc., that may come up near a city or statutory town outside its statutory limits but within the revenue limits of a village or villages contiguous to the town or city. Each such individual area by itself may not satisfy the minimum population limit to qualify it to be treated as an independent urban unit but may deserve to be clubbed with the town as a continuous urban spread.

For the purpose of delineation of Urban Agglomerations during Census of India 2001, following criteria are taken as pre-requisites: (a) The core town or at least one of the constituent towns of an urban agglomeration should necessarily be a statutory town; and (b) The total population of all the constituents (i.e. towns and outgrowths) of an Urban Agglomeration should not be less than 20,000 (as per the 1991 Census). With these two basic criteria having been met, the following are the possible different situations in which Urban Agglomerations would be constituted: (i) a city or town with one or more contiguous outgrowths; (ii) two or more adjoining towns with their outgrowths; and (iii) a city and one or more adjoining towns with their outgrowths all of which form a continuous spread.

Thus, all places, which are found to satisfy the prescribed conditions are considered as urban, and the remaining are treated as rural. The smallest area of a rural habitation is generally called 'village'. But cases where habitational areas within the village are continued to one or more pockets are also quite common. In such cases each residential pocket called 'hamlet' becomes the smallest rural habitation. The unsurveyed and forest habitational areas are likely to have locally recognised boundaries and each such area is treated as one rural unit.

Towns

The Directors of Census Operations in consultation with this office prepared the list of urban areas, which is generally referred to as the "Town list". Simultaneously constituted the basic frame for the organisation of census operations. In the 1991 Census 4,689 places were identified as towns as against 4,029 in the 1981 Census. Out of 4,689 towns of 1991, as many as 2,996 are statutory towns and 1,693 are census or non-municipal towns as against 2,758 and 1,272, respectively, in 1981.

At the Census 2011 as many as 6166 towns were delineated, which were 1005 more than the number at the 2001 Census (5161).

Distribution of urban population by size, class of towns( as per 2001 census)

Class	Population Size	No.of UAs/Towns
Class I (City)	1,00,000 and above	393
Class II	50,000 - 99,999	401
Class III	20,000 - 49,999	1,151
Class IV	10,000 - 19,999	1,344
Class V	5,000 - 9,999	888
Class VI	Less than 5,000	191
Unclassified		10*
All classes		4378

Million plus Urban Agglomerations (UAs)

• At the 2011 Census, there were 53 UAs/Cities with Million Plus population.. About 40% of the total urban population as per the Census 2011 lives in these Million Plus UAs/Cities in India.

• Out of the 53 Million Plus UAs/Cities, 7 are located in Uttar Pradesh, 5 each in Gujarat and Maharashtra, 3 each in Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, 2 each in Punjab and West Bengal, Jharkhand and 1 each in Delhi, Haryana, Bihar, Kerala, Karnataka and Rajasthan.     

Urban Growth-India

India no longer lives in villages. During the last fifty years the population of India has grown two and half times, but Urban India has grown by nearly five times. In numerical terms, India’s urban population is second largest in the world after China, and is higher than the total urban population of all countries put together barring China, USA and Russia.

Levels of Urbanisation (2011 census)

 

Slums

An area of sub-standard, over-crowed housing occupied by the poor, the unemployed, the unemployable and immigrants, who cannot afford to live elsewhere. Slums are judged by subjective criteria: a sub-culture with a set of norms and values reflected in poor situation, , tailing over-priced goods. Socially slums tend to be isolated from the remainder of urban society and exhibit pathological social symptoms (drug abuse, alcoholism, crime, vandalism and other deviant behaviour).

Squatter Settlement

The dominant facet of third world urban growth, comprising a concentration of mashift dwellings, usually at the edge of the city, on public or private land which is neither owned nor rented by the builders/occupants. Such settlements or shantytowns have emerged because the formal housing market has been unable to cope with the rate of increase of cope with the rate of increase of population and especially immigration to urban areas. The quality of shanty dwellings is rudimentary, initial building using any materials available-wood, cardboard, zinc sheets, etc. There is a severe absence of public services-roads are unpaved, sanitation systems are crude, water supplies, educational and medical services inadequate. The occupants of squatter settlements are usually the urban poor, since they act as reception areas for migrants, whom they assist in adapting to urban life. Squatter settlements are known by various local names, e.g., barracks (Guatemala, Venezuela), barriadas (Peru), barrios (Venezuela), barrios pirats (Columbia), bidonvilles (Algeria, Moroccol), bustees (India), colonies proletarians (Mexico), courts (Haiti), favelas (Brazil), gecekoudu (Trukey), gourbivilles (Tunisia), kampongs (south east Asia), ranchos (Venezuela), solares (Chile), villas miserias (Argentina).

