Governance is a term newly fashionable though the story of governance is as old as

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1 INTRODUCTION Governance is a term newly fashionable though the story of governance is as old as civilization itself (Human Development Report, 1999). The traditional definition of governance is the act or process of governing. Governance is a broader category than government, with government being one component of governance among many. According to United Nations Development Programme, 1997, Governance is viewed as the exercise of economic, political and administrative authority to manage a country s affairs at all levels. It comprises mechanisms, processes and institutions, through which citizens and groups articulate their interests, exercise their legal rights, meet their obligations and mediate their differences. Urban Governance comprises the various forces, institutions and movements that guide economic and physical development, the distribution of resources, social interactions and other aspects of daily life in urban areas. Rapid urbanization poses a great challenge to the process of governance in urban areas. According to the Census 2001, about 28 per cent of the population lives in urban areas. India has the second largest urban population (285 million, 2001) in the world, the first being China. Urbanisation is the process by which an increasing proportion of the country s population starts living in urban areas. Class I cities i.e. cities with a population of one lakh and above are rapidly growing in terms of population size. The proportion of urban population living in Class I cities increased from 38 per cent to 69 per cent during 1941 to There are 393 Class I cities in India which constitute 69 per cent of the total urban population. Out of the 393 cities, 35 are metropolitan cities constituting 38 per cent of the total urban population and the rest 358 Class I cities constitute the remaining 31 per cent of the total urban population. Durgapur is a Class I city with a population of 4,93,405 as per Census 2001 and decadal growth rate during the period was 15.9 per 1

2 cent, which is a clear indication of the fact that the population is increasing at a rapid rate here. Governance of such rapidly growing cities should be a topic of great interest to the researchers. Industrial Complex is a large assemblage of manufacturing enterprises concentrated in a relatively restricted area served by good transport, commercial and financial facilities. It usually comprises one or more basic manufacturing industries combined with diverse other manufacturing enterprises, technically and economically interdependent. Durgapur is an urban industrial complex with 47 large scale and 194 small scale industries as per the Administrative Report ( ) of Durgapur Municipal Corporation. It is located in the western part of Barddhaman district. Due to its advantageous location, having proximity to the Raniganj coalfields, water supply from Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC), labour supply from Bihar, Jharkhand, good connectivity with the whole of West Bengal as well as with the rest of the country and market facilities it was selected for setting up of industries by the State government during the Second Five-Year Plan ( ). Durgapur is the third largest Municipal Corporation in West Bengal after Kolkata and Howrah. Prior to formation of Municipal Corporation in 1996 it had the status of a Notified Area Authority formed in Now it has an area of square kilometres divided into 43 wards and 5 boroughs. Cities are representations of organized human life. All organizations require care for maintaining continuity of usefulness. The cities also require management of services and needs to be governed. Normally the cities are governed by an institution of city government commonly described in India by the term Municipal Government (Singh 1990). Municipal governance in India had its beginning in 1687 with the formation of Madras Municipal Corporation in order to transfer the financial burden 2

3 of local administration to the local city council. Lord Ripon s resolution of local self government in 1882 laid the foundation of municipal governance in India. The Government of India Act, 1935 brought local government under the purview of the state or provincial government and specific powers were given. An important initiative of the Government of India to strengthen municipal governance is the enactment of the 74 th Constitution Amendment Act in The amendment endeavours to empower urban local bodies by giving them constitutional status as the third tier in the federal structure i.e. Centre- State- Local Body. The municipal authorities will derive powers from the constitution rather than the state government. The municipalities are now expected to play a vital role in the formulation of plans for local development and the implementation of development projects and programmes along with its traditional functions such as solid waste management etc. DEFINITION OF THE PROBLEM India s urbanisation is characterised by the growth of Class I cities. These Class I cities are growing at a rate which are far in excess of their capacities. Thus the management of these cities are very much crucial. The issue of urban governance has gained importance due to the faster pace of urbanisation along with the significant role of the cities in attracting global investments. Governance not only affects the growth and development of the concerned area but also its surrounding region. Durgapur Municipal Corporation (DMC) is the only important urban centre in the entire Durgapur Sub-Division. According to the growth pole theory, greater is the growth and development of the urban centre/ nodal centre the more will be the development of its surrounding region. The research problem 3

