Dr Manjula Subramaniam (ex-IAS) is known for her exceptional contribution to Gujarat’s civil administration. She has a Masters and PhD in Public Administration from Harvard University and vast experience in management and administration. She is currently the chairperson of the Ahmedabad Metro Link project and also heads the riverfront project. On 6th September 2014 she delivered a lecture in CEPT on the emerging need of Professionalism in Urban Management. She also shared professional experience and provided valuable insights about the profession.
This article conveys the author’s understanding of the lecture.
Currently urban population in India is increasing rapidly and by 2050 almost 66 per cent of the population will be urbanized. After Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Maharashtra, Gujarat is the fourth most urbanized state with 42.58% urban population which is significantly higher than the national average of 35.83%. Economic growth is responsible for livelihood opportunities and people move into cities for better income opportunities that can supplement income back home. Developing countries have higher economic growth than developed ones hence the urbanization rate in developing countries is also comparatively higher.
With the current economic growth rate, urbanization in India is likely to increase rapidly. If long term concerns are not accounted for while preparing development plans, it can lead to an urban sprawl lacking basic amenities (water supply, sanitation and health) and affect the lives of the urban poor.
Hence as Dr. Subramaniam said, “Urban management is not glamorous as it seems, but is a totally mundane profession that involves provision of basic life amenities to the urban dwellers.”
GIDC (Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation) has been successful in developing organized industrial spaces while in case of urban spaces, erratic development has led to exorbitant real estate prices.
Earlier although the planning sector was unorganized the government held it within the state administration to uphold public interest. But Dr. Subramaniam believed that the purpose of hegemony was a mere illusion and introduced multiple reforms to assimilate private organizations if needed.
And it was just in time as during the earthquake disaster recovery the civic administration lacked certain technical competencies and had to seek expertise from professional organizations. Urban spaces are very dynamic in nature hence no thumb rules can be implied. Like solutions do not necessarily work in identical situations. Hence as Dr. Subramaniam said, “Out of box thinking can be more effective as urban areas are more conductive to innovation and participation.” Generally urban management accounts for the bundle of activities in human settlement and participation of stakeholders including organizations engaged in development work and civic bodies for proper planning, management and governance. In some cases egotist officers might refrain from accepting suggestions from locals who are likely to know more about the location. For first time, during reconstruction of Kutch, the government had involved local bodies, institutions and professional organizations’. The administration also accounted for local preferences and permitted participation which gave the locals a reason to look forward and overcome the grief. In Singapore most of the administrative officers are handpicked locally from different backgrounds and trained professionally whereas some of them spend few hours daily to personally interact with locals and listen to their concerns.
For proper planning and implementation, resources should be incorporated wisely, although resources are determinate and available it is difficult to decide on allocation. At times peer pressure and influence from other sources hinders officers from performing their duties and they often earn a bad reputation. Sometimes lack of expertise and absence of standardized procurement system can result in improper tender documentation that results in delivering bad services.
Shifting to management of implemented systems, efficient performance can be achieved with proper regulatory framework implemented by local bodies and accredited organizations.
In case of firefighting systems, the rules of the building committee determine that all buildings should install counter measures but in absence of periodical checks the systems cannot be totally reliable. A regulatory board of professionals and implementing bodies can formulate norms and perform periodical checks to ensure that the systems are properly maintained. Fires in small buildings may be more controllable but in multistoried and industrial buildings fires can be devastating. The civic body has to acknowledge such issues and ameliorate the framework accordingly. Integration of IT (Information Technology) tools like smart cards, RFID tags, etc… can make maintenance and management more efficient.
Institutions should organize specialized courses and programs to prepare professionals to cope with the growing need of Urban Management. Apart from the responsibilities of the administration, even citizens should realize their duty to maintain spaces by not littering and maintaining their premises properly. Hence as Dr. Subramaniam said, “Proper planning and management can be achieved when everyone performs their duties professionally as well as personally.”
This article was originally published on CEPT Portfolio.
Header Image Source: Flickr User d pietzuch
Savvy Munshi 