{"id":43480,"date":"2025-10-27T05:32:50","date_gmt":"2025-10-27T00:02:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=43480"},"modified":"2025-10-30T12:57:22","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T07:27:22","slug":"challenges-in-urban-local-governance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/challenges-in-urban-local-governance\/","title":{"rendered":"Challenges in Urban Local Governance"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><strong>What\u2019s in today\u2019s article?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Why in News?<\/li>\n<li>What is the 74th Constitutional Amendment?<\/li>\n<li>Need for Robust ULBs<\/li>\n<li>Key Findings from the CAG Report on ULBs<\/li>\n<li>Call for Strengthening ULBs<\/li>\n<li>Conclusion<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Why in News?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has flagged significant concerns about the health of urban local bodies (ULBs) in 18 states, which cater to 241 million residents.<\/li>\n<li>The report reveals systemic weaknesses in financial management, staffing, and functional autonomy, undermining the goals of the <strong>74th Constitutional Amendment<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>What is the 74th Constitutional Amendment?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>About:<\/strong> The 74th Constitutional Amendment Act of <strong>1992 <\/strong>gave constitutional status to <a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/urban-local-bodies\/\" target=\"_blank\">Urban Local Bodies (<strong>ULBs<\/strong>)<\/a> and established them as the<strong> lowest unit of governance in cities and towns<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Deals with: <\/strong>It established a <strong>framework for urban governance<\/strong> in India by <strong>decentralisation <\/strong>of powers and authority.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Constitutional provisions:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>The amendment added Part IX-A to the Constitution<\/strong>, which deals with municipalities and is made up of <strong>Articles 243-P to 243-ZG<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>The amendment mandates the devolution of 18 functions to ULBs [<strong>Schedule 12 (Article 243W)<\/strong>], including urban planning, public health, and water supply.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Need for Robust ULBs:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>With 50% of India\u2019s population expected to reside in urban areas by 2050, strong urban governance systems are essential.<\/li>\n<li>Empowered ULBs can play <strong>a pivotal role in ensuring economic, environmental, and democratic vibrancy in cities<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Key Findings from the CAG Report on ULBs:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Incomplete devolution of powers:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The 1992 amendment aimed to decentralise 18 functions to ULBs, but <strong>only 4 functions have been devolved with complete autonomy<\/strong> after 30 years.<\/li>\n<li>States have failed to comply with the &#8220;in-spirit reading&#8221; of the amendment, as observed in 393 ULBs across 18 states including Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha, MP, Maharashtra, etc.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Financial gaps and dependency:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Urban local bodies face a 42% gap between their resources and expenditure.<\/li>\n<li>Only 32% of revenue is internally generated, with the rest coming from Union and state government funding.<\/li>\n<li>Property tax, a major revenue source, showed only 56% realisation of the total demand.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Limited expenditure on development:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Merely 29% of ULB expenditure is directed towards developmental and programmatic work.<\/li>\n<li>Insufficient investment in civic programs <strong>hampers urban growth and quality of life.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Staffing issues:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Urban bodies face an average 37% vacancy rate in sanctioned staff positions.<\/li>\n<li>Recruitment powers are restricted, with ULBs in 16 states having limited or no control over staffing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Call for Strengthening ULBs:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Recommendations by CAG:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Enhance financial autonomy: <\/strong>Grant ULBs control over taxation and user charges.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Improve revenue collection mechanisms:<\/strong> Streamline property tax and other revenue sources.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Focus on fund utilisation:<\/strong> Ensure optimal use of allocated funds for development.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Strengthen decentralisation:<\/strong> Revive the agenda of empowering ULBs politically and administratively.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Call for collaboration: <\/strong>Since empowering ULBs is a national priority, cooperation between the government, academia, and civil society is essential to reaching this objective.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Conclusion:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The CAG\u2019s findings emphasise the urgent need to revamp the financial and administrative structures of ULBs.<\/li>\n<li>Empowering these &#8220;first-mile governments&#8221; is critical for sustainable urban governance and achieving the goals of the 74th Constitutional Amendment.<\/li>\n<li>Therefore, States must facilitate laws and policies to strengthen ULBs. Urban local bodies should be actively involved in planning and governance functions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Q.1. What is the 73rd Amendment to the Constitution of India?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The 73rd Amendment to the Constitution of India, passed in 1992, strengthened the Panchayati Raj system and made it a part of the administrative process.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Q.2. What is the office of CAG in India?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The Comptroller and Auditor General of India is the supreme audit institution of India, established under Article 148 of the Constitution of India.<\/p>\n<p><strong>News: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/india\/cag-flags-resource-expenditure-gap-37-staff-vacancy-in-urban-local-bodies-9668945\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">What is ailing urban local bodies in 18 states: CAG flags 42% resource-expenditure gap, 37% staff vacancy<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/india\/cash-starved-civic-bodies-struggle-to-take-up-public-works-generate-only-32-revenue-from-own-sources-cag\/articleshowprint\/115319029.cms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">ToI<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The CAG report reveals systemic weaknesses in financial management, staffing, and functional autonomy, undermining the goals of the 74th Constitutional Amendment<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":43481,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-43480","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43480"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43480\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}