4 mainly centers on urban governance of Durgapur and its impact on the surrounding region. OBJECTIVES The major objectives of my research work are: 1. To assess the growth and development of the city 2. Identification, jurisdiction and ownership of the various administrative authorities working in the city 3. To find out the ward wise availability of civic amenities 4. Perception of the local authorities on urban governance 5. Perception and participation of the people in urban governance 6. To assess the impact of the urban centre on its surrounding region THE STUDY AREA Durgapur Municipal Corporation is located in the western part of Barddhaman district between E to E longitude and N to N latitude. It is located on the banks of river Damodar at a distance of 160 kilometres from Kolkata, the state capital. It is located within Durgapur Sub-Division. It is bounded by Community Development (CD) Blocks such as Faridpur- Durgapur in the north, Andal and Pandabeswar in the west, Kanksa in the east. Damodar River is situated to its south. Though it is part of Faridpur-Durgapur block it is administered separately. Durgapur was a post-independent industrial town which was constituted as a Notified Area Authority in In 1996 it was upgraded to the status of a Municipal Corporation with the same area of square kilometres divided into 43 wards and 5 boroughs. As per Census 2001 it is the second largest municipal corporation in West 4

5 Bengal in terms of its area after Kolkata Municipal Corporation and ranks third in terms of its population after Kolkata and Howrah Municipal Corporation. HYPOTHESES The main hypothesis on the basis of which this research work has begun is as follows:- 1) The municipal bodies, now being recognised as the third tier of government in the federal system, perform a wide range of functions along with their traditional functions. 2) Centrally located wards are provided with all kinds of amenities and peripheral wards are deprived of amenities. 3) Durgapur Municipal Corporation caters to the need of the poor in the society 4) The impact of Durgapur on its surrounding region is positive and significant. METHODOLOGY The methodology to be followed in the study has been structured in the following way:- a) Pre-Field i) Literature survey of books, journals, administrative reports and other publications with respect to the study area and other such similar studies ii) Secondary data collection from Census Office, office of the Durgapur Municipal Corporation, Asansol Durgapur Development Authority and other government offices 5

6 iii) iv) Collection of data on the ward-wise availability of urban amenities Collection of different maps of the study area to analyse the growth and the changing pattern of land use and morphology of the city b) Field Survey i) Primary data collection from the sample households regarding the awareness, participation and perception of the people of the process of urban governance using appropriate sampling techniques with the help of a structured questionnaire ii) Perception of the authorities on urban governance through their interview with the help of a structured questionnaire c) Post Field i) Analysis and processing of information collected, using standard statistical software to find out trends and relationships between various parameters ii) iii) Preparation of different maps to represent the data spatially Report writing and thesis presentation INFORMATION/DATABASE Both secondary and primary data have been used. Secondary data consists of data obtained from government offices which are published data. Primary data is the data generated through sample survey/ household survey and interview method. Secondary data is that data which has been already recorded by some other organizations or persons. Statistical methods/ techniques are used for the analysis of the data collected. 6

7 LITERATURE REVIEW Singh (1999) has discussed the form of urban government in the North-Eastern region of India comprising of the seven states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. He has discussed in detail the membership pattern, powers, functions, budget, municipal funds, sources of revenue etc of the different forms of urban government - Municipal Corporation, Municipality and Nagar Panchayat. Basiston (1986) has dealt with the form of urban governance in the state of Orissa. He has discussed the various aspects of urban governance starting from its evolution in India since the Vedic times, urbanisation in Orissa and the associated problems, process of election of the municipal chairan with the other municipal officials. He has also discussed the powers and functions of the chairman of the municipality and has compared it with the powers of chairman of different states in India as well as with the major countries of the World. He has also thrown light on the role of the municipal chairman in the urban development in Orissa. Urban Governance deals with the management of different services in the urban areas. Studies on the management of the various services have been conducted in different cities. Chowdhury (2006) focuses on the varying nature of problem with regard to water being experienced in three metros - Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore and has suggested suitable steps to solve those problems. The three cities have different geographical locations which has a bearing on their availability of water. Water being a key element of the urban social infrastructure, its adequate and safe supply is a matter of concern. Arabi (2006) has discussed the importance of solid waste management by the urban governments, the pattern of solid waste management services in the Indian cities and of Mangalore in particular. Sarkar et. al. (2006) provides an idea about the transport systems in Delhi, the problems associated with it. 7

