Post on 07-Jan-2023
Infrastructure and Governance:
A view from the JnNURM
CPP 8th Annual International Conference on Public Policy & Management
IIMB, 12 August 2013
Matt Birkinshaw
MPhil/PhD Candidate
Geography & Environment
Jawaharlal Nehru National
Urban Renewal Mission
UPA’s ‘flagship’ urban policy
National programme for development of infra,
governance (UIG) and urban services (BSUP)
Aims at transforming 65 Indian urban areas
into ‘world class cities’ (IIDSSMT much wider)
Planned investment Rs100,000 crore
Central and state funds to be matched by
50% by ULBs from own or private sources
Funding conditional on municipal reforms
JnNURM Phase One (2005-2012)
a) Urban infrastructure development DPRs prepared in line with CDP, preference for PPPs
b) Good (entrepreneurial) governance Funding is conditional on ‘mandatory’ reforms to municipal
governance, fiscal policy and spatial planning – emphasis
on ‘bankable cities’
c) Decentralisation (74th CAA) State government must give municipalities (Urban Local
Bodies) greater control over urban development (including
water). Extent and nature of delegation is at state
discretion
d) Basic services Ring-fenced funding for the Basic Services Urban Poor
sub-mission
Reform conditionalities
State level (mandatory)
Adherence to 74th CAA
Reform of rent-control laws
Rationalisation of stamp duty on property
transfers
Repeal of ULCRA
Community participation laws providing for
area committees below ward level
Enactment of public disclosure laws
Reform conditionalities
Municipal level (mandatory)
Implementation of e-governance
Double-entry accounting
Rationalisation of property tax charges and
collection
User charges to cover operations and
maintenance of urban services
Provision of basic services to the Urban
Poor
Earmarking of BSUP funds
Governance & Infrastructure
‘Governing beyond the state’ Stoker 1998, Jessop 2002, Swyngedouw 2005
‘Good governance’ World Bank 1989, Abrahamsen 2001, Weiss 2000
Splintering urbanism Graham & Marvin 2001, Zerah 2008, Gandy 2008
Infra (& citizenship) research Anand 2011, Coelho 2005, Contractor 2011,
Graham et al 2013, Joshi 2011, Zerah 2008
JnNURM sub-mission allocations
JnNURM allocations by sector
JnNURM allocations by state
Transport spend by project type
Urban Infrastructure
& Governance
Basic Services
to the Urban Poor
Urban
Infrastructure
Development
Scheme for
Small and
Medium Towns
Integrated Housing &
Slum Development
Programme
Implementation
CAG (Auditor General) and Planning Commission reports:
Very low project completion rates (CAG gives 8.9%)
Very limited conditionality implementation
(+/- 20% in reporting, as distinct from practice)
Projects over-budget and over-schedule
Late take-up and release of funds
Utilisation certificates missing for 10,000 cr (10%)
Very limited municipal borrowing generated
Questions remain:
Does the Mission increase or decrease ULB capacity?
How does it impact on service delivery?
Human impacts (evictions, tariff-raises, accountability changes etc)?
Methods
Desk research
Policy literature
Media coverage
Academic work
Site visit (Summer 2012)
Semi-structured interviews (x30)
Review of primary documents (DPRS, CDP, Independent studies)
Introduction to ULBs ICT systems
Research questions
How and why:
a) are urban reforms unevenly implemented?
b) are urban reforms affecting the ULBs?
c) have new forms of governance been created?
d) can the limits of reform have a productive1 role?
1. cf Ferguson 1990 and Foucault 1991 on unintended outcomes and ‘productive failure’
Consultants
Involved in design, execution,
management and oversight of projects
Role of external organisations
(ADB, WB, MNCs)
Patching ULB capacity gaps
How to use this to develop
skills/knowledge rather than weaken?
Contractors
Increasing the number of contractors in
infrastructure projects has been found
to reduce incentives for corruption
(Davis 2004)
Raises the possibility of functional
fragmentation and reduction of
accountability (e.g. use of RTI for PPPs)
How do these points affect
understandings of the state in India?
Role of technology
Innovative use of mobile tech: sim-
cards, SMS and smart phones
Increase ULB’s real-time visibility of
resource flows (infra, tenders, internal
funds, workflow)
Allows fine grain location of leakages
Water network has high degree of
physical ‘informality’ – pipes not
traceable – manual intervention still req.
Governance challenges
Opposition to rationalisation of
infrastructure and governance
Stakeholders benefitting from low service
levels and informal governance in certain
sectors (land, construction, water)
Affected people – e.g. displacees, or
service users with ‘informal’ access.
Governance challenges
Unpopular reforms require financially
and politically strong ruling regime
‘Vertical governance’ – connection to
higher level politicians or external actors
(donors, MNCs) (Kumar & Landy 2009)
Governance challenges
Reforms are in tension with informal
economies (e.g. water, land, tenders)
Also introduces new informalities
(e.g. urban as state subject, role of private
sector, e-governance)
Monitoring and evaluation of JNNURM
(Sivaramakrishnan 2011)
Conclusions
Politically powerful ULBs better able to
access benefits of JNNURM
Tendency to bypass smaller and less
powerful cities and states
Accessing funds seems to have taken
precedence over development, creation of
assets over maintenance, infrastructure
over governance and BSUP lacking
Successful implementation requires
careful approach to avoid negative
impacts for the poor