*7 pillars, 132 indicators, but no measurable outcome
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Jan 7: Three years after the Government laid down an elaborate and ambitious framework to measure, reform and strengthen urban governance in Jammu and Kashmir, not a single substantive step has been taken to operationalise the decision, thereby turning what was projected as a landmark urban reform into a mere paper exercise.
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Vide Government Order No. 05-JK (HUD) dated January 3, 2023, sanction was accorded for the rollout of the Aspirational Towns Development Programme across all Municipalities of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir; adoption of an assessment framework-the J&K Municipal Development Index-2022-to rate and analyse the performance and level of development of various Municipalities/towns; and rollout of an Urban Reform Incentive Fund for providing reform-linked assistance to the Urban Local Bodies based on their performance against benchmarks prescribed under the Municipal Development Index.
The Municipal Development Index framework consisted of seven pillars, 37 categories and a total of 132 indicators covering every aspect of urban life-from water supply and sanitation to housing, health, urban planning, finances, transparency, climate resilience and citizen perception.
However, even after the lapse of three years, the Municipalities continue to function exactly as they did before the issuance of the order, with no institutional, financial or administrative changes triggered by the decision, official sources told EXCELSIOR.
“The order emphasised measurable improvements in education, healthcare, water supply, sewerage, solid waste management, housing, mobility, safety and recreation. Yet, neither have Municipalities been instructed to collect or report data on these indicators, nor has their performance been analysed,” sources further said.
Further, the order placed strong emphasis on revenue mobilisation, property tax efficiency, fiscal discipline, participatory budgeting, audits and financial transparency. “However, almost all these aspects have not received due attention till date,” sources pointed out.
The order also highlighted asset disclosure, publication of budgets, performance reports, citizen charters, ombudsman mechanisms and capacity building of staff. “However, municipal budgets and performance reports remain largely inaccessible to the public, ward committees remain defunct, and no independent grievance redressal or ombudsman systems have been put in place,” sources said.
Despite clear indicators on air quality, water quality, green spaces, renewable energy, disaster preparedness and urban resilience, Municipalities have not been tasked with climate action plans or resilience strategies, sources said, adding that “environmental reporting remains sporadic and urban climate risks continue to be handled reactively rather than institutionally”.
“The most telling failure is the complete non-implementation of citizen perception surveys, which were meant to assess public satisfaction with municipal services. No surveys have been conducted, no feedback mechanisms institutionalised and no citizen-centric evaluation carried out, rendering the entire participatory intent of the order meaningless,” they said.
Sources privy to the non-implementation of the grand urban reform further said, “no timelines, financial backing, statutory mandates or monitoring mechanisms were ever put in place after the issuance of the order”, adding “the framework is exhaustive, but there is no instruction on who will implement it, how data will be collected, or how performance will be enforced”.
“This is a classic example of reform without execution. Such unimplemented policy frameworks erode institutional credibility and public trust,” they said, adding “unless the administration immediately operationalises the framework with binding directions, resources and accountability, the much-hyped order of 2023 risks going down as one of J&K’s most comprehensive yet completely ignored reform decisions”.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Planning, Monitoring and Development Department is required to set up/engage a Project Management Unit (PMU), and the Information Technology Department is supposed to create a dashboard for monitoring the progress of Aspirational Towns.
Further, the District Development Commissioners are required to prepare Aspirational Town Development Plans in convergence with other schemes for the speedy development of the Aspirational Towns.
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