All India Institute of Local Self Government
RNI No DELENG/2014/57384
UrbanUpdate Setting The Agenda For Tomorrow’s Cities
Volume II - Issue IV
August 2015
Digital India
Connecting Governance with people Digital India is an opportunity for Indian cities to build a state-ofthe-art digital infrastructure and environment where municipal services can be operated at par with international standards
Role of ICT in Smart City Mission ICT could be an enabler to better manage and plan urbanisation and bring about improvement in delivery of urban services
‘India is committed to environment conservation’ An interview with Union Minister of State for Environment and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar on sustainable development in cities
Rs 100
ISSN 2349-6266
Union Ministry of Urban Development has empanelled AIILSG on the list of consultants qualified to work for Smart City Mission. AIILSG has been selected to work for Punjab, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi, Chandigarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh.
Community Based Interventions
Professional Empowerment Project Management
Advisory Services Customised Training
Knowledge Management Capacity Building Information, Education and Communication (IEC)
Policy Research
All India Institute of Local Self Government No. 6, F-Block, Bandra Kurla Complex, TPS Road-12, Bandra-East Mumbai-400051, Maharashtra Tel.No.: +91-22-26571713, 26571714, 26571715, Fax: +91-22-2657 2286, Email : contact@aiilsg.org
Inside | Volume II, Issue IV
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Inside Cover story
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Connecting governance with people Digital India is an opportunity for Indian cities to build state-of-the-art digital infrastructure and an environment where municipal services can be operated at par with international standards
26 Easing e-Governance Digital India would significantly improve service delivery in local governance One on One
28 ‘India is committed to environment conservation’ An interview with Union Minister of State for Environment, Forests and
Climate Change Prakash Javadekar
Tribute
32 Abdul Kalam: The People’s President Kalam will always be remembered as a scientist and academician, who gave
a vision for the future of India
Columns
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Role of ICT in Smart City Mission
ICT could be an enabler to better plan and manage urbanisation and bring about improvement in delivery of urban services
expand and progress in consonance with the needs of the population
36 Empower local governments to be self-reliant The situation in our cities has to be retrieved now for giving them a chance to Velocity
40 Beyond commerce and cricket Indore, once known as ‘shab-e-Malwa’, is trying to keep pace with rapid urbanisation Events
44 ‘Capitalising on India’s Urban Growth’ NIUA organised a dialogue to discuss new urban missions and their implementation Urban Agenda
46 Multilayered approach for mobility Urban mobility is a crucial indicator of a country’s progress in the face of growing
pressure to achieve sustainable development
RegularS
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7 Pin Point 15 City Images
EDITORIAL
Ranjit Chavan President-AIILSG Ramanath Jha Editor-In-Chief Director General-AIILSG, dgaiilsg@gmail.com Apresh C Mishra Managing Editor, apresh@urbanupdate.in Ashok Wankhade Consulting Editor, bhau@urbanupdate.in Lojy Thomas, Aiilsg Associate Editor, lojy@urbanupdate.in Abhishek Pandey Principal Correspondent, abhishek@urbanupdate.in Meenakshi Rajput Graphic Designer, meenakshi@urbanupdate.in Volume II - Issue IV For Feedback & Information Write at info@urbanupdate.in Printed and published by Ranjit Chavan on behalf of All India Institute of Local Self Government. Printed at Cirrus Graphics Pvt Ltd B-61, Sector-67, Noida – 201301 Uttar Pradesh. Published at Sardar Patel Bhavan, 22-23, Institutional Area, D Block Pankha Road, Janakpuri, Delhi-58 Phone No. 011-2852 1783 / 5473 Despite careful selection of sources, no responsibility can be taken for accuracy. The magazine assumes no liability or responsibility of any kind in connection with the information thereof. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part is strictly prohibited without written permission from the publisher.
Digital India to empower local governance
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mong the programs announced by governments anywhere in recent times, the Indian Government’s Digital India initiative is surely a front runner. The program has the potential to transform the lives of over 1.2 billion people in a country which has been searching for solutions to meet the growing aspirations of an increasingly impatient population. Rightly, the government is now embracing technology to bring about simplification, speed and transparency in the way it conducts its business. The power of technology has, in the last decade, touched the lives of millions of Indians in different ways. It is now common to see persons from all economic strata possessing smart phones with data connections enabling them to download music, videos and data on the go. Also these persons are able to conduct economic transactions including banking and booking of tickets on their handsets. But the biggest impact of technology will be experienced in the sphere of e-governance. E-governance can bring about a marked transformation in the way governments and local bodies interact with citizens. The Digital India initiative has ‘Governance and Service on Demand’ as one of its main planks. This focus will enable real-time delivery of services to citizens seamlessly across all departments of the government. In a way, Digital India will bring about Business Process Re-engineering of the government with the use of IT. This will be achieved through form simplification, online applications, filing & tracking and cashless payment mechanisms. These are available in some spheres already such as in IT returns, Direct Benefit Transfer and Property Tax Payments. The government plans to significantly accelerate its digitization efforts through the eKranti program. eKranti will enable delivery of a wide gamut of services electronically, online. Digital Literacy will be emphasized and online open courses would be developed. Agriculture is another area of focus. Farmers would be technologically empowered with access to online, real time price information, online ordering of inputs and online cash, loan, relief payment with mobile banking. Public health facilities have fallen woefully short of expectations in both urban and rural centres ever since independence. The eKranti program also envisages facilities like online medical consultation, online medical records, online medicine supply and pan-India exchange for patient information. Needless to say, all these will have transformed the citizen experience with government and local body services. As more services become available online, cumbersome, plus time consuming and often frustrating visits to government offices will be eliminated. Services can be availed from anywhere. Corruption and leakages can be eliminated. However, there is need to put in place many enablers for ensuring that the Digital India program fulfils its objectives within a reasonable time frame as per targets set out by the government. First is the physical infrastructure. Fortunately, the last mile connectivity in terms of handheld devices and mobile broadband is relatively well developed in the urban centres. The plan is to cover 2,50,000 GPs by December 2016 at a cost of Rs 32,000 Cr. Mobile banking, Common Service Centres and Cyber Security are other elements of hard / soft infrastructure which call for attention. The second serious challenge is digital empowerment of the entire citizenry which calls for universal digital literacy. It is possible and necessary to surmount these challenges with collective efforts of the citizens and the country’s leadership in all spheres-government, academy and business.
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Govt approves TOD policy for Delhi The policy will allow mixed land use, which will have a blend of residential, commercial and institutional developments NEW DELHI: Urban Development Ministry approved the Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Policy for Delhi to address the growing problems of pollution, congestion and shortage of homes for the poor and middle class. TOD is a key policy initiative for lowcarbon, high-density, compact, mixed land use and sustainable development by minimizing travel time for citizens, promoting use of public transport, reducing pollution and congestion, creating more homogeneous neighborhoods, having work places near residences, creating public amenities within walking distances and providing safe environment through redevelopment along Mass Rapid Transport System (MRTS) corridors in the national capital. The influence zone in the TOD policy will be 500 metres on both sides of metro corridor. The policy will allow the mixed land use, which will have a blend of residential, commercial and institutional developments. Development/redevelopment in TOD zone will be incentivized by providing significantly higher Floor Area Ratio (FAR) of 400, which will enable vertical construction that is required to address the issue of land availability. However, these higher norms can be availed only for plots having area of one hectare or more for which a comprehensive integrated scheme has to be prepared. It will be mandatory to use a minimum of 30 per cent of overall FAR for residential use, a minimum of 10 per cent of FAR for commercial use and a minimum of 10 per cent of FAR for community facilities. Utilization of remaining 50
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Facts ♦♦ The area that has come under the TOD policy will be more than 400 metre on both side of metro corridor ♦♦ The policy will have a blend of residential, commercial and institutional developments ♦♦ These norms can be availed only for plots of area of one hectare or more for which a comprehensive integrated scheme has to be prepared ♦♦ Minimum scheme area for development by Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) agencies such as DMRC, Rapid Rail Transit System (RRTS) and Railways will be 3,000 square meter ♦♦ Safety will be provided to women and children at night or in public transport ♦♦ The housing unit’s size of Economically Weaker Sections has been kept between 32-40 square meter
per cent FAR shall be as per the land use category designated in the Zonal Plan. The mandatory residential component covering 30 per cent FAR shall entirely comprise units of 65 sq metre area or less. Out of these half of the FAR, i.e. 15 per cent of the total FAR, has to be used for units of size ranging between 32-40 sq metre. Over and above this, an additional mandatory FAR of 15 per cent, i.e. FAR of 60 has to be utilized for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS). The size of EWS units will range between 32-40 sq metre. 20 per cent of land shall be used for roads/circulation areas; 20 per cent area as green open space shall be kept open for general public use at all times; while another 10 per cent area of green area may be for exclusive use. TOD zone would comprise approximately 20 per cent of Delhi’s overall area. However, TOD will not be applicable in Lutyens Bungalow Zone, Civil Lines Bungalow Area, Monument regulated zone, Zone ‘O’ (around river Yamuna) and Low Density Residential Area.
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PIN POINT The concept of a ‘smart city’ has to cover more than smart mobility and governance; in fact, other factors of wellness have to be factored in while drawing up plans for smart cities
D Ramakrishna Managing Director, Efftronics Systems Private Limited
Private land owners who had slums on their land would get three months to submit proposals on priority for slum rehab, failing which the land would be acquired Devendra Fadnavis Chief Minister, Maharashtra
To stop the exodus from rural to urban India, we need to move the mission of ‘Make in India’ into the rural space so that development is not restricted to cities alone
When I talk about a smart foundation, I mean a foundation that is robust enough to enable, on the fly, people coming, connecting, and going … at the same time it does not let [either with or without malicious intent] any ‘mal-device’ to cause problem
Babul Supriyo Minister of State for Urban Development
BUZZ
It probably isn’t a fashionable point of view, but it’s a time for cities to be much more deterministic about data. Mark Headd Former Chief Data Officer for the City of Brotherly Love @mheadd
Priyadarshi Mohapatra Managing Director, Avaya India and SAARC
Indian Railways to come out with Time Table for freight operation.” Good move. Need 2 ensure freight trains run in time. Our exporters badly need predictability. Amitabh Kant Secretary- Industrial Policy & Promotion,GOI @amitabhk87
Investment in light rail has resulted in more than $8 billion in economic development while reducing congestion & pollution. Greg Stanton @MayorStanton Phoenix mayor
About time the government took urban planning & management seriously. Looking forward to effective plans by @ ISRO ‘ISRO to map 4,041 towns’ Ameera Shah @AmeeraShah MD & CEO, MetropolisIndia
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NDMC to act against vector-borne disease
The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) will run an awareness campaign using mobile vans and SMS to update residents in its areas about prevention and containment of dengue. “In order to curb the menace of vector-borne diseases three things are necessary-prevention, curative action and awareness,” NDMC Chairman Naresh Kumar said.
No toilet, no election Having a toilet at home has been made compulsory for candidates in Rajasthan’s municipal elections. The new law -- brought into force by an ordinance or executive order -- comes a month before local elections. Calling the new law a commitment to the Clean India and Clean Rajasthan missions, government spokesperson Rajendra Rathore said, “This is a progressive decision by the state government.”