8 They have also recommended for environment friendly transport systems. Raghupathi (1999) discusses the importance of public-private sector participation in the provision of infrastructure to Tirupur, a small town located in South India. One of the provisions of the 74 th Constitution Amendment Act, 1992 is the formation of ward committees in urban areas with a population of three lakh and above to ensure people s participation in the process of urban governance. The studies on the functioning of ward committees have been done in different states in India (Sivaramakrishnan, 2006) - West Bengal, Kerala, Karnataka and Maharashtra and it has been found out that it is only in Kerala and West Bengal where the provisions of ward committees has been implemented following the enactment of the 74 th Constitution Amendment Act in There have been several studies on Durgapur. Mukherjee (2001) has dealt with the distribution of industrial employment in different police stations of Asansol, Durgapur region and has brought about the relative importance of primary, secondary and tertiary sector in their economy over a period of 40 years from 1951 to Jagannathan (1987) has dealt with the planning of New Towns, which was the result of large scale industrialization that took place during the second five year plan. He also elaborated some facets of town planning in Durgapur and brought out some of its weakness. Basu (2009) has dealt with the solid waste management in Durgapur, the types of solid waste, their sources. She also provided insight into the health problems associated with the improper disposal of wastes and provided suggestions for improving the sanitation conditions RELEVANCE OF THE STUDY The holistic approach towards the study of urban governance considering all the sections of population, facilities, people s perception on urban governance and the 8

9 perception of the administrators on the same has not been undertaken before. It has been shown in earlier studies that the growth of Durgapur did not have a favourable impact on the surrounding region. This research attempts to study urban governance in its totality and also its impact on the surrounding region of the urban centre considered. SELECTED REFERENCES Basiston, A. (1986), Urban Local Administration (Growth and Development), B.R.Publishing Corporation, Delhi. Chopra, G. (2006), Urban Geography, Commonwealth Publishers, New Delhi, pp Human Development in South Asia 1999, The Crisis of Governance, Mahbub ul Haq Human Development Centre, Oxford University Press, Pakistan. IIPA (1978), Urban planning and Development Authorities (papers and proceedings of seminar), pp Kaplan, D., Wheeler, J. and Holloway, S. (2009), Urban Geography, John Wiley & Sons,Inc, U.S.A, pp Linn, J.F. (1983), Cities in the Developing World, Oxford University Press, New York, pp 3, 5 nd 56. Mathur, O.P. (Ed.).(1999), India the challenge of urban governance, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, New Delhi, pp Mohan, S. (2005), Urban Development New Localism, Rawat publications, New Delhi, pp 50, 51, 73, 75, 91, 97, 122,124. 9

10 Pathak, C.R. (2002), Spatial Structure and Processes of Development in India, Regional Science Association, India, pp Rao, P.S.N. (Ed.).(2006), Urban Governance and Management Indian Initiatives, Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi. Shank, A. (1976), Political power and the urban crisis, Holbrook Press, Inc, Boston, pp 205. Singh, A. (1990), Urbanization and Administration of Urban Infrastructure, Inter- India Publications, New Delhi. Sivaramakrishnan, K.C., Kundu, A. and Singh, B.N. (2005), Handbook of Urbanization in India, Oxford University Press, New Delhi pp 59,62,64,69. Sivaramakrishnan, K.C. (Ed.).(2006), People s Participation in Urban Governance, Concept publishing company, New Delhi. 10