Transcript JNNURM - Planning Commission

From JNNURM to Antyodaya
“Civil Society Window”
Planning Commission
January 25, 2007
CASUMM
Livelihood and Rights
1. Constitution guarantees everyone the Right to live and work
anywhere in India
2. This needs to be backed by a minimum wage. Does NURM
provide this? NURM must guarantee at least minimum
wages (and equal wage for women) in each infrastructure
and service project. We should move toward setting a living
wage as in Kerala.
3. The model for slum rehabilitation is in-situ multi-storey,
commercial housing. It does not encourage slum dwellers to
assemble and develop their own land. It destroys networks
of small entrepreneurs, petty traders and their suppliers /
transporters operating in the community. This results in
massive displacement of poor from their livelihoods.
NURM seems to be a private sector development strategy but
not a quality of life strategy for the urban poor!
Chronic Poverty and Basic Services
What does NURM do to help the homeless,
urban poor woman and child?
1.
2.
We need universal access to services based on
affordability for those able to pay and subsidy for the
poor. This livelihood support would bring people to
a minimum quality of life. Pro poor governance needs
to be about providing this subsidy for the urban poor.
The forthcoming Urban counterpart of NRHM should
focus on providing affordable and assured quality of
health services for the poorest and not on mindless
commercialization.
Not stakeholder but shareholder of development: All people
have a right to share in development!
Displacement and Environment
1. Refugees from mega infrastructure/mining projects are
growing due to large scale displacement for urban and
rural development. How do schemes like NURM
address the specific needs of these groups?
2. Environmental clearances for urban infrastructure
projects have been consistently diluted. What steps are
being taken to mitigate damage to environment?
NURM permits dumping of debris in surrounding lakes
and villages, tree cutting for road widening, air pollution
from increased private car usage. Proper mechanisms
and resources for protection are not in place.
In 160 out of a total 600 districts of the country, there is
Naxal activity. This is a direct result of a large majority
left out of economic growth. If all people do not share
growth surpluses, India’s demographic dividend will
become a demographic deficit!
Real Participation by Strengthening Local
Governments and Democratic Processes
1. Do we want uniformity linked to top-down processes or do we
want to choose our model of participation? We need policies that
support and encourage local (city council) innovations suitable for
diverse local needs.
2. Community ownership and consensus will not happen under
present NURM practices of branding based PR & advertisements.
Real decentralisation is needed where villagers / citizens can decide for
themselves what economic activity they want based on adequate,
timely and proper information.
3. Capacity building for local government should have a role for
citizens and should be fine tuned over time. The curriculum
should not focus only on one type of model but should examine
several alternatives. It should not ignore or negate political
structures / processes.
We do not have any role in framing and influencing participation
Empowering or Emasculating
Finance Models?
Does the NURM financing model enhance social sector
spending that builds educational and health capacities of
the urban poor?
1. NURM paves the way for development that requires huge
capital outlays that rely on debt financing. This model
slowly devolves national debt burdens down to the
individual household level with the burden falling
disproportionately on the urban poor.
2. What is the nature of the poor budget under BSUP? We
need to make services accountable to dalits, homeless,
street families and poorest of the poor through conducting
multi-sector social audits and public audits for all projects.
There needs to be extensive and rigorous debate on what
are the costs of large projects and whether citizens are
willing to bear them.
The Way Ahead
1. Prioritize provision of basic services to redress the skew
between UIG and BSUP (currently 75:25) and fill in the
extraordinary historical gap in access to services
2. Ensure the conduct of and enhanced role for citizens,
councilors and councils, DPCs, and GPs in
– annual review of JNNURM (city level)
– Annual budgeting and draft plan preparation (city & DPC)
3. Prioritize livelihood opportunities. Promote higher job
generating industries and self employment opportunities.
4. Devolve decision making and 40% funds to local govts
(similar to Kerala and PRIs). Extreme centralization under
NURM is inefficient, unconstitutional and will never result in
properly functioning institutions of local self govt.
5. Question one-off experiments in urban devt that become
national policy as governance is restructured in a way that
flouts democratic process & benefits new vested interests.