Delhi ranked 24 of 31 Indian cities in urban governance index: Report

While Delhi retained its rank from 2022 in the biennial analysis conducted by the Praja Foundation, its score dropped from 33.8 to 32.11, on a scale of 1-100, the report said

New Delhi

A skyview of Delhi. (HT Archive)

Complete policy paralysis, non-formation of key committees and one of the least empowered mayoral positions among major cities are the key factors that have left Delhi lurching in the 24th position, among 31 cities, on the urban governance index (UGI) in a report released by an NGO on Thursday.

While Delhi retained its rank from 2022 in the biennial analysis conducted by the Praja Foundation, its score dropped from 33.8 to 32.11, on a scale of 1-100, the report said.

The report is based on a ground visit by teams of researchers, who visited 43 cities across all 28 states and three Union territories, interacting with 2,213 key stakeholders, including elected representatives, administrators, academics, civil society, media, practitioners, and experts in the field of urban governance and policy over the past two years. The UGI marking is based on four aspects — empowered city elected representatives and legislative structure, empowered city administration, empowered citizens and fiscal empowerment. These themes are further divided into 13 sub-themes and comprise a total of 42 indicators.

The report said that Delhi’s rank and overall score have decreased due to non-formation of standing, subject and zonal committees, as well as the unavailability of data on human resources. “Another reason being other states have relatively improved their score,” it said.

Municipal elections in Delhi were held in December 2022 but the corporation has seen legal and political tussles over the formation of each of the key municipal authorities. The election of the mayor was delayed and the formation of a standing committee is still incomplete.

The report said that the mayor of Delhi is one of the least empowered since the mayor does not have a term (currently set at one year) that is co-terminus with that of the city government (five-year tenure), does not have executive authority over the commissioner or authority to appoint the chairperson of standing/subject committee.

Among other shortcomings in Delhi’s set-up, the Praja report argues that Delhi does not have a provision for training councillors or commensurate salary and office allowances. The hiring of all mid-level posts in the civic body is carried out through the Delhi Subordinate Services Selection Board (DSSSB) and senior posts are occupied by people on deputations from other departments.

The report recommends that for truly empowering the city administration, all 18 functions listed under the 12th Schedule of the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act should be devolved to the city government. “Currently, Municipal Corporation of Delhi is involved in devolution of only four functions independently,” the report said.