Slums[5] in India

An attempt has been made for the first time during the Census of India, 2001 to collect detailed data about slum areas of the country particularly in cities/towns having 50,000 population or more based on 1991 census. All the inhabitants of the areas, which have been notified as slums by the state governments under any legal provisions or even recognized by them, have been accordingly considered as slum population for this purpose.

Besides areas in cities/towns, which satisfy the usual criteria for declaring an area as slum have also been included. For the purpose of Census of India, 2001, the slum areas broadly constitute of: -

• All specified areas notified as ‘Slum’ by State/Local Government and UT Administration under any Act;

• All areas recognized as ‘Slum’ by State/Local Government and UT Administration, which may have not been formally notified as slum under any Act;

• A compact area of at least 300 population or about 60-70 households of poorly built congested tenements, in unhygienic environment usually with inadequate infrastructure and lacking in proper sanitary and drinking water facilities.

The Directorate of Census Operations in consultation with the State Government/Local Authorities were asked to identify slum areas in municipal towns having population of 50,000 or more as per 1991 census. Therefore, the estimates of slum population given below primarily are confined to cities and towns having more than 50,000 populations at the 1991 Census.

Though the criteria adopted for formation of slum was confined to municipal towns having 50,000 population, however, in a few stray cases even the non municipal towns were found to have large number of slum areas, necessitating formation of slum by the local authorities. For instance in National Capital Region of Delhi, eleven Census towns and in Uttar Pradesh one Census town has reported slum population. In addition to these, six towns, one in Bihar, two in Madhya Pradesh, two in Gujarat and one in Maharashtra, could qualify the population criteria of 50,000 after adding population of outgrowths as returned for Census of India, 1991. In case of Shillong, slum areas were notified in the entire urban agglomeration as such slum population has been reported from the Shillong urban agglomeration. Slum population has been reported from 26 States/Union territories. Nine States/Union territories, namely, Himachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu and Lakshadweep have not reported any slum population in their Class I & II cities/towns.

Census of India 2001 have released data on the number and population of cities/towns reporting slum, total slum population and slum population in 0-6 age group and literate slum population by sex - India & State/Union territory. Similarly data on population, slum population, and slum population in 0-6 age group and literate slum population by sex in million plus cities.

Features of Slum data

• As per criteria adopted by Census of India 2001, only those cities/towns, which returned at least 50,000 populations in 1991 Census, were considered for identifying Slum Population. Other criteria included as already mentioned above. Only 607 such towns have reported slums.

• Total Slum Population returned as per provisional results of Census of India 2001 was 40,605,418, comprising of 22.76% of the total urban population of the cities/towns reporting slums.

• Largest Slum population was registered in Maharashtra (10.64 million).

• The largest proportion of slum population in Million plus cities was registered in Greater Mumbai (48.88%) and the lowest in Patna (0.25%).

• About 1% of India’s population lives in the slums of Maharashtra.

• Around 6% of Maharashtra population lives in slums of Greater Mumbai.

• Proportion of Slum Population to total population in Cities/Towns varied form41.33% to 1.81%, the largest being Meghalaya (41.33%) and the lowest Kerala (1.81%).

• Sex ratio, (i.e., number of females per thousand males) of the Slum Population varied from 1032 (Pondicherry) to 707 (Chandigarh). Kerala also returned high sex ratio (1029).

• Proportion of Children (0-6) among slum population in Million Plus Cities was found to be highest in Jaipur (18.11%) and lowest in Kolkata (9.35%).

• Literacy Rate among Slum population was found to be quite high, varying form 88.08% (Meghalaya) to 55.46% (Chandigarh). The Male Literacy Rate varied from 91.05% (Meghalaya) to 65.59% (Chandigarh). Female Literacy Rate was also found to be high varying from 85.11% (Meghalaya) and Chandigarh (40.09%).

