The Hindu 01.03.2017
Urban rule a stumbling block
Survey puts Delhi at 9th place, blames low voter turnout for poor governance
Just months before Delhi is set to go for municipal elections, the city fared badly in an annual survey for urban governance.
The fourth edition of the Annual Survey of India’s City-Systems (ASICS) by Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy showed that Delhi slipped from the seventh position in 2015 to the ninth position in 2016. Twenty-one cities were surveyed.
No transparency
The cities were assessed in four parameters — urban planning, urban capacities and resources, empowerment and legitimate political representation, and transparency, accountability and participation. Though Delhi topped the list in urban planning and design, it fared poorly when it came to transparency and accountability of people’s representatives.
“What has worked for Delhi is that it is well planned, financed and staffed. In terms of per capita availability of funds, it is better than a lot of other cities. However, it has scored extremely low in transparency of governance and a balanced political representation of people,” said Janaagraha CEO Srikanth Viswanathan.
Basic information
He said something as basic as the split between capital and revenue in the city’s civic budget was not available easily on the websites of Delhi’s municipal bodies.
“The basis of any city’s governance is its local governance and that’s where change needs to happen. We are still voting for water, electricity and bad roads. But if we vote for good governance, everything will automatically fall in place,” Mr. Viswanathan said.
Ward-level planning
Delhi scored 2.4 out of 10 in transparency and accountability, which pushed it to rank 20 among 21 cities.
In ‘empowered and legitimate political representations’, Delhi scored 3.7, ranking 16.
The city has, however, benefited from a good ward-level planning through mohalla sabhas.
“The voter turnout in MCD polls is generally the lowest. The candidates should not just tell the voters what they will do for them, but also how they will do it. We can make the biggest difference on this level as voters,” he said.
