National level orientation programme on strengthening urban governance in india a Participatory research intervention, October 9-11, 2000, Reading material no. 2 and 4

Abstract

Harbans Singh Gill examines the capacity-building challenges facing India's urban sector at the turn of the century. The paper traces the rapid pace of urbanization, noting the fourfold rise in urban population over four decades and the growing concentration of people in large settlements above one lakh persons. It documents persistent gaps in access to basic services such as drinking water, electricity, sanitation, and solid waste management, with smaller towns and less developed states bearing the heaviest burden. Gill identifies the widening distance between demand and supply of urban infrastructure as the central concern, compounded by weak municipal finances following the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act. To address this, the paper works through small and medium town development, municipal finance reform and sustainable city planning, proposing for each- a cycle of research, training and policy seminars- that can turn identified problems into concrete action plans.