SLUM PROBLEM( 2011 census)

As per the report of Pranab Sen Committee to look in to various aspects of census, country’s slum population had by 17.8 million people in the last.The committee projected the slum in 2011 at 93.06 million, up from.26 million in 2001 as per the new definition. The 2001 census figures pegged the population at 52.40 million.

Urban Infrastructure

The Ninth Plan Working Group on Housing has estimated the investment requirement for housing in urban areas at Rs.526, 00 crores. The India Infrastructure Report, 1996 estimates the annual investment need for urban water supply, sanitation and roads at about 28,035 crores for the next ten years. The Central Public Health Engineering (CPHEEO) has estimated the requirement of funds for 100 percent coverage of the urban population under safe water supply and sanitation services by the year 2021 at Rs.172, 905 crores. Estimates by Rail India Technical and Economic Services (RITES) indicate that the amount required for urban transport infrastructure investment in cities with population 100,000 or more during the next 20 years would be of the order of Rs.207, 000 crore. Obviously, sums of these magnitudes cannot be located from within the budgetary resources of Central, State and Local Governments. A compulsion has, therefore, arisen to access financial resources from the market and induces the private sector to participate in urban development programmes.

Urban Reforms

Private sector investment for provisions of urban infrastructure cannot take place unless a proper legal and regulatory framework for such investment is created and developed which ensures a full cost plus recovery of such investment. This calls for innovative reforms in municipal tax structure and user charges, taking into account poor paying capacity of a sizeable section of urban population. Various modes of Private-Public-Partnership (PPP) are being experimented by different urban local bodies in the country. Municipal Bond, Tradable Development Rights, Urban Shelter and Infrastructure Fund, use of Land as a Resource are some of the new techniques that are being applied by the city authorities. The Constitution (74th) Amendment Act 1992 has unleashed a new era of dynamism and reform in Urban India. The future is full of possibilities and excitement for investors, planners, administrators, economists and above all 300 million urban dwellers of India.

Housing and Urban Policy in India 

The policies of urban development and housing in India have come a long way since 1950s. The pressure of urban population and lack of housing and basic services were very much evident in the early 1950s. In some cities this was compounded by migration of people from Pakistan. However, the general perception of the policy makers was that India is pre-dominantly an agricultural and rural economy and that there are potent dangers of over urbanisation, which will lead to the drain of resources from the countryside to feed the cities. The positive aspects of cities as engines of economic growth in the context of national economic policies were not much appreciated and, therefore, the problems of urban areas were treated more as welfare problems and sectors of residual investment rather than as issues of national economic importance.                                   

