27 Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission and Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation

Dr. Khusro Moin

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Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban RenewalMission(JNNURM)is a colossal city-modernisation plan launched by the Government of India under Ministry of Urban Development. It was officially launched in the year 2005 with an aim to brace the infrastructure, improve the quality of service and enhance the aesthetic features of the cities. It envisaged an investment of over 1,00,000 crore to address the deficiencies in the urban infrastructure and service delivery.

 

The aim of the mission as per the mission statement was “to encourage reforms and fast track planned development of identified cities focusing on the efficiency in urban infrastructure and service delivery mechanisms, community participation, and accountability of ULBs/ Parastatal agencies towards citizens”

 

Background of the Mission

 

As per the 2001 censusapproximately 285 million (28 percent) people lived in urban areas which due to the introduction of new economic policy of liberalization and globalization is expected to expand its share to about 40 per cent of the total population of the country by the year 2021. It was also estimated that by the year 2011, the contribution of urban areas to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) would rise to about 65 per cent. However, such a high productivity depends upon the availability of infrastructure services. Infrastructure such as power, roads, water supply and mass transportation along with civic infrastructure, such as sanitation and solid waste management form the backbone of urban economic activities. Development of urban infrastructure across the country is indispensable for the economic development and growth. Such realization on the part of the government has forced it to deliberate and devise new strategy to rejuvenate the urban infrastructure and improve the mechanism of urban governance. JNNURM is a major initiative of the government in this direction.

 

JNNURM is a unique project that specifically gives primacy to the development of the Indian cities. It is a result of the concern of the government caused by the burgeoning urban population of the country,degradingcivic amenities in the cities and the need to boost economic activities in the urban places. Therefore, to meet the new challenges that emerged in the urban space the government came up with the first of its kind investment programme in the history of India that contains framework for urban sector reforms, means of strengthening of urban bodies, fast track development of cities and upgradation of infrastructure. The mission is different from the earlier programmes as itfocuses on inclusive development, development alongside the necessary reforms and represents the collective efforts of all the stakeholders in urban sector.

 

 

Objectives of the Mission

 

Following are the objectives of the JNNURM

  • Integrated development of infrastructure services in cities.
  • Establishment of linkages between asset-creation and asset- managementthrough a number of reforms to ensure long-term project sustainability
  • To provide adequate funds to meet the deficiencies in urban infrastructural services.
  • Planned development of selected cities including peri-urban areas, outgrowths and urban corridors to promote dispersed urbanisation
  • To widen and maximize the delivery of civic amenities and provision of utilities with emphasis on universal access to the urban poor.
  • Decongestion of the old city areas will get special focus in the programme.

    Extension of basic services to the urban poor including improved housing, water supply and sanitation, and ensuring delivery of other existing universal services of the government.

 

 

Scope

 

JNNURM incorporates two sub-missions into its programme:

 

(1) Sub-Mission for Urban Infrastructure and Governance: This was to be administered

 

by theMinistry of Urban Development. The Sub-Mission focused on water supply, sanitation, sewerage, solid waste management, road network, urban transport and redevelopment of old city areas. It also focused on relocation of industrial and commercial establishments to conforming areas.

 

(2)  Sub-Mission for Basic Services to the Urban Poor: This wasto be administered by the Ministryof Urban Employment and Poverty Alleviation with a focuson integrateddevelopment of slums through various projects for providing shelter, basic services andcivic amenities to the urban poor.

 

Finance and Implementation

 

To realise the goal and succeed in the endeavour of transforming the urban space into an engine of economic development it is imperative that that there should be a firm strategy in place to carry out the mission in a systematic manner. Therefore, the implementation process passes through several stages as given below:

 

(a)   Stage I- Preparation of City Development Plan (CDP) is a first step in the implementation. It indicates the policies, programmes strategies and financing plans.

 

(b)  Stage II– Identification of Projects: The CDP would help in the identification of the projects.

 

(c)   Stage III – Preparation of Detailed Project Reports. The DPR would be prepared by the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) / parastatal agencies for undertaking projects in the identified spheres. The projects be planned in such a manner that optimises the life-cycle cost of projects.

