23-Jun-2017: Quality of life in 116 major cities to be assessed
In yet another major initiative, the Ministry of Urban Development launched the ‘City Liveability Index’ for measuring the quality of life in 116 major cities including smart cities, capital cities and cities with a population of above one million each.
The Index, a Common Minimum Reference Framework to enable the cities know where they stand in terms of quality of life and the interventions required to improve the same was today launched by the Minister of Urban Development Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu at a National Workshop on Urban Transformation.
Stating that cities are now moving on a well thought out course of infrastructure development under new urban missions launched during the last three years, “ Time has now come to measure life quality in cities and rank them accordingly”.
In a first of its kind Index to be introduced in the country, cities will be assessed on a comprehensive set of 79 parameters to capture the extent and quality of infrastructure including availability of roads, education and health care, mobility, employment opportunities, emergency response, grievance redressal, pollution, availability of open and green spaces, cultural and entertainment opportunities etc.
After selecting the agency for undertaking this assessment next month, data collection will be completed in the next about six months.
The Ministry of Urban Development today disbursed Rs.500 cr as incentive to 16 States that performed well in implementing urban reforms during 2016-17. Progress in respect of reforms like e-governance, Audit of accounts, Tax revision policies and extent of tax revenue collection, Energy and Water Audit, Establishing State Level Financial Intermediaries for resource mobilization, Credit Rating etc., was taken into account.
Andhra Pradesh topped the list scoring 96.06% marks. Others who received the incentive fund in order of merit were; Odisha (95.38%), Jharkhand (91.98%), Chhattisgarh (91.37%), Madhya Pradesh (90.20%), Telangana (86.92%), Rajasthan (84.62%), Punjab (77.02%), Kerala (75.73%), Goa (75.38*), Mizoram (75.00%), Gujarat (73.80%), Chandigarh (72.73%), Uttar Pradesh (70.67%) and Maharashtra (70.52). Marks scored by these States was considered for deciding the quantum of incentive with high scorers getting more.
Shri Rajiv Gauba, Secretary (UD) said that reform incentive fund for the next three financial years will be increased from the present allocation of Rs.900 cr to Rs.10,000 cr to promote next generation reforms that would make a substantial difference to urban governance and service delivery and resource mobilization by urban local bodies.
9-May-2017: Measurement of Liveability Index of cities to begin next month
Ministry of Urban Development will launch measuring of Liveability Index of cities next month based on indigenously evolved Index.
Liveability Standards of 140 cities including 53 cities with population of one million and above and Smart Cities will be assessed. The Ministry has already invited bids for selecting the agency for carrying out the assessment based on the parameters evolved by the Ministry. The Ministry of Urban Development has come out with a detailed document on “Methodology for Collection and Computation of Liveability Standards in Cities” for the benefit of States and Cities.
Cities will be assessed on 15 core parameters relating to Governance, social infrastructure pertaining to education, health and safety and security, economic aspects and physical infrastructure like housing, open spaces, land use, energy and water availability, solid waste management, pollution etc. Cities will be ranked based on Liveability Index that would cover a total of 79 aspects.
A sense of healthy competition is being promoted among cities and towns in the country to focus their attention on improving governance and infrastructure availability. More than providing funds to State and City Governments, Ministry of Urban Development is according priority for incentivizing implementation of reforms that have a far reaching impact on governance and service delivery.
Cities can’t be run and managed from state capitals and secretariats. They should be made to stand on their own for improving performance, responsibility and accountability.
Government officials and experts from India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are participating in the workshop for sharing respective experiences on decentralization and empowerment of local bodies.