First Five Year Plan (1951-56),	Emphasis was given on institution building and on construction of houses for Government employees and weaker sections. National Building Organisation and Town & Country Planning Organisation were set up. Rehabilitation of the refugees from Pakistan and on building the new city of Chandigarh. An Industrial Housing Scheme was also initiated. The Centre subsidized Scheme to the extent of 50% towards the cost of land and construction.
Second Plan (1956-61).	The Industrial Housing Scheme was widened to cover all workers. Three new schemes were introduced, namely, Rural Housing, Slum Clearance and Sweepers Housing. Town & Country Planning Legislations were enacted in many States and necessary organisations were also set up for preparation of Master Plans for important towns.
Third Plan (1961-66)	A Scheme was introduced in 1959 to give loans to State Govts for housing programmes. For a period of 10 years for acquisition and development of land in order to make available building sites in sufficient numbers. Master Plans for major cities were prepared and the State capitals of Gandhi Nagar and Bhubaneswar were developed.
Fourth Plan (1969-74)	The balanced urban growth was accorded high priority The need to prevent further growth of population in large cities and need for decongestion or dispersal of population. Creation of smaller towns and by planning the spatial location of economic activity. Housing & Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) was established A Scheme for Environmental Improvement or Urban Slums was undertaken in the Central Sector from 1972-73
Fifth Plan (1974-79)	Efforts to augment civic services in urban areas with particular emphasis on a comprehensive and regional approach to problems in metropolitan cities. A Task Force was set up for development of small and medium towns. The Urban Land (Ceiling & Regulation) Act was enacted to prevent concentration of land holding in urban areas and to make available urban land for construction of houses for the middle and low-income groups.
Sixth Plan (1980-85)	Integrated provision of services along with shelter, particularly for the poor. The Integrated Development of Small and Medium Towns (IDSMT) was launched in towns with population below one lakh
Seventh Plan (1985-90)	Stress on the need to entrust major responsibility of housing construction on the private sector. The National Housing Bank was set up to expand the base of housing finance. NBO was reconstituted A network of Building Centres was also set up during this Plan period. The Seventh Plan explicitly recognised the problems of the urban poor and for the first time an Urban Poverty Alleviation Scheme known as Urban Basic Services for the Poor (UBSP) was launched. As a follow-up of the Global Shelter Strategy (GSS), National Housing Policy (NHP) was announced in 1988. The National Commission of Urbanisation submitted its report.
Eighth Plan (1992-97)	For the first time this plan explicitly recognised the role and importance of urban sector for the national economy. The Plan identified the key issues in the emerging urban scenario: The scarce infrastructural services badly hit the poor, Huge backlog of housing shortages, resulting in proliferation of slums and squatter settlement and decay of city environment, High incidence of marginal employment and urban poverty as reflected in NSS 43rd round that 41.8 million urban people lived below the poverty line. The response of the Plan to this scenario was the launching of Urban Poverty and Alleviation Programme of Nehru Rozgar Yojana (NRY)
Ninth Plan (1997-2002)	With a view to provide gainful employment to the urban unemployed or underemployed through encouraging the setting up of self-employment ventures or provision of wage employment, a new urban poverty alleviation programme, namely, Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rojgar Yojana (SJSRY) was launched on 01.12.1997 after subsuming the earlier three Urban Poverty Alleviation Schemes, namely Urban Basic Services for the Poor (UBSP), Nehru Rojgar Yojana (NRY) and Prime Ministers Integrated Urban Poverty Eradication Programme (PMI UPEP). a new Centrally sponsored scheme called Valmiki Ambedkar Awas Yojana (VAMBAY) with a view to ameliorating the conditions of the urban slum dwellers living below the poverty line who do not possess adequate shelter, launched Jan 2001,
Tenth Plan (2002-2007)	Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) launched dec 2005 Integrated Housing and Slum Development Programme(IHSDP) National Urban Housing and Habitat Policy, 2007
Eleventh Plan (2007-2012)	The magnitude of housing shortage was estimated by a Technical Group in the context of formulation of the 11th Five Year Plan. The Technical Group estimated the housing shortage at the end of the 10th Plan to be around 24.7 million for 67.4 million households.

The long-term goal of the NHP was to eradicate houseless ness, improve the housing conditions of the inadequately housed and provide a minimum level of basic services and amenities to all. The role of Government was conceived, as a provider for the poorest and vulnerable sections and as a facilitator for other income groups and private sector by the removal of constraints and the increased supply of land and services.

Urban- Legislative aspect                             

The Constitution of India has assigned the subjects pertaining to the urban areas to the State Legislates. In so far as the urban issues are concerned, the legislative powers of the Union are limited only to the following subject/areas:

·         Delhi and other UnionTerritories

·         Property of the Union

·         A subject of the state list which two or more state legislatures authorize Union Parliament to legislate.

·         Amendment of the Constitution of India.

In exercise of these legislative powers, the Parliament of India has enacted the following legislations, which are administrated by the Ministry of Urban Development.

Constitution Seventy-Fourth Amendment Act 1992

This is a revolutionary piece of legislation by which Constitution of India was amended to incorporate a separate Chapter on urban local bodies, which seeks to redefine their role, power, function and finances. The salient features of this Act are:

• Urban local bodies, to be known as Municipal Corporations, Municipal Councils and Nagar Panchayat depending on the population, shall be constituted through universal adult franchise in each notified urban are of the country. These shall be constituted for a period of five years and if dissolved earlier, an election to reconstitute it shall be completed before the expiration of a period of six months from the date of its dissolution.

• Not less than one-third of total number of seats in each urban local body shall be reserved for women.

• The Legislature of a State may by law entrust on these bodies such power and authority as may be necessary to enable them to function as institution of local self-government, including those listed in the Twelfth Schedule.

• In each district a District Planning Committee shall be constituted to consolidate the plan prepared by the urban and rural local bodies.

• Similarly for each metropolitan area a Metropolitan Planning Committee shall be constituted to prepare a development plan for the metropolitan area a whole.