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Over 38 lakh urban poor given skill training: Union Government NEW DELHI: Over 38 lakh urban poor have been provided with skill development training with assistance from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation. Skill development of urban poor is aimed at enabling either selfemployment or salaried employment. It was undertaken under the ‘Skill Training for Employment Promotion Amongst Urban Poor (STEP-UP)’ of the erstwhile Swarn Jayanti Shahari Rojgar Yojana launched in 1997 and the ‘Employment through Skill Training and Placement’ component of the National Urban
Livelihoods Mission(NULM), introduced in 2013. According to Minister of State for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Babul Supriyo, under STEPUP, 35.26 lakh urban poor were assisted in upgrading their skills while another 3.06 lakh were helped under NULM. Madhya Pradesh led the list of performers having assisted 5.06 lakh urban poor, followed by Maharashtra (4.86 lakh), Uttar Pradesh (4.51 lakh), Karnataka (4.08 lakh), Tamil Nadu (3.33 lakh), Andhra Pradesh (3.25 lakh), Gujarat (2.22 lakh), Bihar (2.11 lakh), West Bengal (1.98 lakh) and Rajasthan (1.07 lakh).
480 public toilets to be installed at 80 locations in Delhi
PMC on Instagram The Pune Municipal Corporation has joined Instagram. A decent enough initiative to connect with the masses, the account is updated regularly with pictures of meetings and drives by the corporation. The account is being handled by an external agency while the Corporation provides all the information.
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New Delhi: The State Government of Delhi has decided to install 480 public toilets at 80 different locations in the next three months under Swachh Bharat Mission. The four urban local bodies of Delhi will identify 20 locations each for installing public toilet complexes with six seats each. This comes to a total of 480 toilet seats at 80 locations. Both the ‘Namma’ and DUAC models will be used for
building them. The Namma model, made of composite materials, was evolved on the suggestion of former President A P J Abdul Kalam. The ‘Namma’ toilets were also appreciated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the launch of three new urban missions last month. National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC) will inur part of the expenditure under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
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Over 7 lakh homes unsold in top 8 cities: Knight Frank NEW DELHI: The stock of unsold housing inventory in the country is at an all-time high. Over seven lakh housing units remain unsold in eight major cities and it will take more than three years to exhaust the inventories, property consultant Knight Frank India said. These cities are Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad. “Current
unsold inventory levels stand at over seven lakh units; would take over three years to exhaust,” said the consultant. Knight Frank India CMD Shishir Baijal said: “Despite economic scenario strengthening, we are seeing no improvement in the residential market across the top eight cities. Going forward, we do not see any improvement until the end of 2015 in terms of sales.”
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Govt owe Delhi civic bodies Rs 2,000 cr Various government properties and undertakings across the capital owe municipal corporations nearly Rs 2,000 crore as property tax till date. According to officials of the civic bodies, this amount has been due for more than a decade. The municipal corporations have sought legal help to tackle the issue. Of the three municipal corporations in Delhi, the South Delhi civic body has to recover the maximum amount, which is around Rs 940 crore. It is followed by North Delhi (Rs 741 crore) and East Delhi (Rs 465 crore) municipal corporations.
VMC to acquire 500 acres for smart city
55 Solar Cities to be developed in India NEW DELHI: 55 cities in 27 states and union territories are currently being developed as solar or green cities under ‘Development of Solar Cities Programme’, Piyush Goyal, Minister, Power and New and Renewable Energy, told the Lok Sabha in a written reply. The new and renewable energy ministry has been implementing the programme under which a total of 60 cities and towns are proposed to be supported for development as “solar or green cities”. Mahabubnagar in Andhra Pradesh, Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, Indore in Madhya Pradesh, Jaipur in Rajasthan and Leh in Jammu and Kashmir have only got in-principle approval till date, said Goyal. The criteria set by the ministry for the identification of cities include a city having population between 50,000 to 50 lakh (with relaxation given to special category states including northeast states), initiatives and regulatory measures already taken along with a high level of commitment in promoting energy efficiency and renewable energy.
Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) will acquire 500 acres of land to develop a smart city. A special corporation meeting was held at the VMC office on Smart City and AMRUT Mission where criteria and basic requirements for developing a smart city were discussed.
Dispose of your waste: SMC to hotels Coming down heavily on city restaurants, hotels and eateries, Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) has issued direction for them to prepare an action plan for removal of solid waste generated in their units. The civic body also made it clear that it was not the duty of SMC to dispose wastes of different nature generated by them.
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SDMC to demolish illegal buildings The South Delhi Municipal Corporation has initiated a drive to bring down illegally constructed buildings and action has been taken against 103 properties in south and central zones. The building department started the special demolition and sealing drive on June 24. The south zone department demolished 22 properties and sealed 31 in areas.
Door-to-door garbage collection in Rajkot
Around eight months after it brought them them within city limits, Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC) will extend door-to-door garbage collection service to Vavdi and Kotharia villages. The standing committee of RMC cleared a proposal for awarding operation and maintenance (O&M) contract for door-to-door garbage collection in the twin areas.
Ludhiana on green drive With a plan to plant around one lakh saplings in the city, the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation organized a plantation drive. Senior MC officials along with councillors planted saplings. Zonal commissioner PS Ghuman said various groups had been formed to plant saplings in the city. Around 1,800 saplings will be planted alongside the city canal.
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States to be penalized for delay in transfer of funds to ULBs under Atal Mission NEW DELHI: States will be penalized for any delay in transfer of funds to the Urban Local Bodies under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), Babul Supriyo, Minister of State for Urban Development, said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha. Supriyo further said that States and UTs shall release the Central Assistance along with the State/UT share to the Urban Local Bodies within seven working days of the release of Central Share failing which penal interest will be levied. He said this provision was made in the Mission Guidelines to avoid delays in the execution of projects under the Atal Mission. The Minister stated that
AMRUT is a time bound programme to be implemented over a period of five years from 2015 with stipulated reforms to be completed in four years. To avoid delays in implementation, the Ministry of Urban Development has also left the task of preparation, appraisal and execution of projects to the States/UT unlike in the past under JNNURM.
New version of BRT New standards for for New Delhi Bio-diesel vehicles proposed
NEW DELHI: The Delhi government will soon give the city a new and improved BRT, starting with outer Delhi, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced at a daylong ‘Delhi Transport Vision Conference’ recently, saying that the system was best suited for the capital as it catered to both the rich and the poor. “BRT is a good concept which has been successful in several countries and in India as well. Delhi government is in favour of BRT. We feel the existing system was implemented badly. It was full of design faults. But we can always improve on the design and give Delhi a newer version,” Kejriwal said.
NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways formulated a Draft Notification for Mass Emission Standards for Bio-diesel (B100) fuelled vehicles. These standards have been long awaited by the industry especially those manufacturing bio-diesel and will provide alternate source of income to the farmers and the forest dwellers. The Ministry has also included the standards for test requirements for type approval and extension for four-wheeled and three-wheeled vehicles using both B100 and diesel as fuel, or either of the two. The standards also include the conformity of the production tests and the deterioration factor. Further, the technical specification of the reference fuel B100 has also been formulated. This Draft is for wider consultation with all the stakeholders so that vehicles fuelled on bio-diesel (B100) or in all similar blends of bio-diesel with diesel can be manufactured and used in the country.
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City Brand
In search of identity People take pride on being a citizen of a city only if it has a distinct identity of its own. There is no or little pride without identity, and there is indifference and disengagement without pride Team UrbanUpdate
B
e it accommodating huge volumes of migrants, providing them with basic civic amenities, arranging for large-scale solid waste disposal, giving them clean environment or putting in place a dependable public transport network, it calls for vision and planning. But sadly though, by and large both seem amiss in the Indian context as India’s city managers and policy makers are yet to acknowledge it’s urban problems. Instead, they continue to chase practices. India’s ancient cities were built upon individual identities. Constrained by geography and technology, limited to local resources and shaped by unique histories and climates, each developed into its own. For instance, Udaipur grew at the foot of an uneasy compromise between
the monarchy represented by the palace at the top of a hill and priesthood some way down its slope. The white surfaces of terraced, stone urbanity were a direct response to heat and topography. Varanasi, said to be the oldest living city in the world, grew along the simple stream that was its lifeblood. The Brahmanal was covered over time to be the main route to the Ganges and the priestly class. In the city’s branding as the sacred abode of Shiva, it was established as a path to heaven, which eventually ensured its protection. Its urban form is rich, complex and layered with successive eras: temples built over houses, built over temples, in houses, over houses, under temples. Mumbai [earlier Bombay] is yet another example. An amalgamation of seven islands and the seat of India’s economic power, the City is home to the largest repository of neo-Gothic and Victorian architecture outside
of the United Kingdom, and still supported by the ageing, intricate and rich urban infrastructure built by the British colonisers. There is no or little pride without identity, and there is indifference and disengagement without pride. This lack of civic engagement has a farreaching socio-economic impact too. The breakdown in law and order, poor health indicators, lack of accountability are some of them. Investing time and thought to engage residents in developing homegrown, environmentally, socially and economically responsive models for urbanity, and encouraging them to implement those models, will create sustainable communities. Most importantly, this will foster a sense of belonging in people and nurture a newly-minted generation of urban Indians who will pride themselves in their civic identities.
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Six crore allocated for Indore’s rivers
After being pulled up by National Green Tribunal (NGT) for slow pace of work and non-allocation of fund for the cleaning of Khan and Saraswati rivers, Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) announced allocation of Rs six crore for the river cleaning works for this financial year. The civic body also promised to start sewage treatment plant (STP) before Simhastha 2016. NGT, in its July 23 order, had observed that there is no timeline for completion of the works. Now the IMC plans to complete construction of the two STPs before Simhastha to treat the sewage water before it flows into rivers.
Nila Infra to build 1152 EWS houses in Ahmedabad Real estate company, Nila Infrastructures Ltd has bagged an order from the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation for the construction of 1152 EWS residential units including internal infrastructure and development work within the plot at various locations in Ahmedabad (Phase II, EWS Package-4) involving total estimated cost of Rs. 54.39 crores. This project involving 32,406 sqm of construction is required to be completed within 24 months.
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ADB supports push for affordable housing
NEW DELHI: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $35 million equity investment in a joint venture with the Shapoorji Pallonji Group to build 20,000 affordable housing units in multiple cities across India, paving the way for more private investment in the sector. “With rapid urbanization, the housing shortage in India is so acute that even the middle class now struggles to find appropriate dwellings,” said Juliette Leusink, Investment Specialist with ADB’s Private Sector Operations Department. “This project will help boost badly needed private sector investment in affordable homes built according to green building principles, and create up to 9,000 local jobs during the construction period.” Affordable housing is a mass-market business in India, with a large untapped
market potential across the country. However, long-term financing for the sector is not readily available due to limited risk appetite and interest from commercial banks, which are more focused on lending to the high-end and high-margin real estate market. To overcome these constraints, ADB and other co-investors, IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and Standard Chartered Private Equity, will make equity investments in the joint-venture unit of the Shapoorji Pallonji Group—one of India’s leading conglomerates. These equity injections will help launch a sizable and sustainable platform for affordable, quality homes, demonstrating the commercial viability of affordable housing projects carried out without government subsidies.
European cities to ban cars for one day LONDON: Cities across Europe will ban cars from their roads for one day in September, as part of a campaign to promote more sustainable transport. The scheme to encourage greener transport measures has attracted hundreds to take part in a range of initiatives, including closing roads to cars. Now, a total of
246 cities, towns and boroughs from 14 countries across the continent have signed up to European Mobility Week, which aims to try and get citizens to use alternatives to the car. The scheme invites towns and cities to sign up to take part in one of three measures — a week of activities, a permanent measure or a car free day.