 

(d) Stage IV– Release of Funds:There should not be any glitch in the flow of funds towards this objective. Therefore,funds from the Central and State Government were channelized directly to the nodal agency designated by the State, as grants-in-aid. These designated State Level Nodal Agency (SLNA) disbursed the funds to the ULB/Parastatal agency for identified projects across cities.

 

The mission also supports Public Private Partnership (PPP) to tap private sector efficiencies in development, management, implementation and financing of projects.

 

The following table gives the Financing pattern of the project

 

Source: http://india.gov.in/official-website-jawaharlal-nehru-national-urban-renewal-mission

 

Duration of the Mission

 

The initial duration of the mission was seven years beginning from the year 2005. An evaluation of the experience of implementation of the mission was to be undertaken before the end of theEleventh Five Year Plan in 2012. The mission was further extended for two more years, that is tillMarch 2014.

 

Eligible Cities Under the JNNURM

 

The JNNURM gave assistance to the eligible cities/ Urban Agglomerations (UAs) across States in the country. The cities/ Urban Agglomerationswere selected based on the following criteria:

 

A    Cities/UAs with 4 million plus population as per 2001 census

 

B    Cities/UAs with 1 million plus but less than 4 million population as per 2001 census

 

C   Selected cities/UAs (state capitals and other cities/UAs of religious/historic and tourist importance)

 

The cities should have elected bodies in position.

 

There were 63 cities in the beginning which grew in number over time

 

Agenda of Reforms

 

JNNURM endeavours to ensure improvement in urban governance and service delivery thus making ULBs become financially strong and sustainable for undertaking new programmes. A number of mandatory and optional reforms were set up to be followed at state and ULBs/Parastatal Agencies level.

 

All the reforms were required to be completed within the Mission period.

 

1.   Mandatory Reforms at State Level:

 

a. Taking decentralisation measures on the lines of 74th ConstitutionalAmendment Act. The State should encourage association and engagement ofULBs in planning the function of parastatal agencies.

 

b. Repeal of Urban Land Ceiling and Regulation Act.

 

c. Reform of Rent Control Laws ensuring the interests of both landlords and tenants

 

d. Reduction in Stamp Duty to not more than 5 per cent within nextseven years.

 

e. Enactment of the Public Disclosure Law that would help preparation of medium-term fiscalplan of ULBs and parastatal agencies and release of quarterly performance information toall stakeholders.

 

f. Enactment of the Community Participation Law to encourage and institutionalise citizen’s participation. Concept of Area Sabha be introduced in urban areas.

 

g. Associating elected ULBs with city planning function.Transfer of all special agencies that deliver civic services in urban areas toULBs and also creating accountability platforms for all civic service providers intransition.

 

 

2.   Mandatory Reforms at the Level of ULBs, and Parastatal Agencies

 

a. Shifting to the modern accrual-based double entry system of accounting in ULBs and parastatal agencies.

 

b. To introducethe new system of e-governance using IT applications(GIS and MIS) for the services provided by ULBs and parastatal agencies.

 

    c. Reform of property tax with the help of GIS . Since property tax is a major source of revenue for ULBs it is important to support its effective implementation to ensure collection efficiency reaches the target of 85 per cent within next seven years.

 

d. Levy of reasonable user charges by ULBs and Parastatal agencies so that the full cost of O&M is collected within the next seven years. Citiesand towns in the North East and other special category States are given a little relaxation as they may recover only 50 percent of O&M charges initially. However, these cities may graduate to full O&M costrecovery in a phased manner.

 

e. There should be internal earmarking of funds for basic services to the urban poor.

 

f. Provision of basic services to the urban poor. This should includesecurity of tenure at affordable prices, improved housing, water supply and sanitation. Also delivery of existing universalservices for education, health and social security be ensured.

 

 

Mid Term Appraisal of the Mission

 

A midterm appraisal was carried out by the consulting firm Grant Thorton which was chosen as an appraisal agency for Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).