The Urban Land (Ceiling & Regulation) Act, 1976

This law was enacted by the Parliament on the basis of the authority given to it by a few State Legislatures. The Act came into force in 1976 in the States of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal and in all the Union Territories. The Act was subsequently adopted by the States of Assam, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya and Rajasthan. It was enacted with a view to prevent concentration of urban land in the hands of a few persons, speculation and profiteering in urban land and to bring about an equitable distribution of urban land to subserve the common good. However, out of 2,20,674 hectares of land declared surplus under the Act, only 19,020 hectares could be taken for construction of dwelling units. The remaining area was locked up in litigation leading to scarcity of land and rise in land prices.

The Urban Land (Ceiling & Regulation) Repeal Act, 1999

The Urban Land (Ceiling & Regulation) Act 1976 has been repealed by the Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Repeal Act, 1999. The Repeal Act has been notified in March 1999. It shall come force in the Union Territories and the States of Punjab and Haryana where the State Legislatures have already approved the repeal.

Urban Development

Integrated Development of Small AndMediumTowns

The Centrally sponsored scheme of Integrated Development of Small & Medium Towns (IDSMT) was initiated in the year 1979-80 and is continuing with periodic amendments and modifications.

Objectives

• Improving infrastructural facilities and helping in the creation of durable public assets in small and medium towns.

• Decentralizing economic and employment opportunities and promoting dispersed urbanisation

• Increasing the availability of serviced sites for housing, commercial and industrial uses.

• Integrating spatial and socio-economic planning as envisaged in the Constitution (74th Amendment) Act, 1992.

• Promoting resource-generating schemes for the urban local bodies to improve their overall financial position.

Selection of Towns

IDSMT Scheme will be applicable to towns with population upto 5 lakhs subject to the stipulation that 1/3 of the total amount available each year for the Scheme as a whole will be allocated to towns with less than 50,000 population. The identification of towns shall be left to the State Govt., UTs according to their Urban Development Strategy, within the framework of guidelines. While selecting the towns preference will be given to headquarters of districts followed by Mandi towns and industrial growth centres, tourist places, pilgrim centres etc.

Infrastructure Development in Mega Cities

The centrally sponsored scheme for infrastructural development in mega cities was initiated during 1993-94. The primary objective of the scheme is to enable the mega cities to build a revolving fund by the end of the Ninth Plan for sustained investment in urban infrastructure through adoption of direct and indirect cost recovery measures.

Features

The main features of the scheme are as follows:

• The scheme is applicable to Mumbai, Kolkatta, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad.

• The funds under the scheme are channelised through a specialized institution/nodal agency at the state level.

• The sharing between Central Govt. and State Govt. is at 25%: 25%; the balance 50% is to be met from institutional finance/capital market.

• The projects under the scheme consist of a suitable mix/basket of (A) remunerative, (B) user charge-based and (C) basic services projects.

• The nodal agencies are required to provide project-related finance for urban infrastructure including water supply, sewerage, drainage, sanitation, city transport networks, land development, slum improvement, solid waste management, etc.

Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana

The Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY) has been launched on 1st December 1997 as a replacement for the earlier urban poverty alleviation schemes of Government of India, namely, Nehru Rozgar Yojana (NRY), Urban Basic Services for the Poor (UBSP), and Prime Minister’s Integrated Urban Poverty Eradication Programme (PMI UPEP). It seeks to provide gainful employment to the urban unemployed or underemployed poor through encouraging the setting up of self-employment ventures or provision of wage employment.

The SJSRY is funded on 75:25 bases between the Centre and the States.

The Scheme consists of two programmes, namely: -

·         The Urban Self Employment Programme (USEP)

·         The Urban Wage Employment Programme (UWEP)

The Urban Self Employment Programme (USEP)

This programme has three distinct parts: -

• Assistance to individual urban poor beneficiaries for setting up gainful self-employment ventures.

• Assistance to groups of urban poor women for setting up gainful self-employment ventures. This sub-scheme may be called “The Scheme for Development of Women and Children in the Urban Areas (DWCUA)”.

• Training of beneficiaries, potential beneficiaries and other persons associated with the urban employment programme for upgradation and acquisition of vocational and entrepreneurial skills.

The Urban Wage Employment Programme (UWEP):

This programme shall seek to provide wage employment to beneficiaries living below the poverty line within the jurisdiction of urban local bodies by utilizing their labour for construction of socially and economically useful public assets.