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NGT slams states on MSW The National Green Tribunal has come down heavily on states for not complying with its orders on municipal solid waste management and gave them three weeks to submit status reports on the issue while warning them of slapping hefty fines. A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar directed the secretaries of Environment and Urban Development departments of each state to file affidavits on collection, storage and disposal of municipal solid waste in their states. The NGT warned of imposing a cost of Rs 50,000 each on the defaulting states, UT boards and concerned secretaries, which would be recovered personally from the concerned officer in case of any violation of the order.
Kolhapur buses at every 10 min The Kolhapur Municipal Transport (KMT) has reworked its bus routes to facilitate an increase in frequency on long routes and make the transport service profitable. The KMT is in the process of procuring 104 new buses under the Central government’s Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). At present, 35 new buses have been inducted into its fleet. Remaining buses will be inducted in a phase-wise manner in the next three months. The new route structure will start from August 1 and was planned keeping in mind all 104 new buses.
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West Delhi plant to turn sewage into drinking water NEW DELHI: The city has taken its first step towards decentralized waste water treatment in the form of a pilot project at Keshopur where sewage will be treated to drinking water quality and supplied to nearby areas. Sujala Dhara, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s pet project, was launched recently by Delhi Jal Board in collaboration with NGO SANA. The technology is in use in the USA and will be replicated to treat sewage through five levels. To start off, water from this plant will be bottled and supplied to Delhi Secretariat and offices of Delhi Jal Board. DJB CEO S S Yadav said that once people see the CM and senior government officials drinking the water, they will eventually accept it.
Environment Ministry launches TII initiative New Delhi: The Government has launched The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity TEEB-India Initiative (TII) to highlight the economic consequences of the loss of biological diversity and the associated decline in ecosystem services. The Initiative focusses on three ecosystems, namely forests, inland wetlands and coastal and marine ecosystems. TII has been implemented under the Indo-German Biodiversity Programme as in technical cooperation with GIZ. The outcome of the pilot projects will be fed into the sectoral synthesis for the three ecosystems. It will be released at the Brazil-India-Germany TEEB Dialogue in September 2015. A review workshop was organised to review the outcome of 12 pilot projects, which demonstrate the application of economic approaches to address policy issues related to conservation and sustainable management of these ecosystems.
“We will set up six more plants by the end of the year. Tenders should be issued this week. They may not work on the same technology but we have specified output parameters and hope to get bathing quality water from these,” he said.
Only 9 states eligible for ULB performance grants DELHI: Only 9 of 29 States in the Country were found eligible for release of Performance Grants of Urban Local Bodies during 2014-15 and as per the recommendations of the 13th Finance Commission. These nine states were released Performance Grant of Rs 457.91 cr, said the Minister of State for Urban Development Babul Supriyo in a written reply in Rajya Sabha. The States that received Performance Grant of Urban Local Bodies include: Uttar Pradesh which received a grant of Rs 146.46 cr, Madhya Pradesh(Rs 74.11 cr), Rajasthan (Rs 59.23 cr), Andhra Pradesh (Rs 47.76 cr), Telangana (Rs 47.41 cr), Kerala (Rs 36.02 cr), Haryana (Rs 21.58 cr), Chattisgarh (Rs 20.68 cr) and Mizoram which received a Grant of Rs 4.66 cr. Seven States which did not claim the Grant included: Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Odisha and Tripura.
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City Images
Bhendi Bazar
Set for a makeover The narrow, congested and impossibleto-negotiate streets of Bhendi Bazaar in South Mumbai, will soon be a nightmare of the past as its Rs 3,000 crore revamp project, conceived in 2009 by the Bohra community’s spiritual head, Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin, and implemented by
the Saifee Burhani Upliftment Trust (SBUT) promises a fairytale-like transformation. To be built in nine clusters comprising 17 towers of 20 to 40 storeys each and spread over 16.5 acres, the project will provide residential space for the existing 3,200 families and office space for the 1,200
retail outlets operating out of the crowded area. Planned at an 80:20 (80 per cent will go to the present occupants and SBUT will sell the other 20 per cent at market rates) ratio, all the occupants of the 4,400 units — some 25,000 in all — have been promised “bigger and better premises”.
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Google Maps: Live traffic updates for 12 more cities In a major respite for commuters, Google Maps will now feature real-time traffic information for 12 more Indian cities New Delhi: After integrating more than 12,000 train schedules to its transit system early this year, Google has now launched real-time traffic information for a few more Indian cities now. With this addition, Google Maps will now show real-time traffic information for a total of 34 cities in India now. The list of cities which now support live traffic updates are Kolkata, Lucknow, Surat, Coimbatore, Indore, Nagpur, Ludhiana, Thiruvananthapuram, Visakhapatnam, Madurai, Kochi, and Bhopal. All users who have traffic layer enabled on computers and mobile apps will be able to live traffic updates using different colours for each route in the selected cities. These traffic colours indicate the speed of traffic. Red means heavy traffic congestion, orange means medium traffic, and green indicates no traffic congestion. This will help the commuters plan their travel time by avoiding paths with heavy traffic congestion. “Being able to see what local traffic is typically like at any given day and time can help you plan your drives easier than ever on Google Maps,” mentioned Suren Ruhela, Director, Program Management at Google in a blog post. This update will also add support for real-time traffic updates across all national highways and expressways in India. “If you are navigating using Google Maps, then it will automatically use the traffic information for estimating
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August 2015 | www.urbanupdate.in
your travel time via your selected route. If you’re already on the road and in Navigation mode, Google Maps will also use real time traffic information to more accurately estimate your time of arrival, and to provide options for alternate routes if there are faster options available, ” he added. These real-time traffic updates on Google Maps will not only help you plan your travel but will also assist you in choosing the quickest possible route to your destination. If you care more about the time than the distance travelled, then you should always check traffic updates on Google Maps before selecting a route to your destination.
NEWSCAN
Puducherry becomes the first Smart City nominee
BRIEFS
Hearing of citizens problems 2 hours daily Maharashtra’s Urban Development Department has issued a Government Resolution (GR) to all municipal commissioners asking them to meet visitors for at least two hours to settle their grievances on a daily basis. The GR was issued after it was found that 25 per cent of visitors to Mantralaya come with civic grievances that are not addressed at the local level.
Bill to divide Bengaluru into smaller units The Karnataka Congress government’s bill to divide Bengaluru city into three or more smaller administrative Delhi: In less than a month of launch of Smart City Mission by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Puducherry has emerged as the first nomination to be received by the Ministry of Urban Development. The Government of Union Territory of Puducherry has nominated its capital city for inclusion in the 100 Smart Cities Mission launched recently. Chief Secretary of the Government of Puducherry has forwarded the nomination along with all the forms and documents including the details of evaluation of all the five urban local bodies in the Union Territory as required
in the Stage-1 of ‘City Challenge’ competition. These ULBs included : Puducherry, Oulgaret, Kariakal, Mahe and Yanam. The High Powered Steering Committee (HPSC) constituted as per the Mission Guidelines and headed by the Chief Secretary has overseen the process of first stage intra-state competition and sent its recommendations to the Urban Development Ministry of the Government of India. Puducherry which has a population of 6,57,209 has done well in respect of several Stage-1 evaluation criteria and scored 75 of the possible 100 marks.
STP capacity of Varanasi to be enhanced: Uma Bharti VARANASI: Sewage treatment capacity of Varanasi will be enhanced from the present 101.8 MLD to 411.8 MLD, Union Minister Uma Bharti said. This will be sufficient to cater to the population the city up to the year 2035. After inspecting the progress of Clean Ganga Mission from Assi Ghat to Dashashwamedha Ghat in Varanasi recntly, the Minister said that three new sewage treatment plants (STPs) will be constructed at Dinapur, Goithaha and Ramana at a cost of Rs. 457 crore. The Dinapur STP will prevent the drains falling into river Ganga near Rajghat. Goithaha STP will prevent nine drains falling into river Varuna. Ramana STP will stop the flow of sewage into Ganga through Assi river, she said adding her Ministry will bear the entire cost of construction of these STPs. The new STPs will have the provision for reuse of treated water for agricultural purpose. The Minister said her Ministry has taken up restoration and beautification of Ghats along the river Ganga at Varanasi on priority basis.
units was passed by the state legislative assembly. The new law to divide Bengaluru aims to improve administration of the city which has an 80 lakh population and to curb corruption.
Namakkal municipality on WhatsApp Residents in Namakkal municipality can now approach municipal offices to lodge complaints about civic issues in their area using WhatsApp. The town has a population of about 1.21 lakh as per the Census 2011. It has 39 wards and residents have to throng the municipal office to air their grievance and get it redressed.
www.urbanupdate.in | August 2015
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BRIEFS
Haryana to survey unauthorised colonies Haryana Government will soon conduct survey of unauthorised colonies situated within the municipal limits in the State. The concerned municipality or Corporation will engage the survey agencies at their own level. The survey would be conducted where construction has been undertaken on more than 50 per cent plots prior to March 31, 2015.
NGT demands Rs 15 cr from UMC The National Green Tribunal directed the Ulhasnagar Municipal Corporation to deposit Rs 15 crore and the Kulgaon-Badlapur and Ambernath municipal councils to deposit Rs 5 crore each with the divisional commissioner within six weeks for the restoration of the Waldhuni and Ulhas rivers. NGO Vanashakti, alleged in its comlaint to NGT that industries were severely polluting the Ulhas river and sought the clean-up of the river.
Raahgiri extended The Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) is planning to expand the
Raahgiri event to two more roads, in Sadar Bazar and Palam Vihar, in addition to DLF City Phase 4,” said Yashpal Batra, senior deputy mayor Gurgaon.
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August 2015 | www.urbanupdate.in
NEWSCAN
Mysuru tops Swachh Bharat list, Damoh least clean Metros much lower in cleanliness index, tourist hot spots suffer, too Mysore: Mysore city in Karnataka has topped the Swachh Bharat Rankings of 476 cities in the country with three more from the State figuring in the top 10. West Bengal does well with 25 cities/ towns from the State finding a place in the top 100 cities. These rankings are based on the extent of open defecation and solid waste management practices in these cities. The city of Mysore leads the cities with minimal open defecation and extensive adoption of solid waste management practices. 39 cities from the Southern states are among the top 100 followed by 27 from the East, 15 from the West, 12 from the North and 7 from the North-Eastern States. 15 of the 27 capital cities surveyed figured among the top 100 performers while five were ranked beyond 300. Bengaluru leads the list of capitals at 7th rank while Patna came at the bottom at 429. Among the bottom 100 cities, 74 are from the North, 21 from the East, 3 from the West and 2 from the South. All the 476 Class-1 cities in 31 States and Union Territories, each with a population of above one lakh were surveyed for assessing total sanitation practices covering a set of parameters including the extent of open defecation, solid waste management, septage management, waste water treatment, drinking water quality, surface water quality of water bodies and mortality due to water borne diseases, etc. The survey conducted during 2014-15 was commissioned by the Ministry of Urban Development as required under the National Sanitation Policy of 2008. Since the Swachh Bharat Mission is being implemented in urban areas with focus on construction of individual household, community and public toilets
Top 10 ♦♦ ♦♦ ♦♦ ♦♦ ♦♦ ♦♦ ♦♦ ♦♦ ♦♦ ♦♦
Mysore Thiruchirapalli Navi Mumbai Kochi Hassan Mandya Bengaluru Thiruvananthapuram Halisahar Gangtok
Bottom 10 ♦♦ ♦♦ ♦♦ ♦♦ ♦♦ ♦♦ ♦♦ ♦♦ ♦♦ ♦♦
Damoh Bhind Palwal Bhiwani Chittaurgarh Bulandshahar Neemuch Rewari Hindaun Sambalpur
to eradicate open defecation and ensure door-to-door collection and disposal of municipal solid waste, all the 476 Class-1 cities have been ranked based on the data pertaining to these elements from out of the data generated in the survey. This helps in assessing the present situation in these cities so that they can undertake necessary interventions to meet Swachh Bharat Mission targets in urban areas. Overall sanitation rankings of these cities based on a total of 100 marks assigned to different parameters covering all aspects would be announced later. The Swachh Bharat rankings are based on a total of 42 marks including 20 for open defecation indicators and 22 for solid waste management indicators.
