[Reader-list] JNNURM II: Failure is its own reward for MoUD by Kalyani Menon-Sen

[lalitha kamath]

http://urbanwatchindia.blogspot.com/


Wednesday, July 1, 2009 
JNNURM-II  Failure is its own reward for MoUD 
 
JNNURM-II
Failure is its own reward for MoUD
Indian city-dwellers, rejoice! JNNURM Mark Two is coming your way – bigger, brighter, bolder than its first avatar – more
money, more reforms, more public-private partnerships, more contracts,
more consultancies, more scams, and many many more creative
reinterpretations of urban reality. 
But
how has this happened, you ask? Did JNNURM Mark One get where it was
supposed to go? Did we not hear that it was facing criticism from
several quarters, not just from chronic dissenters like the activist
brigade? Did we not see respectable-looking middle-class citizens in
some cities rubbing shoulders with scruffy activists and working-class
types in street protests against some of the “reforms”? Wasn't there a
notice in the papers inviting tenders from individual experts for
carrying out the mid-term review of the programme? And wasn't there a
rumour that some cheeky citizens were actually mounting their own
home-made review? What happened to all of that?
Good questions. And there are plenty of answers. There's just one problem - the answers don't add up.
Let's
do a flashback to the Prime Minister's speech at the star-studded
JNNURM launch in 2005. “Our urban economy has become an important
driver of economic growth” said the PM. “It is also the bridge between
the domestic economy and the global economy. It is a bridge we must
strengthen. The latent creativity and vitality of our cities and the
people who live in them must be tapped to facilitate higher economic
growth.”
JNNURM was unveiled as the miracle makeover that would enable 64 of our cities to become candidates in the global swayamvara where corporate investors prowl in search of the perfect marriage
between their capital and the “creativity and vitality” of cities. This
makeover was to be accomplished in a mere seven years, through a simple
but brilliant strategy – polishing up and enhancing the physical
infrastructure to bring it up to global standards, and simultaneously
getting rid of the ugly evidence of the disorderly and
less-than-perfect processes of urbanisation of the past. 
JNNURM
cities, we were told, would be clean, green and beautiful – cleansed of
the shanty-towns and unauthorised housing colonies, the noisy pavement
markets, the primitive rickshaws and polluting phat-phattis, the street vendors selling unstandardised products at ridiculously low prices, the higgledy-piggledy old neighbourhoods,the stinking landfills, the junkyards, the unhygienic dhabas. In their place would be multilane highways and toll roads, low-floor
buses and elevated metros, gleaming malls and food courts, huge
airports, high-rise housing, parks and promenades....in short
everything gratifyingly like “phoren”. 
Of
course a lot of the rules would need to be rewritten – after all, it
would not be appropriate to leave the management of these new global
cities in the hands of the old guard, especially when the World Bank
and the ADB were telling us how much better market forces were at
running cities than anyone else. And no doubt it was entirely in the
rightness of things to turn to these same old friends, ever ready with
a loan, to underwrite the programme that would put their advice into
practice. Needless to say, everything would be done in accordance with
the best principles of good governance – online consultations, young
professionals and corporations bringing in energy and initiative to
design efficient services for the poor, the brightest and best
bureaucrats given a free hand and a generous kitty to get things
moving, and an impressivebrains trust of
experts and luminaries from the NGO world to provide technical advice
and inject the civil society perspective into implementation. 
Of
course there were critics and prophets of doom (those self-important
activists again). The Urban Development Ministry did not waste any time
in responding to irritating questions from this known bunch of World
Bank-baiters. The scheme was rolled out in grand style – of the total
kitty of Rs. 50,000 crores, 463 projects worth Rs. 49743.46 crore were
approved in three years and Rs. 8253 crore was released from the Centre
to the States.
Cut to the present 
3
June 2009. Speaking to a reporter from the Wall Street Journal, some
officials of the Ministry of Urban Development (who refuse to be named)
come out with an alarming statistic - only 32 of the 463 sanctioned
projectshave been completed in the three years
since the scheme was launched. In case anyone should think of using
this statistic as a stick to beat the Ministry or the scheme itself,
the informant hurries to add that this dismal performance is entirely
the fault of the States, which had been far too slow and clumsy in
acquiring land, shifting existing structures and populations and
acquiring the professional competence to handle large projects[1].
Surely,
you say, regardless of who is responsible, this qualifies as a big-time
fiasco? Apparently not. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a
meeting on 10 June, the Secretary Urban Development was quoted as
saying just the opposite."There is definitely
good progress made under the mission. Many of the projects (like
drainage and sewerage) would not have been taken up otherwise," said
Dr. Ramachandran.[2] 
Dr.Ramachandran
is not alone in his complacence. Vinayak Chatterjee, chairman of the
National Infrastructure Council of the Confederation of Indian Industry