This programme shall apply to urban local bodies, the population of which was less than 5 lakhs as per the 1991 Census.

National Slum Development Programme

The Central Government had introduced a Centrally Sponsored Scheme in the Fifth Five Year Plan for Environmental Development of Urban Slums (EIUS). The scheme was transferred in the State Sector. Experience shows that virtually none of the State Governments has been able to provide sufficient funds for the scheme as a result of which there has not been much improvement and upgradation work in urban slums except, in some selected areas where special projects were sanctioned. Therefore, it was considered appropriate for the Government of India to introduce the National Slum Development Programme in 1996.

Components

• Provision of physical amenities like water supply, storm water drains, community bath, widening and paving of existing lanes, sewers, community latrines, street lights, etc.

• Provision of Community centres to be used for pre-school education, non-formal education, adult education, recreational activities etc.

• Social Amenities like pre-school education, non-formal education, adult education, maternity, child health care including immunization etc. The scheme will attempt to bring about convergence between schemes being implemented by different line departments and may also provide missing links, if required.

• Provision for Shelter: The Scheme must have a component of shelter upgradation or construction of new houses (including EWS) as may be required. Not less than 10% of the allocation to State under this assistance shall be utilised for construction and/or upgradation of houses for the urban poor. State may work out State specific schemes for housing construction/upgradation under this component subject to the proviso that the scheme shall not be an entirely subsidy based scheme but the funding shall contain a loan component as well.

• The scheme must make adequate provision for achieving convergence between different sectoral and departmental programmes related to achieving social sector goals similar to those envisaged in this scheme.

JAWAHARLAL NEHRU NATIONAL URBAN RENEWAL MISSION

According to the 2001 census, India has a population of 1027 million with approximately 28 per cent or 285 million people living in urban areas. It is estimated that by the year 2011, urban areas would contribute about 65 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP). However, this higher productivity is contingent upon the availability and quality of infrastructure services. Urban economic activities are dependent on infrastructure, such as power, telecom, roads, water supply and mass transportation, coupled with civic infrastructure, such as sanitation and solid waste management. It is estimated that over a seven-year period, the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) would require a total investments of Rs. 1,20,536 crores. It was well recognized that in order to fructify these investments, a national level initiative is required that would bring together the State Governments and enable ULBs catalyze investment flows in the urban infrastructure sector. There is a felt need to set up an initiative that will provide reform linked assistance to State Governments and ULBs in the country.

The scheme was officially inaugurated by the Prime minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh on 3 December 2005. The duration of the Mission would be seven years beginning from the year 2005-06.

 The Mission statement reads as follows:

“The aim is to encourage reforms and fast track planned development of identified

Cities. Focus is to be on efficiency in urban infrastructure and service delivery mechanisms, community participation, and accountability of ULBs/ Parastatal agencies towards citizens.”

OBJECTIVES

The objectives of the JNNURM are to ensure that the following are achieved in the urban sector

• Focused attention to integrated development of infrastructure services in cities covered under the Mission

• Establishment of linkages between asset-creation and asset-management through a slew of reforms for long-term project sustainability

• Ensuring adequate funds to meet the deficiencies in urban infrastructural services.

• Planned development of identified cities including peri-urban areas, outgrowths and urban corridors leading to dispersed urbanization

• Scale-up delivery of civic amenities and provision of utilities with emphasis on universal access to the urban poor

• Special focus on urban renewal programme for the old city areas to reduce congestion

• Provision of basic services to the urban poor including security of tenure at affordable prices, improved housing, water supply and sanitation, and ensuring delivery of other existing universal services of the government for education, health and social security.

The Mission shall comprise two Sub- Missions, namely:

(1)  Sub-Mission for Urban Infrastructure and Governance: This will be administered by the Ministry of Urban Development through the Sub- Mission Directorate for Urban Infrastructure and Governance. The main thrust of the Sub-Mission will be on infrastructure projects relating to water supply and sanitation, sewerage, solid waste management, road network, urban transport and redevelopment of old city areas with a view to upgrading infrastructure therein, shifting industrial and commercial establishments to conforming areas, etc.

(2)  Sub-Mission for Basic Services to the Urban Poor: This will be administered by the Ministry of Urban Employment and Poverty Alleviation through the Sub-Mission Directorate for Basic Services to the Urban Poor. The main thrust of the Sub-Mission will be on integrated development of slums through projects for providing shelter, basic services and other related civic amenities with a view to providing utilities to the urban poor.