NEWSCAN
BRIEFS
NEWSCAN
SC pulls up Centre on implementation of urban livelihood mission The apex court says that the benefit of the scheme has not reached the poor and “it is a scam” New Delhi: The Supreme Court pulled up the Centre for not monitoring the implementation of National Urban Livelihood Mission (NULM) meant for urban poor and homeless people, saying “we do not know where the poor people of this country are heading for.” “It is your (Centre) scheme. You have to fulfill it, otherwise scrap it”, the social justice bench of justices Madan B Lokur and U U Lalit said when the counsel for the Centre accused some of the states for tardy implementation of the welfare scheme. The bench took strong note of the fact that the states did not spend the allocated fund under NULM and moreover, there was no visible relief allegedly given to urban poor. “We do not know where the poor people of this country are heading for. There are concerns. Government of India is helpless,” it said. The observation came when the court was told that Rs 1078 crores were allocated under NULM in the financial year of 2014-15. Of which, only Rs 451 crores have been spent without any visible relief reaching the urban poor. It asked the Centre to tell state governments that they can get the money under the scheme only after they locate the land for shelter homes. Earlier, the court had questioned why despite the huge sum spent under NULM for constructing permanent shelter homes in 790 cities there was no new facility in some states and said “it is a scam”. The Centre has provided Rs 1,078 crore to states under the scheme which is meant to provide shelters to homeless people in urban centres. Prior to this, the Centre had said that 27 states, including Union Territories, have set up the executive committee in terms of
NULM for the purposes of permanent housing structures in 790 urban cities. It had said that the matter is being taken up with the remaining states and UTs to ensure that the executive committees are put in place at the
earliest. The ministry had also stated that it would regularly monitor the setting up permanent housing structures in 790 urban centres, and the states and UTs would be asked to give monthly reports.
www.urbanupdate.in | August 2015
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COVER STORY | Digital India
COVER STORY | Digital India
Connecting
governance with people
20 August 2015 | www.urbanupdate.in
Digital India is an opportunity for Indian cities to build state-of-the-art digital infrastructure and an environment where municipal services can be improved upon, and operated and managed effectively at par with international standards. The initiative can also pave the way for better informed and digitally literate citizens who will be able to utilise the civic services efficiently; especially ever expanding e-governance and mobile governance services being launched by all the three tiers of governments Abhishek Pandey Principal Correspondent, abhishek@urbanupdate.in
T
he key vision of the government under Digital India program is inclusive growth in areas of electronic services, job
opportunities, product manufacturing, etc. The vision of Digital India is centred on three areas that include digital infrastructure as a utility to every citizen, governance & services on demand and digital empowerment
of citizens. It is an opportunity for city leaders to improve civic amenities for citizens by using big data, cloud computing, Internet of Things ( IoT ) aided services, mobile apps and web based services.
I dream of a digital India where High-speed Digital Highways unite the Nation; 1.2 billion connected Indians drive innovation; technology ensures the citizen-government interface is incorruptible Narendra Modi, Prime Minister
www.urbanupdate.in | August 2015
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COVER STORY | Digital India
More than 250 services were launched in areas of health information, utility services, land record services, mobile app for civic amenities, social welfare and pension services, electoral services, online court services, and employment exchange services in the Digital India week Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of Communication and IT
These services will not only improve the operational efficiency of service delivery mechanism of municipal bodies but also put a check on the gaps.
Improved service delivery
The initiative brings forward a variety of services that engage citizens in governance and provide them facilities to talk to the system. For example, Mygov. in is the citizen-centric platform which empowers people to connect with the government and contribute towards good governance. The system follows “Discuss”, “Do” and “Disseminate” approach. The mobile App for MyGov bring these features to users on a mobile phone. Similarly, Digital Locker system aims to minimize the usage of physical documents and enable sharing of e-documents across agencies. The sharing of the e-documents will be done through registered repositories thereby ensuring the authenticity of the documents online. Swachh Bharat App enables citizens to complain regarding cleanliness and sanitation related issues with GPS location tagging feature. e-Kranti is another programme under the umbrella of the Digital India initiative. Considering the critical need of e-Governance and mobile governance, the approach and key components of e-Kranti have been approved by the Union Cabinet with the vision of “Transforming e-Governance for Transforming Governance”. As per the guidelines of the programme, all the new and ongoing e-Governance projects will follow the key principles of e-Kranti
22 August 2015 | www.urbanupdate.in
namely ‘Transformation and not Translation’, ‘Integrated Services and not Individual Services’, ‘Government Process Reengineering (GPR) to be mandatory in every MMP’, ‘ICT Infrastructure on Demand’, ‘Cloud by Default’, ‘Mobile First’, ‘Fast Tracking Approvals’, ‘Mandating Standards and Protocols’, ‘Language Localization’, ‘National GIS (Geo-Spatial Information System)’, and ‘Security and Electronic Data Preservation’. Open Data platform is another essential component of the initiative. The government run http://opendata. gov.in to facilitate proactive release of datasets in an open format by the ministries/departments for use, reuse and redistribution. Online hosting of information and documents is providing open and easy access to information for citizens. To deliver citizen services electronically and improve the way citizens and authorities transact with each other, it is imperative to have ubiquitous connectivity. The program also focuses on improving quality Internet connectivity in the country. The government has realised this need and it is reflected in its action plan. ‘Broadband Highways’ is one of the main pillars of Digital India. While connectivity is one criterion, enabling and providing technologies to facilitate delivery of services to citizens forms the other. It is expected that the success of Digital India initiative will make India digitally empowered and the leader in usage of IT in delivery of services related to various domains such
as health, education, banking, etc.
agriculture,
Nine pillars of Digital India
The nine pillars of Digital India programme have been designed with a vision to make people connected with Internet and improve digital literacy rate in the country. These are: Broadband Highways, Universal Access to Mobile Connectivity, Public Internet Access Programme, e-Governance: Reforming Government through Technology, e-Kranti - Electronic Delivery of Services, Information for All, Electronics Manufacturing, IT for Jobs and Early Harvest Programmes. Digital India will be implemented by the multiple government departments and agencies while the overall coordination will be done by the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY). On the launch of Digital India week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that Government’s resolve was to not allow the Digital Divide to become a barrier between people. He outlined his vision of e-governance and mobile governance, where all important government services are available on the mobile phone. “I dream of a digital India where High-speed Digital Highways unite the Nation; 1.2 billion connected Indians drive innovation; technology ensures the citizen-government interface is incorruptible,” PM said. Digital India Week that was launched on July 1 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was a huge success. Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of Communication
and IT informed that more than 250 services were launched in areas of health information, utility services,
land record services, mobile app for civic amenities, social welfare and pension services, electoral services,
The reality check
Key Government Services ♦♦ ♦♦ ♦♦ ♦♦ ♦♦ ♦♦ ♦♦ ♦♦ ♦♦ ♦♦ ♦♦ ♦♦ ♦♦
DIGIlocker Mygov.in Swachh Bharat Mission Mobile App eHospital Online Registration System National Scholarships Portal Digitize India Platform (DIP) Bharat Net Wi-Fi Hotspots BPO policies Electronics Development Fund (EDF) Policy National Centre for Flexible Electronics (NCFlexE) Centre of Excellence for Internet of Things (IoT) NASSCOM Cyber Security Task Force
internet penetration around the world Percentage of population 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2014 Canada 72 73 80 83 86 87 United States
68
75
71
70
84
87
China 9 16 29 38 46 49 South Asia
3
4
India 2
5
9
14
17
4 5 10 15 18
Chart Title 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 1 2005 Series1
Canada
2 2007 Series2
United States
3 2009 Series3 China
online court services, and employment exchange services in almost 170 events organised by state governments and others during the week.
42011
52013 Series4
South Asia
6 2014 Series5
India
Digital India initiative has created hopes for better internet connectivity, well-trained municipal staff and better informed citizens who will ultimately utilise the services rendered under different projects and programs of the government. Municipal bodies in India can draw benefits from the initiative provided that they are able to build capacity of their staff to use the programs as a launching pad for improving urban services meant for common citizens. Impediments to the project include the access to high speed internet on mobile or computer. Internet penetration in India is still abysmally low at 15 per cent. While, Internet penetration in European countries and Central Asia is much higher at 65 per cent. Even if the government is able to build infallible infrastructure for ensuring internet connectivity in every nook and corner of Indian cities, the major challenge is to train prospective users to utilize those services. If the e-governance projects are not implemented with a vision to include the last man then it is doubtable that it could take-off successfully. Many state governments, educational institutes, and recruiting agencies of the central and state governments have made it compulsory to fill online application forms but the fact is that many students are not digitally literate enough to do it on their own. They are either dependent on internet cafe operators or their friends who know how to use the Internet. Similarly, e-governance and Digital India initiatives shall focus on building the capacity of end users and also the people working at local government level. This will certainly be a huge task in a country where a large number of people are still illiterate and do not have resources to learn about technology or own gadgets to get the benefits of such initiatives.
www.urbanupdate.in | August 2015
23
Numerographs
Digital India for Cities Broadband Highways
Universal Mobile connectivity
Public Internet access
e-Governance
Laying of national optical fibre network (NOFN) in all 2.5 lakh gram panchayats in the country will happen in a phased manner.
Ensuring mobile access in around 44,000 uncovered villages in the country and government is taking steps to ensure that all villages are covered through mobile connectivity by 2018.
To expand the coverage of common services center (CSC) from 1.35 lakhs to 1.5 lakhs, i.e. one in every panchayat.
Business process re-engineeering will be undertaken to improve processes and service delivery. Services will be integrated with UIDAI, payment gateway and mobile platform.
e
e-Kr
e-Kranti on elec delivery o wheth education agricultur and fin inclu
The Digital India Mission launched recently by the Prime Minister is a decisive step towards digital transformation of India
Towards digital India 24 August 2015 | www.urbanupdate.in
Digital Empowerment of Citizens
ranti
i focuses ctronic of services her it is n, health, re, justice nancial usion.
Global Information
Electronics Manufacturing
IT Training for Jobs
Early Harvest Programmes
The focus will be on online hosting of data and proactive engagement through social media and web based platforms like MyGov.
Focus is on set top boxes, VSAT, mobile, consumer electronics, medical electronics, smart energy meters, smart cards and micro ATMs.
