Strategies for effective implementation of infrastructure scheme in small & medium towns

Abstract

A holistic development is only considered when each and every size of settlementis taken into account. The bigger cities and the rural areas have been getting major emphasis over the years, but small & medium towns which are a crucial link between these remained effectively unaddressed. With the objective to decentralize and de-congest the growth from big cities and provide equal opportunities for these towns, government of India launched centrally sponsored schemes like IDSMT and UIDSSMT. IDSMT focussed on the overall development of the towns, whereas, UIDSSMT had an objective to enhance and provide the basic infrastructural facilities to these areas so that the migration to big cities can be arrested. For a sustainable development of whole region, infrastructure of these towns plays a very vital role. Under JnNURM, UIDSSMT scheme was launched with the sole purpose to enhance or provide the basic physical infrastructure facility and services to these towns. The investment required for these kind of infrastructure is immense and an ULB, especially ULBs of small & medium towns find it extremely difficult with their weak financial health. This study aims to provide suitable strategies for efficient implementation of central government schemes of infrastructure development in small and medium towns. To understand the implementation scenario better, a corrective approach is adopted. From two district division, two medium towns (Shujalpur & Khurai) and two small towns (Hindoria & Sonkatch) are selected as study areas, where one set of small & medium town belong to same division. In all four towns, respective projects were initiated under the centrally funded scheme and each of them faced different issues related to their own financial or governance capacities. This study basically focusses on understanding the problems and challenges faced by the ULB while implementing the project. This study includes reviewing the past schemes of infrastructure development in small and medium towns with analyzing the reasons behind full or partial non-achievement of the expected outcomes from the schemes. The data available does not provide enough, appropriate and ground level reasons for failure of the scheme implementation. To have a comprehensive understanding of the internal governance of the Urban Local Body and the issues faced before, during and after the implementation of the project, intense Focussed Group Discussions and stakeholder consultations were conducted. The issues arose are related to the financial capacity, the lack of internal institutional and governance capacity and the coordination between the intergovernmental organizations which affect the pre and post scheme implementation processes. The solutions to the problem are interlinked with each other. For the better implementation, it is important to pre plan the scenarios, hence various recommendations are suggested. These include Strategy Building with focus on pre-scheme implementation in which involvement of state as PMU, accountability of ULB through formation of PIU, DPR for public consultation, Implementation plans. In Post-scheme implementation strategy, defining the role of PIU and Strategies for mandatory reforms implementation are also proposed. Under Capacity Building, interventions at local level, state level & central level. To address the financial issues, Cluster Based Scheme Implementation & Asset Mobilization are recommended. There are many interventions which are proposed by the government through schemes and capacity building programs but these interventions need to be more focussed on the aspect of enforcement at the ULB level for their own long term sustainability and self-dependency.