The commonly held belief that 70% of India lives in its villages could soon be a thing of the past with the government acknowledging that the country has urbanised far more than is usually reckoned. So, instead of pegging the urban population at a fraction less than 30% (27.78%, according to Census 2001), the government?s plan to rewrite the definition of a town could mean a substantial addition to that figure.
These landmark changes will be wrought in the wake of the government?s decision to set up a National Urban Commission, only the second such panel in independent India. Urban development secretary M Ramachandran told FE the present definition of what constitutes an ?urban? area was too restrictive and would need to be changed.
Such a change will force not just the government to alter its economic policies but also require corporate India to strategise differently. ?Not only will this lead to reallocation of resources by companies, but it will also change the profile of advertisers as well as the kind of products and services sold in the newly identified urban areas,? said Nandini Dias, chief operating officer, Lodestar Universal, a media buying & planning agency.
The government is also setting up urban cadres, which will serve as a knowledge bank in policy-making and implementation. This will mean appointing a dedicated team of officers in the municipalities who will compile urban data, analyse it and be involved in decision-making. Currently, insufficient municipal data is cited as the prime reason for flawed implementation.
A more precise estimation of the level of urbanisation will help in better planning and accurate spending of Rs 50,000 crore allocated to developing infrastructure in 63 selected cities under the Jawaharlal National Urban Renewal Mission. The soon-to-be-appointed 13th Finance Commission is expected to allocate far more than the token Rs 1,600 crore the 12th Finance Commission provided for all local bodies.
A recent UNFPA report on world population has said India does not recognise peri-urban areas within its urban population and so understates the percentage of people who need to be funded in plans for urban areas. Peri-urbanisation refers to rapid unplanned settlement over large tracts of land in the precincts of manufacturing facilities on a city?s periphery. Such areas lack clear administration, suffer from sanitation and water problems and are transitional zones between towns and countryside.