LIST OF ELIGIBLE CITIES

Category A MegaCities/ UAs	Category B Million plus Cities/ UAas	Category C* Cities/ UAs with less than one million population
(1) Delhi (2) Greater Mumbai (3) Ahmedabad (4) Bangalore (5) Chennai (6) Kolkata (7) Hyderabad	(1) Patna (2) Faridabad (3) Bhopal (4) Ludhiana (5) Jaipur (6) Lucknow (7) Madurai (8) Nashik (9) Pune (10) Cochin (11) Varanasi (12) Agra (13) Amritsar (14) Vishakhapatnam (15) Vadodara (16) Surat (17) Kanpur (18) Nagpur (19) Coimbatore (20) Meerut (21) Jabalpur (22) Jamshedpur (23) Asansol (24) Allahabad (25) Vijayawada (26) Rajkot (27) Dhanbad (28) Indore	(1) Guwahati (2) Itanagar (3) Jammu (4) Raipur (5) Panaji (6) Shimla (7) Ranchi (8) Thiruvananthapuram (9) Imphal (10) Shillong (11) Aizawl (12) Kohima (13) Bhubaneshwar (14) Gangtok (15) Agartala (16) Dehradun (17) Bodhgaya (18) Ujjain (19) Puri (20) Ajmer-Pushkar (21) Nainital (22) Mysore (23) Pondicherry (24) Chandigarh (25) Srinagar (26) Mathura (27) Haridwar (28) Nanded

Ministries handling Urban Affairs

Ministry of Works, Housing and Supply	1952
Renamed Ministry of Urban Affairs and Employment	1955
Renamed , the Ministry of Urban Development	April, 1999
This Ministry was bifurcated into two Ministries viz. (i) "Ministry of Urban Development" and (ii) "Ministry of Urban Employment and Poverty Alleviation[6]" with effect from	Oct , 1999.(merged in 2000 again bifurcated in 2004)

Urban Issues

Governance Issues

• For strengthening urban governance, the following steps need to be taken:

• Transfer of all the 18 functions identified in the 74th Constitutional Amendment to the ULBs (urban local bodies).

• Set up an independent utility regulator at the state level to monitor service levels and adjudicate disputes related to state and pricing of services.

• With the objective of establishing single point accountability, the Mayor should be the Executive Head of the city and he should be vested with appropriate authority.

• All million plus metropolitan areas should set up a Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (UMTA).

• Every municipality should publish a Citizens’ Charter which should contain comprehensive information on services levels for all urban services.

• In all metropolitan areas and cities, dedicated government agencies with additional autonomy should be carved out to provide services like water supply, solid waste management, sewerage, sanitation etc. The allocated municipal bodies may procure services from these agencies by entering into suitable MoUs.

• Committees and Area Sabhas should be set up for institutionalizing participatory development process for effectively carrying out the functions devolved to Urban Local Bodies.

• Adopt an outcome based project and put up a robust monitoring systemix. Set up Lokayuktas / Ombudsman at state and city level

Issues Related to Planning

• India’s urbanization effort is being implemented through disjointed projects / activities with inadequate or no planning for the urban area as a whole.

• The Master Plan approach focuses on only the core area of the city and has little linkages to any financial and operational strategy.

• Every city/town should have a Development Plan by taking at least a 10 year perspective

• Along with the City Development Plan, there is need for a functional plan that indicates the sources of funds required for holistic urban development of the city.

• There is a need to provide incentives for strategic densification of cities / new towns on growth corridors.

• Considering land re-adjustment which is gaining acceptance as an alternative to land acquisition.

Issues about Financing of Urban Infrastructure

• The total capital investments required in urban infrastructure over the next 20 years has been estimated to be about Rs. 39 lakh crore.

• The share of Urban Local Bodies own revenues has declined significantly from 63% in 2002- 03 to about 53% in 2007-08.

• A major strategy under the 12th Plan would be to strengthen the municipal finance and make them predictable.

• Profits accruing to Urban Local Bodies from innovative sources like land monetization should be pooled into a “ring fenced” City Development Fund which should be used only for urban infrastructure projects.