The government is planning to train one crore students from small towns and villages for the IT sector.
The government is planning to deploy Aadhaar Enabled Biometric Attendance System in all central government offices located at Delhi.
Digital India for Cities TRANSPORT
ENERGY
WATER
GOVERNANCE
Getting people smoothly in and out of the city helps commerce, creates jobs, and reduces pollution and frustration. Commute and parking apps make it all work better.
When people have digital visibility to their energy rates and usage, they’re able to better manage and control their energy use, save on their bills, and reduce pollution.
A system of sensors, smart meters and flexible billing systems can help identify and alert residents to leaks--a major source of wasted water and high water bills.
Governments can use digital platforms to decrease costs and increase transparency, tax revenues and customer service, all at the same time.
Digital Infrastructure as a Utility to Every Citizen
Vision for Digital India
Impact of Digital India by 2019
Governance and Services on Demand
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Broadband in 2.5 lakh villages, universal phone connectivity Net Zero Imports by 2020 400,000 Public Internet Access Points Wi-fi in 2.5 lakh schools, all universities; Public wi-fi hotspots for citizens Digital Inclusion: 1.7 Cr people will be trained for IT, Telecom and Electronics Jobs Job creation: Direct 1.7 Cr. and Indirect at least 8.5 Cr e-Governance & e-Services across government India to be leader in IT use in services – health, education and banking Digitally empowered citizens – public cloud, internet access
www.urbanupdate.in | August 2015
25
Leaderspeak | Digital India
Ranjit S Chavan President, AIILSG
Easing e-governance Globally, the advent of information technology has improved the way how government functions and interacts with its citizens. At present in India, one of the most significant phenomena affecting local governance system and service delivery is the revolution in information and communication technology and introduction of e-governance at all levels
D
igital India initiative is a golden opportunity for the existing cities and upcoming smart cities to leverage technology in the local governance system to improve the quality of civic service being rendered to the citizens. The initiative that is intended to ‘digitise India’ by introducing several online services, improving internet connectivity, and capacity building of government officials and citizens has to address the governance issues and impediments local bodies are facing in operation and management of urban agglomerations. The initiative has to play a crucial role in facilitating e-governance by improving the quality of internet services, reinforcing knowledge-based enterprises, encouraging coordination among users, adopting procedures based on international standards, and promoting the internet and introducing its education for masses. It has to have a system through which it can identify the appropriate forms of ICT necessary for better
26 August 2015 | www.urbanupdate.in
service delivery, to conduct training for generating IT awareness among government officials and to help state governments in implementing policies and reforms based on best e-governance practices world-wide. These are some basic requirements of the cities and towns in India if they look at the Digital India initiative. Digital governance helps in accomplishing transparency, speedy disposal of grievances and accountability in governance at all levels. It is the right time when mobile broadband subscriptions are expected to grow up to 5 billion globally by 2016. In 2011, global Smartphone shipments exceeded personal computer shipments for the first time in history. And, India is among the top countries if we talk about the number of mobile users. It gives an edge to the programs initiated by the central government but there is a need to bring down the cost of internet service charge on mobiles to make it affordable for one and all. It is expected that in a welfare state like India, the government can come out with subsidised plans for the needy however; there is still a
Digital services are not only convenient but also quicker than conventional methods. The requirement is that the government must use digital technology to render better services and lower the costs involved in providing them to the masses. Another step in the right direction would be raising awareness of their digital services so more people can use them, and look at ways to use incentives to encourage digital adoption
debate over free internet. While launching the digital strategy in the United States of America, President Barack Obama said that the Speed of digital information is such that when a 5.9 earthquake hit near Richmond, Virginia on August 23, 2011, residents in New York City read about the quake on Twitter feeds 30 seconds before they experienced the quake themselves. He added that to build for the future, the Federal Government needs a Digital Strategy that embraces the opportunity to innovate more with less, and enables entrepreneurs to better leverage government data to improve the quality of services to the American people. The trend of using internet aided
services is picking up fast in all the countries. Online commerce, e-ticketing, online hotel bookings, online shopping, and banking are among some services which are already popular among the masses. But until now government services have stood out by their failure to keep up with the digital age and addressing their target. While many sectors now deliver their services online as a matter of course, the use of digital public services lags far behind that of the private sector. It will help the government especially the cash-strapped urban local bodies to increase their revenue. In a report on unlocking tax-revenue collection in rapidly growing markets, management consulting firm McKinsey found that “electronic channels” such as the internet, mobile and ATMs “can increase the level of voluntary payments” and “reduce the length of queues at tax offices while also removing a barrier to compliance”. Digital services are not only convenient but also quicker than conventional methods. The requirement is that the government must use digital technology to render better services and the lower costs involved in providing them to the masses. Another step in the right direction would be raising awareness of their digital services so more
people can use them, and look at ways to use incentives to encourage digital adoption. The government has to also run extensive programs to make people digital literate as everyone is not connected to the Web. Through our digital inclusion and assisted digital programmes, the Government of India with state government and local government can help more people to use online services through assisted programs. Civil Society Organisations can play a crucial role in imparting training at the ground level. There are several organisations which have manpower and willingness to take up such a task. One of the major advantages of implementing e-governance in cities is that it provides a platform to citizens to engage with the government easily. Monitoring of service delivery becomes convenient and easier for officials and municipal staff. They can easily find out the gaps and improve upon them. E-governance and mobile governance will harness the potential of the information and communication technology along with other innovations for the benefit of the public at large. The effective implementation of digital services will also bring transparency and accountability in governance even at the local level.
www.urbanupdate.in | August 2015
27
one on one | Environment and Climate Change
‘India is committed t environment conser India has been taking many steps for environment conservation and climate change after the NDA Government took over the reins at the centre, says Javadekar. In an interview to Urban Update, Union Minister of State for Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Prakash Javadekar talks about the strategy to make cities sustainable and pollution free, and the action plan to push initiatives for a greener tomorrow at the Paris convention scheduled in November this year Abhishek Pandey Principal Correspondent, abhishek@urbanupdate.in
28 August 2015 | www.urbanupdate.in
to rvation’
www.urbanupdate.in | August 2015
29
one on one | Environment and Climate Change
Cities are the largest contributors to the GDP of the country but they are the largest generators of waste, green house gases, and pollution too. Urban Local Bodies in India are not efficient enough to handle these problems on their own. What can be done to empower them? Environment Ministry has made sweeping changes in the rules and regulations for handling all kinds of waste such as e-waste, construction waste, bio-medical waste, industrial waste, etc. These are under public consultation. We are getting suggestions from the people to amend them. We will consider all these suggestions and accordingly bring them in to effect before November this year. Central government has plans to not only provide funds to ULBs for handling waste but also on work to improve the capacity of municipal staff for managing all kinds of waste. First and foremost, there is a need to change the attitude towards sanitation among people. For example, a few months ago, I was at New Delhi Metro Station. I asked many people you litter outside the metro station but not here. Why? They told me, “Sir there is a camera.� It clearly reflects that we need to develop a culture and strictly adhere to it. People will certainly follow. Transport is among the largest consumers of energy, especially fossil fuels and that has an impact on climate change and environment. What are the plans of the government to improve energy efficiency in the mobility sector? We have given new targets to all the industries to become energy efficient. We are stressing on more utility or production in less consumption of energy. The standards of environment friendly actions have been changing. We will make all efforts to lessen the pollution in mobility sector too. We are encouraging public transport within cities. We are making amendments in the rules. Today, I can either ask industries to close down or send them a notice. We will have provision for fines soon. However, we are monitoring all
30 August 2015 | www.urbanupdate.in
the industries causing pollution and sending them regular notices if they are violating the environment norms. What are the plans of the government of India to make smart cities environmentally sustainable? The government is focusing on making the upcoming cities smart and sustainable. We have the records of all the forest land in cities. We will begin building small forests in cities under Urban Forestry Scheme. It will be implemented in 200 corporations nationwide. In some of the corporations like Pune and Rajmundari, the work has already begun. Our cities have many gardens but not forests. This scheme will help in improving green cover and cleaning up the environment in cities. This scheme will also be implemented in upcoming Smart Cities. The new capital of Andhra Pradesh is coming up between Guntur and Vijaywada; the city will also be built in the same line. We are also training school students how to plant saplings. This will develop a culture among young generation to plant trees. What are the plans of the government to make Indian cities greener? India will clean its air. We have launched Air Quality Index in ten cities. We will clean our water. The nation has already begun the project of cleaning Ganga
River. We will clear our environment where Swachh Bharat Mission will play a crucial role. All these steps will help our cities to become green. The 14th Finance Commission has given 7.5 per cent weightage to sanitation programs. Almost six lakh crore rupees have been reserved for forestation only. The concept of Green Building is catching up fast world over. How government of India is going to promote green buildings? What is the action plan? Indira Paryavaran Bhawan, where we are sitting right now, is India’s first net zero energy building. It has been constructed through the adoption of solar passive design and energy efficient building material. Green materials like fly ash bricks, regional building materials, materials with high recyclable content, high reflectance terrace tiles and rock wool insulation of outer walls have been used. Reduction in water consumption has been achieved by the use of low discharge water fixtures, recycling of waste water through Sewage Treatment Plant, use of plants with low water demand in landscaping, use of geothermal cooling for HVAC system, rainwater harvesting and use of curing compounds during construction. It is costlier than conventional buildings but it conserves energy and
Historical emissions and the principle of common but differentiated responsibility (CBDR) are non-negotiable pillars of Indian strategy. I strongly believe that in last 200 years historical emissions account for vast percentage, well over 70 percent of the emissions that are currently swirling around.
over a period of time, the cost can be recovered. Green buildings will be a key component in smart city development. There are almost 8000 green buildings in the country and we are planning to encourage builders to build more green buildings. We have instructed states in this regard and some of the states have issued notices to builders, contractors to follow certain norms such as having solar panels and rain harvesting system in new buildings to conserve natural resources. What action has the Bhartiya Janata Party government taken in last one year for environment conservation? After Modi government came to power, Indian perspective on climate change changed for better. Our PM understands the importance of climate change. Under his leadership, Gujarat was the first state to establish climate change department. He renamed the Environment Ministry to ‘Environment and Climate Change Ministry’. During his Chief Minister-ship, he installed solar panels on irrigation canals across the state. Evaporating of water stopped and, the cold stream assisted in increasing the efficiency of solar panels. Former US President Al Gore talked about ‘The Inconvenient Truth’ but Modi talked about the convenient actions. He has published a book on the same. India has a habit of reusing things whether books, clothes or anything else. PM thinks that the nation has to set an example and inspire other nations in this regard. India has the target of generating 175,000 Mw non-conventional energy--100,000 Mw solar power, 60,000 Mw wind energy, 10,000 bio-
mass power, and 5,000 small hydro power. This action only will slash 35 crore tonne carbon emission. This is the biggest program in the world to generate non-conventional power. It will take around seven years to complete it. A total of Rs 35,000 crore under Compensatory Afforestration Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) are with the Ministry. I will unlock it and pave a way for development of forest and ‘Harit’ (Green) India. World leaders will meet in Paris this year to come forward with an action plan on environment conservation and climate change related issues. What is India’s strategy? What are the issues it would like to be addressed? Historical emissions and the principle of common but differentiated responsibility (CBDR) are nonnegotiable pillars of Indian strategy. I strongly believe that in last 200 years historical emissions account for vast percentage, well over 70 percent of the emissions that are currently swirling around. The developed countries for long had no obligations or commitments to reduce emissions and have contributed largely to the levels of emissions today. Even today, those countries which are responsible for historical emissions have not made any attempt or are not even inclined to make any attempt to cap their emissions. If you visit America today, you will find shopping malls, glass tower buildings, and glow sign boards are lit even at night hours. They only talk about the world at large working towards the goal of
capping the global temperature rise at 2 degree Celsius. They have not taken any concrete steps towards capping their own emissions. At Paris in December, countries around the world are expected to sign a new global agreement on climate change, with commitments from both developed and major developing countries on limiting greenhouse gas emissions beyond 2020, when current commitments run out. This is seen as the last chance for the world to craft such an agreement, because scientists have warned that rising emissions will soon push the world over the critical 2degC threshold, beyond which global warming is likely to become catastrophic and irreversible. There are many countries which have gained benefit from the early industrialisation. All these developed countries have the responsibility towards climate change and environment conservation. China is not among those countries but it is one the prosperous economies in the world while Greece is the country which took advantage of the industrialisation and contributed to emission of greenhouse gases but it is in severe financial crisis to contribute to the fund for environment conservation and climate change issues. So, a viable sharing of responsibility has to be chalked out. Every country will present Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) plan in the convention. We are asking developed countries to vacate the carbon space for developing countries. Most of the manufacturing units of electronic goods, garments, and other regular stuffs are in China. Developed countries have exported pollution in a way. There should be some criterion through which consumers should be held responsible for it. India will do whatever it can to keep the environment clean. India has initiated Swachh Bharat Mission, Clean Ganga and other sanitation programs for the same. We will push for getting innovative technology from the developed world to utilise them for improving our environment.
