Our cities don’t reflect our growth
The Times of India, December 4, 2009, Page 13
Prime Minister calls for speeding up urban reforms for efficient governance.
NEW DELHI: Maintaining that Indian cities were not an acceptable face of a rapidly modernising and developing economy, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday sought speeding up of urban reforms to provide efficient, equitable and transparent governance.
The PM said urban chaos was becoming a way of life as infrastructure struggled to keep pace with demand and called for concerted action to tackle problems that came with rapid urbanisation.
"Our cities and towns are not an acceptable face of a rapidly modernising and developing economy," Singh said at the National Conference on Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).
Singh stressed that solutions to the problems of urbanisation were of critical importance to the future of the country's economy, its potential for growth and for harmonious and inclusive development of urban India.
"The programme (JNNURM) has succeeded in focussing attention of our policy makers on issues of urban renewal as never before. The problems of urban areas and their sustained development are no longer accepted stoically; they are being tackled and beginning to be tackled effectively," he said.
Ministries of urban development and housing & urban poverty alleviation had approved projects and buses for urban transport worth Rs 1,03,462 crore, for which the Centre had committed assistance of Rs 55,625 crore.
Singh said there was recognition today that JNNURM had created a paradigm shift in how the urban sector is to be viewed, both at the state and city levels. "In this sense, our government can take great pride in having launched a Mission that is a game changer for urban India," he said.
Pushing for urban reforms to ensure better governance, PM said the process of municipal reform under the Mission needed to be deepened and to be more even across cities. Urban local bodies have to develop the capacity to provide efficient, equitable and transparent governance, he said.
The PM said improving the health of municipalities was another important priority and called upon the states to fulfill their obligation to devolve both functions and finances to these bodies.
Urban development minister S Jaipal Reddy said in a lighter vein that he was afraid of going to Parliament as newly-elected members besieged him and asked for development funds but the ministry hardly had any money to spare.
"I am afraid of going to Parliament as newly-elected MPs want schemes for their cities. When urban development ministers of states want to see me, I avoid them as much as I can," he said.
Describing JNNURM as a "magnificent success", Reddy recalled that initially they were daunted by the magnitude of the project but expressed satisfaction that in four years, schemes worth more than Rs 1 lakh crore (Rs 1 trillion) had been sanctioned.
The Times of India, December 4, 2009, Page 13
Prime Minister calls for speeding up urban reforms for efficient governance.
NEW DELHI: Maintaining that Indian cities were not an acceptable face of a rapidly modernising and developing economy, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday sought speeding up of urban reforms to provide efficient, equitable and transparent governance.
The PM said urban chaos was becoming a way of life as infrastructure struggled to keep pace with demand and called for concerted action to tackle problems that came with rapid urbanisation.
"Our cities and towns are not an acceptable face of a rapidly modernising and developing economy," Singh said at the National Conference on Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).
Singh stressed that solutions to the problems of urbanisation were of critical importance to the future of the country's economy, its potential for growth and for harmonious and inclusive development of urban India.
"The programme (JNNURM) has succeeded in focussing attention of our policy makers on issues of urban renewal as never before. The problems of urban areas and their sustained development are no longer accepted stoically; they are being tackled and beginning to be tackled effectively," he said.
Ministries of urban development and housing & urban poverty alleviation had approved projects and buses for urban transport worth Rs 1,03,462 crore, for which the Centre had committed assistance of Rs 55,625 crore.
Singh said there was recognition today that JNNURM had created a paradigm shift in how the urban sector is to be viewed, both at the state and city levels. "In this sense, our government can take great pride in having launched a Mission that is a game changer for urban India," he said.
Pushing for urban reforms to ensure better governance, PM said the process of municipal reform under the Mission needed to be deepened and to be more even across cities. Urban local bodies have to develop the capacity to provide efficient, equitable and transparent governance, he said.
The PM said improving the health of municipalities was another important priority and called upon the states to fulfill their obligation to devolve both functions and finances to these bodies.
Urban development minister S Jaipal Reddy said in a lighter vein that he was afraid of going to Parliament as newly-elected members besieged him and asked for development funds but the ministry hardly had any money to spare.
"I am afraid of going to Parliament as newly-elected MPs want schemes for their cities. When urban development ministers of states want to see me, I avoid them as much as I can," he said.
Describing JNNURM as a "magnificent success", Reddy recalled that initially they were daunted by the magnitude of the project but expressed satisfaction that in four years, schemes worth more than Rs 1 lakh crore (Rs 1 trillion) had been sanctioned.
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