 

The basic purpose of the study was to assess the degree and extent of the implementation of the mission and also to identify the constraints and suggest viable measures to make the programme a success.

 

The key Findings and Recommendation of the Final Report (2011) of the agency has been summarised below:

 

Findings

 

  1. JNNURM emerged as a key tool in rejuvenating the urban space in the country. After Independence, JNNURMhas the distinction of being thefirst national flagship programme of its kind and size for the urban sector.

 

2. This programme is slowly bringing about a change in the urban governance set up and the mind-set of the states and ULBs. It has successfully created an awareness, raised expectation among the people for improved quality of life and a sustainable environment in the urban areas.

 

3. The amount invested in UIDSSMT cities over a period of seven yearsis notsufficient to bring about any appreciable change in the infrastructure to make themattractive destinations for industry and trade.

 

4. Funding of the mission cities was on the basis of population based on 2001 census. Because of this the smaller states with smaller towns were at disadvantage over the cities having higher population.

 

5. Consultations with the stakeholders on the content of the draft CDP was missing in majority of the cities which meant that the stakeholders were constrained to accept the planwithout consultation.

 

6. Unavailability of the CDP report in vernacular language had its own limitation as even those who could access the report could not properly comprehend the proposals and hence were unable to provide any meaningful input on the draft CDP.

 

7. A majority of the DPRs were not backed by the Initial Environmental Studies (IES)

    8. Most of the projects were sanctioned in the year 2007 because the preparatory work like primers, toolkits etc. were not prepared in time which consequently delayed the preparation of DPR.

 

9. There was coordination problems caused by having a large number of advisors and consultants.

 

10. Though all the states prepared the CDP and the DPR on the basis of which funds were released by the Government of India, only few cities have initiated revision of the CDP.

 

11.  Some states did not even set up the Project Management Unit (PMU) or Project implementation Unit (PIU)

 

12.  Most of the states were unable to implement all the 23 reforms ( thirteen mandatory reforms at the state and ULBs level and ten optional reforms)

 

13.  As no fund is earmarked for implementation of the 23 reforms, many ULBs were facing acute shortage of funds in the implementation of several reforms, for example the accounting reforms and GIS based property taxation.

 

14.  Most of the ULBs lack the requisite skills to carry out project preparation and therefore the states have engaged consultants for the said purpose.

 

15.  The convergence for the sub missions and their sub schemes requires improvement.

 

16.  There is absence of provision for constitution of City Level Sanctioning and monitoring Committee in JNNURM guidelines. Therefore, all the executing agencies are required to interact with the SLNA and the PMU on all matters involving the implementation of the project.

 

Recommendations

  1. A Single mission directorate for both the ministries is suggested.
  2.  JNNURM should be made an incentivised programme
  3. The Mission should focus on the projects in terms of its identified keypriority sectors like that of water supply, sewerage, solid waste management, drainage, roads andhousing.
  4. There is a need for direct participation of the ULB staff in the entire process from CDP, DPR preparation to project execution.
  5. Approval process for projects should be divided into two stages: first, the in-principle approval stage and second the final approval stage in place of the current process of final approval of proposed projects in one go.
  6. Data centres for the state should be created with immediate effect. There is alsoan urgent need for a map to be drawn of all the utility construction (both new and old) in the city. Funds should only be allocated to realistic compiled maps.
  7. State Government should ensure the survey of the urban poor is done every ten years and funds be earmarked on the basis of population of urban poor and not on the basis of fixed percentage for every city across the country.
  8. The lower level officials should be a part of capacity building programs asthey are responsible to implement them.
  9. Monitoring mechanism at the local level should be strengthened.
  10. Physical progress for projects should be kept separate from reforms once commenced. In case of non-compliance of reforms within the stipulated time, only the lastinstalments i.e. 25% should be withheld. This would ensure that the physical progress of the work in progress projects is not stalled.
  11. Property tax structure needs to be based on either area based method or capital value based method and be shifted from rental value method.
  12. Smaller and medium towns require substantial increase in funding in infrastructure to make them attractive destinations for investments.

