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June 2009 Edition

NEW FORMS OF URBAN GOVERNANCE IN INDIA
SHIFTS, MODELS,
NETWORKS,
CONTESTATIONS

Edited: ISA Baud and J De Wit
Sage Rs 850

Indian cities have been trying to decentralise governance in fits and starts since the 1990s. This book examines whether such efforts have improved local governance and got citizens to participate. The authors evaluate if partnerships of the state with the private sector, development agencies, NGOs and communities have improved service delivery and included the poor. Unlike the global experience, Indian cities have tried mostly local partners.

Part One has research papers on how decentralisation has taken place. M Pinto focuses on Mumbai. J De Wit, N Nainan and S Palnitkar look at the performance of Ward Committees. A Ghosh and M Mitra examine West Bengal's Ward Committees. N Nainan and ISA Baud write on the role of NGOs in Mumbai's decentralisation.

Part Two looks at multi-stakeholder arrangements in public services. ISA Baud and R Dhanalakshmi examine the performance of such arrangements in south India. Interestingly, these seem to have worked better for resident welfare associations than for the poor. Political leadership at a higher state level is needed for things to work for the poor. I Milbert writes on law, urban policies and the role of intermediaries in Delhi-where the voice of traders and the middle class overrides that of the slum dweller. Mumbai's solid waste management is analysed by S Redkar.

There is a paper on Hyderabad's urban reforms.

Part Three is on contestations and urban governance. Only Kerala has functioning ward committees but the danger of being too local is that the wider perspective of the city is lost. Small ward committees work better. The mill lands of Mumbai and how industrial workers lost out completely is analysed and there is a paper on judicial activism and its links with the middle class in Delhi.

It seems the partnerships of the future will be between communities and governments.

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