www.urbanupdate.in | August 2015
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Tribute | Missile Man
The People’s
President Dr Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, popularly known as APJ Abdul Kalam, was born in Rameswaram, Madras Presidency in 1931. Kalam was a former president of India who was known as the father of the country’s military missile programme. He left for his heavenly abode after suffering a heart attack during a lecture at the Indian Institute of Management, Shillong on July 27 Team Urban update
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r Kalam was born in a middle class family. His father owned a boat and he had to distribute newspapers in his childhood to support his education. Kalam studied physics and aerospace engineering. He specialized in Aeronautical Engineering from Madras Institute of Technology. Dr Kalam made significant contribution as Project Director to develop India’s first indigenous Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLVIII) which successfully injected the Rohini satellite in the near earth orbit in July 1980 and made India an exclusive member of Space Club. He was responsible for the evolution of ISRO’s launch vehicle programme, particularly the PSLV configuration. After working for two decades at ISRO and mastering launch vehicle technologies, Dr Kalam took up the responsibility of developing Indigenous Guided Missiles at Defence Research and Development Organisation as
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the Chief Executive of Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP). He also gave thrust to selfreliance in defence systems by progressing multiple development tasks and mission projects such as Light Combat Aircraft. As Chairman of Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC) and as an eminent scientist, he led the country with the help of 500 experts to arrive at Technology Vision 2020 giving a road map for transforming India from the present developing status to a developed nation. Dr Kalam was also the Chairman, Exofficio, of the Scientific Advisory Committee to the Cabinet (SAC-C) and piloted India Millennium Mission 2020.
Academic pursuit
Dr Kalam took up academic pursuit as Professor, Technology & Societal Transformation at Anna University, Chennai from November 2001 and was involved in teaching and research tasks.
Above all he took up a mission to ignite the young minds for national development by meeting high school students across the country. He regularly interacted with the children while visiting schools and colleges to deliver lectures. He also had an online forum where he used to reply to the questions of students. To a question of a student “why does not he invent things which promote peace?” He humbly replied: “First of all strength respects strength. To protect the nation, nation should have adequate strength. Hence we need to equip ourselves with minimum deterrent capability defence. If we have strength and good leadership, then peace in the nation will prevail.” Four of Dr Kalam’s books “Wings of Fire”, “India 2020 - A Vision for the New Millennium”, “My journey” and “Ignited Minds - Unleashing the power within India” have become household names in India and among the Indian nationals abroad. These books have been translated in
A P J Abdul Kalam ( 1931 - 2015) many Indian languages. Dr Kalam is one of the most distinguished scientists of India with the unique honour of receiving honorary doctorates from 40 universities and institutions. He has been awarded the coveted civilian awards - Padma Bhushan (1981) and Padma Vibhushan (1990) and the highest civilian award Bharat Ratna (1997).
People’s President
Dr Kalam became the 11th President of India on July 25, 2002. When he was President of India, Kalam was firm about not receiving any personal gifts and ensured that all personal gifts were duly tabulated and sent to the government’s toshakhana. Now today when he is gone, the world is mourning. Tributes to the Missile Man of India are pouring in not only from each and every part of India but also from across the world. US President Barack Obama as well as his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin joined the global leaders in condoling the death of India’s missile man A P J Abdul Kalam, saying he was an inspiration
to millions of Indians and had admirers around the world. “On behalf of the American people, I wish to extend my deepest condolences to the people of India on the passing of former Indian President Dr A P J Abdul Kalam,” Obama said. “A scientist and statesman, Kalam rose from humble beginnings to become one of India’s most accomplished leaders, earning esteem at home and abroad,” the US President said in a statement. While Putin said in letters to President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, “Kalam rightly enjoyed high international authority as an outstanding scientist and a wise statesman.” Google’s homepage displayed a black ribbon that marked a special homage to the former President of India and a great scientist who was wellknown for his leadership role in Indian defence technology and always lived a simple life. To honour his contribution in the field of science, UP Government renamed the Uttar Pradesh Technical University as A P J Abdul Kalam Technical University. UP Chief Minister
Akhilesh Yadav said that the University’s new block will have a grand memorial set up for Dr Kalam. Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh announced that school textbooks of the state will have biography of late Dr Kalam so that the future generations get to know about him. Recently, GlobalSat for DRR, a global satellite for earth observation and disaster risk reduction, proposed under the UN framework, will be dedicated to A P J Abdul Kalam as a tribute to the vision of the celebrated rocket scientist Kalam was known for his affection for children. His parting gift to children in the form of books will be released soon. According to reports, a number of new books by late A P J Abdul Kalam, including a sequel to his ever-popular “Ignited Minds”, are lined up for publication in the next few months. Puffin Books will publish “My India: Ideas for the Future”, billed as a sequel to “Ignited Minds”. It will be a collection of insightful and thought-provoking speeches from Dr Kalam’s post presidency years.
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Column | ICT in Smart Cities
e-Governance
Role of ICT in Smart City Mission Networked information could be used as an enabler to better plan and manage urbanisation and thereby bring about improvement in delivery of urban services. That is how the current challenges in the area of delivery of services such as building approvals, issue of birth/death certificates, trade licenses, managing hospitals, managing utilities, managing complaints and grievances and managing disasters can be better addressed and handled
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Dr M Ramachandran Former Secretary - UD, Govt of India mramachandran@hotmail.com
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t is well known that the information communication technology has substantially changed the way services are organised and delivered in cities all over the world. Service delivery in our cities can be made better by effective use of this methodology. Beginnings have been made in various cities but the question is how fast and how effectively this can bring about a major change in the way our cities function and deliver citizen services. Leveraging technology could result in connected citizens for improved service delivery, connected workers enabled by a modernised work place, connected information for improved insight and accountability and connected cities for smarter living environments. Cities can leverage ICT to manage various issues of immediate concern such as managing urban congestion, maximising energy efficiency, enhancing public security, allocating resources based on real time evidence and educating the citizens through remote learning.
e-Governance
e-Government is a concept which continues to evolve and focus on the requirements of the user. During the 1990s governments looked to utilise ICT primarily to improve the efficiency of the public sector and its effectiveness. Emphasis was on creating the necessary ICT infrastructure. In this process reliable and affordable internet connectivity for citizens was a priority. e-Government at this stage essentially consisted of online provision of information and services, providing for transacting business with government electronically. Subsequently during the late 2000s a second generation of ICT tools and applications emerged associated with the collaborative web basically represented by the social networking sites. While the characteristics of the first generation e-government such as greater public sector efficiency and effectiveness continue to be present, now governments look to ICT to enhance user and client satisfaction, service quality and transparency. So the
shift is from a government centric to a citizen centric approach. The focus is now on the user as the unit of analysis than the ICT itself. The expectation is that optimising e-government development for users will lead to better and more responsive services to citizens. The two issues which have become relevant in this process are those of integrating ICT systems across organisations and transforming citizengovernment relationships. While the modernisation efforts of ICT infrastructure continue, efforts are on to leverage the infrastructure so as to better share information internally and externally and to deliver integrated services. The trend is towards egovernment as a whole concept focussing on the provision of services at the front end, supported by integration, consolidation and innovation in back end processes and systems to achieve integrated client focused service delivery and greater efficiencies. The second focus is on e-government just not representing provision of information or services but as a way of transforming how citizens interact with government and how government interacts with itself. Opportunities are there now to open government decision making to the community thereby allowing citizens to engage more directly and collaboratively with public servants.
Smart Cities and ICT
When we design our smart city plans what needs to get focus would be issues like connected and sustainable mobility, connected and sustainable buildings, connected and sustainable energy, connected and sustainable security, connected and sustainable work places and for all this, connectivity will have to emerge as the fourth utility. The city planners will have to make more provision for broadband infrastructure
as is done in the case of areas like water, road and electricity. Networked information could be used as an enabler to better manage and plan urbanisation and thereby bring about improvement in delivery of urban services. That is how the current challenges in the area of delivery of services such as building approvals, issue of birth/death certificates, trade licenses, managing hospitals, providing better health care, managing schools, managing utilities, mapping underground utilities, managing assets, managing complaints and grievances and managing disasters can be better addressed and handled. ICT becomes the means to make use of city resources in the most optimal manner and improve the interface between citizens and the government. But the deployment of ICT would go along with urban design, planning, development, governance and sustainability. There are lessons available from the various global cities which use ICT for infrastructure creation and maintenance, planning and development, important decision making on online feedback from citizens, management of city assets including transport systems, natural resources and environment, providing various services to the citizens and in other innovative applications for specific and new services for the city residents. So a smart city will have the first characteristic of provision of ICT enabled services to the citizens. Intelligent and multi modal seamless city transportation system which will be facilitated by use of ICT will be the next feature. Management of city assets by using ICT will be another key attribute of a smart city. Use of GIS will be a routine characteristic of such cities. Creating an information exchange platform for collaboration between citizens, businesses, knowledge institutions and government departments will be another
characteristic of a smart city. Globally sensors are also used for effective city waste management. ICT based control of environment would be another feature of such a city. Intelligent use of ICT can facilitate smart mobility in the city. New York is considered one of the world’s leading digital metropolises. The city engages more than 25 million people a year through more than 200 digital channels. Mayor Bloomberg led the initiative to introduce NYC Digital, a new entity for city wide digital strategy that engages, serves and connects the public, making government more efficient and citizen centric. New York City’s digital initiatives are supposed to be redefining the nature of government by enabling a high level of transparency,
Creating an information exchange platform for collaboration between citizens, businesses, knowledge institutions and government departments will be another characteristic of a smart city. Globally sensors are also used for effective city waste management. ICT based control of environment would be another feature of such a city
communication and collaborative community development. It is relevant to note that of the four million individuals reached every month by New York City’s digital government, 1.2 million that is 30 per cent, engage with the city through social media such as Facebook, Twitter or digital newsletters. This shows the extent to which technology can be leveraged for a better city governance system.