    Conclusion

 

With all its constraints and limitations the Mission is a bold step towards rejuvenation of urban infrastructure , enhancement of financial sustainability of Urban Local Bodies, introduction of sweeping reforms in the urban governance and above all involvement of citizens in the urban planning process. All the objectives might not have been hundred percent success but it has set the tone for subsequent missions of the future in the urban sector. It has definitely brought about a change in the mind-set of the States’ and the ULBs.

 

Learning Objectives

   

Atal Mission for Rejuvenationand Urban Transformation (AMRUT)

 

The previous decade saw the launch and implementation of one of its kind big flagship scheme ‘JNNURM’ for urban rejuvenation. The mission strove hard to reform and bring about complete transformation in the urban sphere by its slew of reform measures and new initiatives in improvement of urban basic services to all. Despite its impediments and limitations it produced wonderful results and transformed the mind-sets of the states and urban local bodies.

 

Continuing in the same spirit of bringing about rapid and positive transformation in the urban space and prioritizing the objectives based on the experiences and the learnings of the previous mission the government has launched the programme for urban renewal named after former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in June 2015. The mission has been titled as Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT). The mission proclaims it would focus on infrastructure creation that has a direct link to provision of better services to people. The government would ensure creation of a sound institutional structure to make Mission successful. The major objectives of the mission have been outlined below.

 

Objectives of the Mission

 

1.  Every household to have access to tap with assured water supply.

2.  All the houses to have sewerage connection.

3.  Developing greenery and well maintained open spaces (e.g. parks) to enhance the aesthetic value of the city.

4.  Reduction of pollution by shifting to public transport system or constructing facilities for non-motorized transport (e.g. walking and cycling)

 

Coverage

 

The scheme covers five hundred cities, the list of cities will be notified later.

Following are the category of cities that will be covered in the AMRUT scheme:

 

i. All Cities and Towns with a population of more than one lakh with notified Municipalities, Cantonment Boards.

 

ii.  All Capital Cities,Towns and UTs that are not included in the above mentioned category.

 

iii. All Cities and Towns classified as Heritage Cities by Ministry of Urban

 

iv. It also includes thirteen Cities and Towns with a population between 75,000 to 1 lakh that   are on the stem of the main rivers.

 

v. Ten Cities from hill states, islands and tourist destinations.

    Mission Components

 

The components of the mission along with their detailed description of the proposed tasks have been given below

 

1. Water Supply

 

This component includes (a) Augmentation of existing water supply, water treatment plants and universal installation of meters.(b) Rehabilitation of old water supply systems and Rejuvenation of water bodies for drinking water supply and recharging of ground water. (c)Making arrangements for supplying water to hill areas and coastal cities and those places having water quality problems (e.g. arsenic, fluoride)

 

2. Sewerage

 

It focuses on (a) Decentralization and proper development of networked underground sewerage systems, augmentation of existing sewerage systems and treatment plants (b) Rehabilitation of old sewerage system and treatment plants (c) Recycling and reuse of water.

 

3. Septage

 

(a)  Faecal Sludge Management- cleaning and treatment in a cost-effective manner.

(b)  Biological and mechanical cleaning of sewers and septic tanks

 

 

4. Storm Water Drainage

 

This component has become more relevant now a days as city comes to a virtual standstill after heavy rains. Therefore, Construction and improvement of drains and storm water drains has become indispensable to check and eliminate flooding.

 

5. Urban Transport

 

Traffic management, pollution control and developing mass rapid transit system has become a necessary requirement of the cites and emerged as a challenge for the government. Therefore, the mission emphasizes on (a) Introduction of ferry vessels for inland waterways. (b) Construction of footpaths, sidewalks, foot over-bridges, multi-level parking and facilities for promoting non-motorized vehicles such as bicycles.(c) Encouraging and promoting Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS).

 

6. Green space and parks

 

The mission focuses on enhancing and developing green space and parks with the aim to beautify the city.

 

7. Reforms management & support

 

This is an important component of the mission which supports (a) Funding for reform implementation and other activities(b) Independent Reform monitoring agencies.

