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World Habitat Day 2010: Seminar on Municipal Governance, Urban Infrastructure and Civic Services
Organised by:
- Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, GOI
- National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA)
21 October 2010
NIUA, New Delhi
The
Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation (MHUPA) and National
Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) organised a Seminar on “Municipal
Governance, Urban Infrastructure and Civic Services” on October 21, 2010
at NIUA as part of the World Habitat Day 2010. The Seminar was attended by
over 50 participants representing HUPA, HUDCO, ADB, Cities Alliance, HSMI,
USAID FIRE-D Project, NGOs, TCPO, AMDA, urban experts, etc. Prof. Chetan
Vaidya welcomed all the participants to the seminar. Mr. S.K.Singh, Joint
Secretary (Housing), MHUPA gave the background and purpose of the seminar.
Dr. Isher Ahluwalia, Chairperson, High Powered Expert Committee (HPEC) on Urban Infrastructure in her Keynote address said that it is important for India to deal with urban challenges to maintain sustained economic growth. She further stated that the the launch of Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), it is the first time that the Government focused its attention on the urban problems. She further added that a large investment is required in capital and operation & and maintenance of urban services. However, in spite of additional funding from central sources, Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) will have to access market-based mechanism like municipal bonds and public-private-partnership (PPP). Both of these mechanisms will require strengthening of internal revenue base of ULBs. In a final note, she said India is changing and Urban India would rise to meet the challenges of providing efficient and equitable cities.
Mr. K.K.Pandey, Professor, IIPA made a presentation on “Municipal Resource Mobilization for Inclusive Cities”. Dr.Renu Khosla, Director, CURE made a presentation on “Citywide Slum Upgradation in Agra”. Mr. Sandeep Thakur, Senior Research Officer, NIUA presented on “Tracking of SFC/CFC Grants to ULBs”. The last presentation was made by Dr. Debjani Ghosh, Senior Research Officer, NIUA on “Property Tax Reforms in India”.
There were extensive discussions at the end of the presentations. Prof. Vijay Dhar NIUA thanked all the participants and said that deliberations of the seminar will help the Government to develop a strategy for urban India.