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Column | Governance
Empower local governments to be self-reliant Governance does not happen over long distance by issuance of fiats and directives. Certainly, not in a democratic system of arrangement of constitutional responsibilities which we profess to be
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Raj Liberhan Former Director, India Habitat Centre liberhan@gmail.com
36 August 2015 | www.urbanupdate.in
he municipal body is the only agency that can anchor the city development in every aspect of its existence. That is why its other name is very appropriate: local selfgovernment Sadly, over the years, the representatives of the local residents have run down the functioning of the body that could give a quality life to the citizens residing in the area. Even though elections are not contested under political wings, in reality they are totally party driven, from nomination to being an elected performer. Notwithstanding the mode, the primary responsibility is of the electorate for good service and for making the city an inviting place to live, which can only happen if the municipality is equipped with resources and competence. Does this ever happen? More importantly, will this ever happen? The state of municipal capacity in our country is totally pathetic. The state politics and the local selfgovernment politics intersect at many points. A well thought of leader at the
municipal level is a possible threat to the incumbents in the state capital, as the electoral constituencies can have common populations. Over the years, there has been a steady decline in panstate leadership images of the chief ministers, just as there are not many leaders with a pan-India image. This has intensified the competition for political space. One of the unfortunate consequences of this competition has been that the role of the municipal bodies has waxed and waned in accordance with the political equations in the states. In turn, the sufferer, as always, is the citizen who has been deprived of basic civic amenities. Smaller municipal bodies do not have the financial strength to recruit needed personnel, train them and assure them of a progressive career. The bigger municipalities are so ridden with internecine rivalries of the councilors that the personnel are divided alongside their favourite councillors to milch the citizen who has to pay bribes to get legitimate service from the municipality. They are unable to plan for the future, are repeatedly
beaten by the volumes resulting in a chaotic city development. Just imagine, as per a study made of the municipal bodies in India, 50 per cent of the local bodies spent one rupee per capita on public health! Why are we surprised that in our cities the only thing that is rampant is one kind of virus or the other in every season? The situation in our cities is in an advance stage of degradation. It has to be retrieved now for giving a chance to our cities to first survive and then make plans to expand and progress in consonance with the needs of the population. We have no other vehicle for repair of cities, except the municipal body. It needs rejuvenation. First and foremost, its resource base must be fortified. There is already a constitutional framework which contemplates transfer of funds to the municipal bodies directly. Let us work these provisions. Yes, there will be arguments that there
A respectable municipal cadre of appropriate categories of professionals needs to be formed by each state. In fact, at the national level there is the Indian Defence Estates Service which serves the needs of managing the defence estates and the Cantonments in the country. This is the only service which is trained and handles city management systems albeit in the restricted military environment
is no maturity in the capacity of the municipal framework to handle big size finances. Sure, then create and build that capacity. If we do not want to employ, then let us engage competent accountants to hold, manage and account for these finances till the internal capacity is created. Likewise, hire out specific agencies to operate and manage the civic amenities. In South Africa, cities are engaging professional city managers to perform its functions. Of course, you have to put in place serious and stringent oversight protocols to ensure that deliveries happen. These are not the times when you have to employ permanent staff for every item of work which has to be performed by the municipal body. Second, we have to revive the trust in the municipal functioning through performance. We have a historical legacy going as far back as 1667, when the formation of the Madras Municipal Corporation, and later in 1726, the Bombay and the Calcutta ones. Since then, there have been a series of legislative reforms. We now have a pace of urbanisation of which there is no stopping. Therefore, we have to meet the challenges coming with it. A respectable municipal cadre of appropriate categories of professionals needs to be formed by each state. In fact, at the national level there is the Indian Defence Estates Service which serves the needs of managing the defence estates and the cantonments in the country. This is the only service which is trained and handles city management systems albeit in
the restricted military environment. The scope of this service needs to be expanded to give it responsibilities in managing the municipal bodies in India. All that is needed is to increase the intake and professionalise its personnel in modern systems. Third, we are now witnessing a massive surge in the use of ICT in all management platforms. The one big and urgent need is to get the city mapped through the GIS platform which can be the basis of all administrative functions. The GPS assistance will help in monitoring performances throughout the city spread. Yes, these things cost money, but human beings in organisations cost even more due to their built-in inefficiencies. And machines do not demand pensions or leave from work. These investments have to be made, failing which municipal service delivery capacity will always be constrained. We already have successful models at work. What is needed is to deploy them across all local bodies. We can argue endlessly about all that is wrong with India. Yes, the corruption, yes, the inept bureaucracy, yes, the venality of the political class, yes, the poverty driven illiterates in the country filling up the slums, yes, to all of it. Even so, we have to work things out and impose the solutions diligently. The state of the local bodies is a symbol of the things that are wrong in the country. But it is also the symbol of where we need to start and succeed to change things for the better in this country.
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one on one
‘Local bodies played important role in promoting girl education’ Honouring the voice of the people of Gujarat, the state government has designated the present Rajmata of Vadodara Shubhanginidevi Raje Gaekwad as the Chancellor of Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. In an interview with Hansa Patel, Advisor, AIILSG, she talks about her interests in academics, significance of education in the life of women and role of local bodies in spreading education
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a j m a t a Shubhanginidevi Raje Gaekwad strongly advocates universal and free primary education for children as well as adults. She
emphasizes the significance of the girl child. She always stood tall for closer and meaningful ties between industry and education, especially in the area of Technology, Research & Development. Being an environmentalist, she believes that attention to environmental
problems in and around Vadodara is of paramount importance and is actively interested in sustainable development of which environment protection and improvement is an integral necessity. After being appointed as the Chancellor of Maharaja Sayajirao
Rajmata Shubhanginidevi Raje Gaekwad, Chancellor of MS University of Baroda, inaugurated the two-day Seminar on Clean Cities–Role of Urban Local Bodies in Swachh Bharat Mission in a glittering ceremony at Banquet Hall, Lukshmi Vilas Palace, Vadodara by lighting the traditional lamp. (L to R) K C Mahapatra, Advisor, H S Patel, Municipal Commissioner of Vadodara, Dr Jatin V Modi, President Emeritus (AIILSG), Rajmata Shubhanginidevi Raje Gaekwad, Hansa Patel, Executive Advisor (AIILSG), Dr Narendra Meena, Deputy Commissioner of Vadodara, and Dr Hitendrabhai Patel, Chairman, Standing Committee of Vadodara Mahanagar Sevasadan.
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University of Baroda, she humbly said: “I accept this major responsibility given to me with all humility. I feel that my late husband Shrimant Maharaja Ranjitsingh Gaekwad was the most appropriate person for this post. But I hope that with support of all, I will be able to do justice to this post.” She added that it is a privilege for her to work with teachers and students. She strongly believes that education is the only way by which people can get good life. She recently announced the new course of Corporate Social Responsibility in the Social Work faculty. She says: “With government making CSR mandatory for all companies, there is a huge employment opportunity in small and large corporations for skilled students.” Talking about the education of women in India, she said, there was practically no education for women in India. Only a few women of the upper castes and upper classes were given some education at home. But, even here, there was tremendous social resistance. Literacy of women at that time was looked upon as a disgrace. The notion of providing education to female children never entered the minds of parents. It cannot be denied that the general picture of women’s education was the most unsatisfactory and
women received practically no formal instruction whatever, except for the little domestic instruction that was available to the daughters of the upper class families. It was the American mission which first started a school for girls in Bombay in 1824. The government also took the responsibility to promote primary education in general and that of the girls in particular. However, government efforts stalled due to the Indian War of Independence of 1857. After the war, municipal committees and other local bodies were encouraged to open primary schools. In the year 1870, training colleges for women were established for the first time and women were trained to become teachers in girls’ schools. As a result of all these efforts, great progress was made in girl’s education in the last quarter of the 19th century. However, in spite of these, there was a great gap between the education of men and women. Though girls and women have made much educational gains in recent years, they still have a long way to go before their historic educational disadvantage is overcome. The education system of India, like many other social institutions, has long been discriminatory towards the women. In 1916 SNDT Women’s University in Bombay became the first institution of higher learning to admit female students. It had a number of high schools and colleges affiliated to it. In the beginning, it was (and is still) believed that women should aspire to become good wives and mothers, not intellectuals, doctors, lawyers, etc. Women used to wash men’s clothing, cared for their rooms and served them meals. They were forbidden to speak in public. The main hindrance to women’s education in India is rural residence, caste issues, low economic standing combined with the traditional attitude towards women’s education as a whole. These factors tend to deny opportunities of education to a girl. The Rajmata elaborated the role of the royal family in promoting education in India. She said: “Shri Sayajirao Gaekwad recognised talent among his
people. He supported education and training of persons who in his opinion would shine in life. Those persons, whom he patronised included Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian Constitution; Dadabhai Naoroji, who started his public life as the Dewan (Minister) to the Maharaja in 1874, and thereafter went on to become the first Asian Member of the British House of Commons where he made no secret of the fact that he would also be representing 250 million of his fellow subjects in India. He also sent his Agriculture Commissioner Chintaman Vishnu Sane to The United States of America for research in that field.” She added that Sayajirao used to visit England every year to select outstanding young people to join his service and in one such visit he met the 20-year-old Sri Aurobindo, whom he immediately offered a job at Baroda College. Sri Aurobindo returned to India in 1893 to join the Baroda service. Speaking on her role and responsibility as the Chancellor of the University, she explained: “It is a responsibility to provide quality education in university and I believe we have the best academic atmosphere and the best quality teaching is given in our university. We also have good hostel facilities for boys and girls, which is necessary since the students come from distant rural areas. In the present scenario, though education for all is needed, specialised education is important for career growth. “We need to have many job oriented subjects and courses which match the needs of industry. This will enable the students to get jobs. The quality of basic education should also be improved so that the student can go for higher education. Therefore, many job oriented courses have been started in all the faculties. Home Science was among the most important courses started for women. It included various aspects of Health and Nutrition among other subjects. A patron of Indian classical music, Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad started a music college especially for girl students.
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Velocity | Indore
Beyond commerce and cricket Indore, once known as ‘shab-e-Malwa’, is trying to keep pace with rapid urbanisation Team Urban update
40 August 2015 | www.urbanupdate.in
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aving served as the commercial capital of Madhya Pradesh for long, Indore has always aspired to join the league of India’s big cities. Indore, the largest city of Madhya Pradesh by population, contributed about US$ 14 billion to the State economy in 2011. Manufacturing of automobiles and pharmaceuticals, retail, textile trading and real estate form the major economic activity of the City. The IT sector also has a prominent presence. Proximity to the Gujarat-Mumbai grid has been especially advantageous for the development of Indore as the commercial capital of Madhya Pradesh. Even as far back as the 16th century, the City was established as a trading centre between the Deccan and Delhi. Indore is thus indisputably the financial capital of the State. India’s third oldest stock exchange, the Madhya Pradesh Stock Exchange, is also located here. The city is further known as an important educational hub in Central India and it is the only Indian city to have both an Indian Institute of Technology and an Indian Institute of Management.
