Preparation of Reform Primers

Context:

The Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) program is India’s largest ever national initiative on urban infrastructure improvements and urban governance reforms. The program provides funds for infrastructure projects, and also makes it mandatory for the states and urban local bodies (ULBs) to carry out a set of reforms. The reforms have been categorized into two – mandatory and optional reforms. The Ministry of Urban Development, which is implementing the Sub-mission on Urban Infrastructure and Governance, realizes that states and cities need assistance to implement reforms. The Ministry of Urban Development has therefore commissioned the preparation of Reform Primers, that will provide guidance to all States and Cities on a common understanding on the objective and desired end outcomes of these reforms, suggest appropriate approaches for implementing them, provide broad timelines and relevant examples of success. IUSF was commissioned by National Institute of Urban Affairs, Ministry of Urban Development to develop primers for several of these important reforms.

Project Details:

Thus far, the following four reform primers have been developed by IUSF:

• Structural Reforms

  As changes continue to occur in the urban context, State government, Urban Local Bodies and other civic institutions need to respond by making long-lasting structural changes. This primer includes reforms in institutional structures of urban management at the State level, decentralization of municipal administration in large cities, undertaking review of organisational structure and optimising staffing patterns.

• Administrative Reforms

  Administrative reforms are at the core of sustainable transformation of Urban institutions. These reforms under JNNURM seek to focus on issues related to people as well as systems and processes. These changes are comprised of 3 elements: human resources development and personnel management, internal systems and processes and citizen interface systems and processes.

• Introduction of Land Title Certification Systems

  This reform aims at implementing a system of land title certification in order to protect rights to land and property in urban India. The reform primer lays out a ten point agenda for title certification. Implementing this reform will have a positive impact on financial sustainability, governance, and social equity, as it will improve data quality and promote infrastructure and social development, make urban planning practices more effective, and unlock the potential of land to generate capital.

• Simplification of Legal and Procedural Framework for Conversion of Agricultural land to Non-Agricultural Purposes

  This reform is designed to simplify and speed up the process of conversion of land use from agricultural to non-agricultural, a process that has to date been slow and unable to keep up with the pace of urban development. It aims to promote free, non-speculative and transparent land markets, align with urban planning concepts, and build in mechanisms for compensating the potential loss in land value due to declared land uses.