 

 

8. Capacity Building

 

Focus is on (a) individual and institutional capacity building which will not just be confined to Mission cities but would also be extended to other ULBs.

 

(b)Continuation of the Comprehensive Capacity Building Programme (CCBP) after its realignment towards the new Missions

 

Allocation of Funds

  • The total Budget for AMRUT is Rs. 50,000 crore for five years beginning from 2015 .
  • The Mission is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme.
  • The Formula for Allocation of Project Fund to States will give equal weightage ( 50:50) to the urban population of the State/UT and the number of statutory towns in the state.
  • The Mission funds consist of four parts as given below:

 

i. Project fund – 80% of the annual budgetary allocation (project fund in the first year would be 90% of the annual budgetary allocation)

 

ii. Incentive for Reforms would constitute 10% of the annual budgetary allocation.

 

iii. State funds for Administrative & Office Expenses (A&OE) would claim 8% of the annual budgetary allocation

 

iv. Ministry of Urban Development funds for Administrative & Office Expenses would constitute 2% of the annual budgetary allocation

 

Implementation strategy

 

  1. Preparation of Service Level Improvement Plan (SLIP)

     This is an exhaustive exercise as preparation of slip has to focus on universal coverage of all households with water supply and sewerage, look into new alternatives to bridge the gaps ,ways to implement reforms and strategy to manage the finance. Each ULB is therefore required to go through a series of necessary steps keeping in mind the conditions attached and prepare the Service Level Improvement Plan

 

2. State Annual Action Plan (SAAP)

 

The SLIPs prepared by the ULBs would form the building block for the SAAP. SLIPS will be aggregated to form SAAP. SAAP is nothing but a State level service improvement plan that indicates the year-wise progress/improvement in water-supply and sewerage connections to households.

 

3. Approval of SAAP

 

The Apex Committee is given the task of appraisal and approval of the SAAP. After the approval of the SAAP project execution begins.

 

4. Project Execution

 

DPRs are prepared for identified projects approved by the State level Committees after technical appraisal by the State Level Technical Committee (SLTC) Process of Implementation finally begins after thorough technical & financial appraisal of the DPRs

 

5. Release of funds

 

The funds will be released in three instalments of 20:40:40

 

The first instalment of 20 percent will be released soon after the approval of the SAAP by the Apex Committee.

 

The second and third instalment will only be released on receipt of Score Card, Utilization Certificates and Project Funds Request.

 

It is experienced and learned from the past programmes that timely release of projectfunds by the State Governments is a key to successful completion of any project . Therefore, the States are required to release the Central Assistance funds to the ULBs within seven working days of release of Central share by Ministry of Urban Development failing which a specified interest rate shall be levied on the state.

 

Source:http:// amrut.gov.in/writereaddata

 

 

 

Programme Management Structure

 

It has three tier management structure at national, state and city level

 

National level

 

The Programme at national level will be managed by an Apex Committee (AC) that will be chaired by the Secretary, MoUD .Members/representatives of related ministries and organisation will supervise the mission. The Apex Committee is required to meet at least once in three months

 

State level

 

Management of mission at the state level will be done by a State level High Powered Steering Committee (SHPSC) chaired by the State Chief Secretary.

 

City Level

 

ULB will be responsible for implementation of the Mission at the city level and the Municipal Commissioner will ensure preparation of SLIP.

 

Conclusion

 

To ensure that the Mission runs smoothly and efficiently it is required that it should be monitored periodically by the managing bodies and also by external agencies. Therefore, there will be a quarterly external monitoring by the Independent Review and Monitoring Agency (IRMA). At the State level, the SHPSC would carry out a detailed scrutiny of the proposed projects and monitor it during the execution while the ULBs would closely monitor the projects through their electedrepresentatives and ULB bodies at the ULB level.

 

The Mission is a promising and bold step towards the aim of Urban Renewal but there is a long distance to cover and only unflinching commitment towards the goal would produce concrete positive results. Honest and effective participation of every stakeholder is required to make it a grand success.

 

 

you can view video on Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission and Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation

 

References