Housing and real estate
ongoing flats and houses for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) and 434 flats and houses for Lower Income Groups (LIG). Aranya, located 6 kms from Indore, meanwhile is a noteworthy example of community housing as it is set to ultimately accommodate a total population of 60,000 in 6500 dwelling units. The housing caters to various income groups and ensures that septic tanks, electricity and water facilities are made available to all.
Transport
Indore has been successful in providing an exceptional local transport network that operates using a public-private partnership model. The main public transport operator is the Indore City Transport Service Corporation Ltd (ICTSL), which is the largest compressed natural gas (CNG)– powered bus service operator in Central India. The buses that are part of Indore BRTS are GPS enabled. LED monitors displaying the arrival timings of the buses and passenger information are provided. It aids commuters with simplified navigation. A ‘hub-and-spoke model’ is deployed to schedule routes for all passengers including students
and office-goers. Such features have catapulted Indore to the top league of cities. The City is being considered as one among those with the best city bus services in the world along with Bogota. ICTSL also operates a taxi-cab service called ‘Metro Taxi’ that provides services not only within the city but also to commuters travelling to Bhopal, Ujjain and other parts of Malwa. Indore is well linked to the rest of the state and the country through national and state highways. The Agra-Mumbai National Highway (NH-3) and NH86 (to Dewas in the west and Betul to the North), pass through Indore. It is further connected to Khandwa Town by the Khandwa Toll Road, towards south of the city and to Ujjain in the north-west. In terms of rail services, Indore is one of the few places in India that offers both broad gauge and metre gauge railway tracks. Indore lies on the longest gauge network between Jaipur and Purna, and is part of the Western Railway network. Indore is directly connected by rail to all major cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, and Ahmedabad. Indore’s ‘Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Airport’ offers connectivity to Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Delhi, Hyderabad,
Indore Development Authority (IDA) plans for both residential and commercial developments along the Super Corridor, a 12 km stretch from the Airport to Vijay Square in Central Indore. Developers have shown keen interest in developing multi-storeyed residential structures, plots, row houses and villas in this area. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan focuses on making the city slum-free and also on the need for building low housing units for the immigrant labour population. The State of Madhya Pradesh joined the Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY) to implement housing for poor in various slum areas of the cities. The pilot phase has already been started in Indore. In 2013, in its efforts to reduce the cost of affordable housing plots, the IDA board further lowered the supervision charges for the construction of 302
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Velocity | Indore
Jabalpur, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune and Raipur.
Industrial and economic development
Indore’s economy is expanding rapidly owing to factors such as good investment climate, favourable industrial policy, presence of renowned educational centres and improved infrastructure facilities. The textile industry is one of the oldest businesses to have been established in the region. Several textile mills are still operational in the city. Indore is a preferred trade centre for the wholesale garments trade. Metal and alloy industries are traditional economy drivers of Indore. With the proliferation of the automotive and auto-components industry, these metal related sectors have flourished. Major industrial estates can be found around the city. Pithampur is a well-known industrial hub. It is home to several large and small automobile and auto-component companies. Not surprisingly, the city has come to be known as the ‘Detroit of India’. Indore’s automobile sector is a very significant contributor to its economy.
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Pharmaceutical manufacturing companies too are present in significant numbers in Pithampur. More recently, the city has witnessed an expansion of the Information Technology sector with numerous IT companies being established here. An electronics complex has also been developed. It houses some of the top IT companies of the nation. Use of IT in e-governance has also been actively encouraged by the government. Of late, Indore is also known for hosting for the Global Investors’ Summit, a regular event, which is attended by potential investors from across the world, including those from the USA, Singapore, Japan, UK and Germany.
Culture and tourism
Indore, home to people from various other Indian states, represents a truly diverse culture. It is known especially for the delicacies it offers that ranges from the famous ‘namkeens’ to mouthwatering sweets. Several temples and holy sites are located in the city. These include the Indreshwar Temple, the Khajrana Ganesh Temple, the Annapurna Temple and the Kanch
Mandir. Popular hot-spots near the city include Mandavgad, Sitala Mata Falls, Choral Falls and Maheshwar which are frequented by tourists and locals alike.
Challenges
The city, in spite of its various attractions, faces challenges such as high population density which has caused problems of land-availability and congestion. Meanwhile, water infrastructure facilities require further development since water supply is limited and a sizable part of the population does not have access to appropriate sewerage network. Further, narrow roads combined with increasing vehicular ownership have led to traffic management issues and increased accident rates. The lack of adequate green cover has further intensified the pollution levels, with suspended particulate matter in the air being more than the specified threshold levels by Indian standards. To tackle such issues, the Indore Municipal Corporation has implemented various reform measures both at the city and the state levels, to ensure that the city maintains its dynamic growth momentum.
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For specific requirement, please contact AIILSG HO Mumbai E-mail: onlinemumbai@aiilsg.org | Phone: 022-26571713/14/15
Events
Sustainable mobility for the Capital Team UrbanUpdate
D
elhi Transport vision conference was organised by Delhi Government with a focus on charting out a roadmap for doing away with traffic chaos in the city and promoting cleaner and greener transport. Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi Chief Minister, said that in the next five years, we need to significantly improve the transport system. There is a huge gap
Rai, said due to bad planning, the government had to take the decision to scrap the existing BRT corridor. “BRT corridors should be constructed in Outer Delhi where there is a lot of land to execute such projects. In view of traffic problems, BRT projects need to be executed to meet the future demands,” Rai said. The ministers and experts were of the opinion that buses are required to reduce pollution levels. “We need to have pollution and jam free transport system. Everyone agreed
Environment, Planning & Technology and Amit Bhatt, Director, Transport EMBARQ spoke about ways to improve the public transport system. PWD minister Satyendar Jain said instead of thinking about car owners, government should think of pedestrians and cyclists first. “In accidents, 70 percent of the victims are either pedestrians or cyclists. The roads are not planned to suit pedestrians, though they have the first right on roads. We will redesign roads across the city and
between demand and supply in terms of public transport. We need to work on five things - availability, easy access, punctuality, reliability and information (pertaining to bus service) - with a view to make public transport system better. The Delhi Transport Minister, Gopal
that to tackle pollution, public transport system needs to be improved,” said Rai. Four experts, OP Agrawal, Director, Indian School of Business, Madhav Pai, Director of Sustainable Cities, World Resource Institute, Shivananda Swami, Associate Director, Center for
will build facilities for pedestrians,” he said. The experts at the conference also suggested that buses should be procured after conducting a survey of routes and the demand. Delhi government plans to procure 10,000 buses in five years.
44 August 2015 | www.urbanupdate.in
‘Capitalising on India’s Urban Growth’ Team UrbanUpdate
N
ational Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) organised a lecture on ‘Capitalising on India’s Urban Growth: A Strategic Thinking’ at India Habitat Centre recently. The lecture was part of its monthly Urban Dialogues series. The talk focused on three key points-the urban agenda for India, current approach in implementing it and the new urban missions. Ireena Vittal, who
during the event. The discussion, followed by the lectures by the speakers focused on leveraging urban development for growth and inclusive prosperity through strategic thinking and integrated planning. It explored the opportunities for redefining the engagement of key sectoral institutions, the private sector and citizens to make Indian cities the trend setters in the next phase of urbanisation. Jagan Shah, Director of National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA), said that the phrase, ‘India needs to build
Ireena Vittal
was partner with McKinsey & Co for 16 years, was the key speaker at the event. Raghu Rama Swamy, Director, School of Infrastructure, Research & Institutional Consultancy also spoke
one Chicago every year’, coined by Ms Vittal is paramount in understanding the growing demand of urbanisation in India. He said that Vittal has coauthored several seminal studies
relating to agriculture and urbanization including Food and Agriculture Integrated Development Action (FAIDA) and India’s urban awakening: Building inclusive cities, sustaining economic growth. In her lecture, Vittal said that 70 per cent of the new jobs will be created in cities. It is crucial because millions of people come into the job market every year. Urban India is the place where jobs are created, primarily because of the structure of the Indian economy. With the combination of more people moving to and more economic activity happening in cities, Indian per capita income will increase depending on what happens in its cities. By 2050, more than five states in India will have more people living in cities than in villages and that will mean that voices of cities will also matter in the Parliament. Seeing the urbanisation experience in China, she said that it is expected with a significant amount of GDP growth in India will come from the construction and allied sectors. During the discussion, Raghu Rama Swamy spoke about the financial condition and capacity of urban local bodies in India. He stressed on the need of improving financial structure and capacity building of municipal staff through adequate administrative and political measures.
www.urbanupdate.in | August 2015
45
URBAN AGENDA | Smart Mobility
Multilayered approach for mobility Apresh Chandra Mishra Managing Editor apresh@urbanupdate.in
“S
mart city” has become a buzzword in India ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi outlined his vision for creating a series of them. With limited resources and a population that is increasing by leaps and bounds, India can naturally expect several factors that challenge every aspect of growth. Transport, especially urban mobility, is a crucial indicator of a country’s progress in the face of growing pressure to achieve sustainable development. Unprecedented growth of migrant population in the cities is pushing cities to the brink. Rise of the urban middle class, pride of owning vehicle, cities going vertical and insufficient infrastructure are some of the factors adding up to make urban traffic chaotic. In fact, lack of policy has been the prime culprit that precipitated traffic nuisance in the country. While we tried to maintain the pace of economic growth, we neglected livability in the cities. We did not integrate transport in urban planning. We failed to foresee the pace and volume of urban transport demand, and neglecting the transport infrastructure, we went on promoting car sales for the sake of boosting the economy. As the country grapples with the urban transport challenges, there is an urgent need to focus on the issue from different stakeholders’ viewpoints – as a planner, as an executor and finally
46 August 2015 | www.urbanupdate.in
as citizens as the end beneficiaries. Starting with the citizens, it is a general tendency to flaunt car ownership as a status symbol, though both price and time are best utilised in public transport. There seems a need to educate citizens that they have a right to mobility and that they need to hold the city accountable through communication and technology. There is also a need to treat public transport as a public service similar to water or electricity, and therefore, consistency and efficiency should only be expected. Travelers, particularly the younger lot, should be given greater say in decision-making and evaluating efficiency. This may be helped by investments in IT infrastructure to disseminate information and facilitate communication. At the local and regional governments’ level, there is a general lack of capacity. A more detailed planning for attracting investment and supporting demonstration cities could be two ways of augmenting local capacity. There is a need to decentralise the decisionmaking power, hitherto confined to state transport departments, and share it with local authorities. Similarly, there are distinct challenges in implementing a national vision of and policy for urban transportation, as there are huge variations in the capacity, size and support associated with individual cities. The government needs to develop a multilevel mechanism for implementation.
All India Institute of Local Self Government Sardar Patel Bhavan, 22-23, Institutional Area, D Block, Pankha Road, Janakpuri, Delhi-110058 Ph No. 011-2852 1783 / 5465, Email. delhi@aiilsg.org
Urban
Dialogues Dialogues Next Smart cities Chandigarh
Partners
Organising Team
Ranjit S Chavan President AIILSG
Ramanath Jha Director General AIILSG
Raj Liberhan Former Director IHC
M Ramachandran Former Secretary-UD GoI
Dr Sudhir Krishna Former Secretary-UD GoI
For speakers and sponsorship requirements, please contact: Lojy Thomas: + 91 98688 73850, lojy.thomas@yahoo.com Ravi Guru: + 91 98180 98411, raavi.guru@gmail.com
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