• The State Finance Commissions need to be further strengthened for functional devolution and imparting predictability to the municipal finances.

How to improve municipal finances

Some measures on how to improve municipal functions would include:

• Making a Constitutional Amendment that clearly outlines the various tax and non-tax revenue streams for Urban Local Bodies through the incorporation of a Local Bodies Finance List in the Constitution.

• States should share 25% of the GST equivalent with Urban and Local Bodies.

• Additional Floor Space Index (FSI) i.e. giving beyond what is normally prescribed should be charged for adequately.

• Increase user charges collection for all measurable services where beneficiaries are easily identifiable. The user charges should not only cover O&M cost, debt servicing cost and depreciation, but also provides minimal profit to the Urban Local Bodies.

• Added investments from the private sector can be obtained through People – Private – Public Partnerships (PPPP) and about 13-23% of investments in urban infrastructure can be raised through this mode.

Issues on Capacity Building

• Lack of efficient capacity across all levels of Government is the root cause of India’s urban development challenges

• Substantial skill gaps exist across all areas of urban management.

• The Central Government should create a comprehensive frame-work that addresses issues such as staffing, training, skill development and finances.

• Every State should institutionalize a dedicated municipal cadre with necessary technical skills.

• To meet the skill deficit in the short to medium term, policies should enable reforms from the private sector and hiring of external Consultants through a fast track process.

• A dedicated unit to address issues such as implementation of reforms, dissemination of best practices across urban issues should be set up under the capacity building mission structure of JNNURM.

• The Government of India in partnership with the State Governments and the private sector should set up 5 Indian Institutes of Urban Management (IIUMs).

• The Ministry of Urban Development and the Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation should bolster existing institutions and set up new ones to assist with policy research, design etc.

• The Government’s net-work of about 1,800 Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) and 3,300 Industrial Training Centers (ITCs) run by the private sector can be roped in for skilling personnel from Urban Local bodies.

• The Indian Institute of Public Administration along with the Administrative Training Institutes should be tasked with the preparation of standardized training modules.

• The focus of the National Institute of Urban Affairs should be renewed so that it is capable of assisting the Ministry of Urban Development with policy formulation, providing advisory services to States etc.

Matters related to Housing

The Technical Group on the Estimation of Urban Housing shortage has estimated the current shortage to be about 18.8 million dwelling units. The Group has further estimated that 73% of the shortage in self occupied units is in bottom 40% of the urban households.

• Under the scheme of JNNURM, only about 1.6 million dwelling units have been sanctioned.

• All costs for housing cannot be met by the Government and, therefore, there is need to attract private investment.

• It is not just the availability of finance which is problematic as far as housing is concerned since availability of land itself is the most crucial issue.

• Scarcity of land is the result of sub-optimal land use patterns largely induced by the regulatory regime in place, lack of long term urban planning and lack of participatory planning process.

Urban Transport

The National Urban Transport Policy 2006 calls for increasing the share of public transport in our cities from 22% to 60%.The Study (2008) conducted by the Ministry of Urban Development estimated that public transport had accounted for only 27% of the urban transport in India. In the 12th Plan, the aim must be to raise the share of public transport to at least 50%of all motorized trips. A key challenge to generate non-budgetary resources to fund transport projects especially through land based instruments needs to be devised. The Ministry of Urban Development should initiate a proposal for setting up an apex institution viz. the National Urban Rail Transit Authority. The Ministry of Urban Development should also initiate a proposal for setting up a Center of Excellence for Rail based Mass Transit system which should promote research in civil net-work, rolling stock, tracks and signaling etc. All metro projects which are in high density corridors and are viable on their own may be encouraged under People – Private – Public Partnership mode.

Water Supply

As regards water supply, the target for the 12th Plan period should be: i. Universalization of water and sanitation of urban areas

·         Reduction in unaccounted water i.e. Non- revenue water (NRW)

·         100% metering of water supply

·         Ensuring 24x7 water supply

·         Take an integrated view of water supply and sanitation

Solid Waste Management

For solid waste management, some of the important issues are:

·         Absence of segregation of waste at source

·         Lack of funds for waste management at Urban Local Bodies.

·         Lack of technical expertise and appropriate institutional arrangement

·         Unwillingness of Urban Local Bodies to introduce appropriate collection, segregation, transportation etc.

·         Indifference of citizens towards waste management due to lack of awareness