and chairman of consultancy firm Feedback Ventures, is quoted in the
same piece as saying "It is a very well crafted intelligent innovative
programme. The pity is that the states and city administrators have not
been proactive in pulling more funds out of the mission."
All of 32 projects in 64 cities in three years, and they manage to attract so much praise? Why are we not impressed?! 
Strangely,
and most unusually, this is one instance where the statistics shared by
the unnamed Ministry source are actually endorsed by the folks on the
other side of the fence.A Citizens' Review of
the JNNURM, undertaken in 16 cities by a coalition of community groups
– grassroot activists, workers' organisations, NGOs working in informal
settlements – found yawning gaps between the issues prioritised in the
City Development Plans and sanctioned projects, and between the
sanctioned projects and the real situation on the ground. In the
overwhelming majority of cities and locations, there was absolutely no
physical evidence of any kind of developmental activity – not even a
signboard to mark the fact that this was a JNNURM project site.
But
Mr.Ramachandran is unfazed. The judgements of mere citizens regarding
the success or failure of the programme are neither here nor there if
the people who count are happy. On 29 June, the Ministry of Urban
Developmentannounced that a follow-up phase of
JNNURM was under serious consideration. According to the Ministry
spokesperson, more investment was required to reach the targeted levels
of infrastructural growth. The proposed JNNURM Mark II will have a
seven-year lifespan, a kitty of Rs.100,000 crores – twice the size of
the present JNNURM. The new scheme will replace the present one, and
will expand its reach all the way down to the level of mofussil towns with populations of 500,000, in addition to providing “top-up funds” to ongoing projects.The
scheme has already been forwarded to the Finance Ministry, and the
Ministry of Urban Development is hopeful of seeing it incorporated as
one of the highlights of the Budget 2009-10. The World Bank, it
appears, has already given its nod to the proposal.
Of
course there is the small matter of the mandatory mid-term review
before the World Bank signs on the dotted line and shells out the
promised Rs.50,000 crores. Somewhere along the way, the tender for the
consultants seems to have been dropped off the agenda. We can only
speculate on the reasons. Maybe it was considered too risky? After all,
even the best consultants have been known to sometimes bite the hands
that feed them!
But
the Ministry has found the perfect solution – a review by the Prime
Minister, no less, assisted by a National Review Committee comprising
that tried and trusted band of experts, the JNNURM Technical Advisory
Group. In order to bring it up to speed for this onerous task, the TAG
has been beefed up with the addition of three new members: Professor
Amitava Kundu of JNU (whose credentials as an urban theorist are
impeccable); Nandan Nilekani (whose persuasively imagined idea of India
is completely in tune with the JNNURM ethos); and Roopa Purushottaman,
described in her official bio as “the chief economist and strategist at
the Future Group, India’s leading business group that caters to the
entire Indian consumption space”. In case you are wondering about
Ms.Purushottaman's qualifications for reviewing an urban development
programme, we should point out that the Future Group is the corporate
umbrella for a retail empire that includes Big Bazaar, Home Town,
Capital and Food Bazaar. 
We can all rest assured that the review process is in safe hands and will surely result in a well-argued case for JNNURM-II.
Buoyed
up by the assurance of continued largesse in a era where everyone else
is cutting down on spending, the corporate sector is regaining its
faltering enthusiasm for urban renewal. Experts and visionaries are
emerging from unexpected quarters, enthusiastically taking thelead in articulating a vision forthe future of our cities. 
Take a look, for instance, at the blurb for a conference organised by CII in Delhi on 18 June. “Commonwealth
Games 2010 is round the corner and the capital is in the midst of a
make-over as the city prepares for the biggest sporting event in its
history. Will Delhi seize the
chances offered by Commonwealth Games 2010 to boost its economic,
social and cultural development. The time is ripe for the city to be
transformed into a “World Class City” - what is required is a vision”
says the CII.
Apart
from the usual smattering of ministers and bureaucrats, there were
several distinguished experts on various panels: Mr. Navin Raheja of
Raheja Developers and Mr. Sudhir Vohra of Sudhir Vohra Consultants in
the panel on the Delhi Master Plan; Mr. Sanjay Sharma of Coca Cola in
the panel on water supply;Mr. Arjun Walia of
Walsons Security Services in the session on public safety and Mr.Ajay
Jadeja, sports personality in the session on “action planning for a
better tomorrow”.
As for the rest of us, we can hold our tongues and wait for that better tomorrow
KALYANI MENON-SEN
New Delhi

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[1]Rahul Chandran. 3 June 2009. JNNURM projects lag over land, utilities and personnel problems. Livemint.com,
[2]Vandana Gombar. 10 June 2009. Government may double size of JNNURM. Business Standard. 
Posted by Urban Watch India  at 9:05 AM  0
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Labels: India, Infrastructure, Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban renewal mission, JNNURM, lobbies, PPP, urban reforms agenda  




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