Editorial 1:
Realising the rural-urban continuum
Context
India sees challenges as either rural or urban; instead, it needs to address them as part of a continuum.
Introduction
This century is supposed to be India’s urban century due not only to massive demographic shifts, with the country soon becoming more urban than rural, but also to the demand for the infrastructure required to support these large shifts. These demographic changes are occurring in Tier II and Tier III cities, as well as the peripheries of major urban centres and urban agglomerations. India addresses challenges by viewing them as either rural or urban; it needs to instead look at them as part of an urban-rural continuum.
Current policy framework on funding
There has been an over-centralisation of finances in recent times.
- Financial decentralisation, which provides autonomy to local bodies, has been compromised.
- The 13th Finance Commission pointed out this issue by mentioning how local bodies were getting “asphyxiated”.
- Fixation of funding: Some of these financial constraints arise from the tied nature of grants linked to centrally sponsored schemes and even financial devolution.
- For example, the rise in property tax in cities should be commensurate with the rise in the State Goods and Services Tax.
- If there is no linkage, most towns are at risk of losing tied money grants, which have increased relative to untied grants over the years.
Governments flagship initiatives
Flagship programmes such as the Swachh Bharat Mission and the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), miss the urban-rural continuum.
- Liquid waste management under AMRUT: Urban infrastructure initially covered 500 cities but has now been extended to all statutory towns.
- Priority to urban population: These towns account for only a portion of the urban population. Many people live in census towns (with a minomum population of 5,000) and in the more than 23,000 urban villages.
- Contiguity: With census towns adjoining statutory towns, and urban villages accommodating large numbers of migrant and informal workers.
- Non-qualification of funding: When urban infrastructure for liquid waste, such as sewage treatment plants, is designed, and funding is sought under AMRUT, these contiguous areas do not qualify for funding.
- Mismanagement of waste: The waste flow in cities and peri-urban areas does not adhere to urban-rural nomenclature, yet the planning process is obsessed with it.
- This issue has been a challenge for many States, particularly Kerala.
- NITI Aayog has pointed out that 90% of Kerala is urban. In such a situation, AMRUT grants cannot be utilised to create infrastructure. AMRUT also does not support solid waste management infrastructure in urban areas.
- The Swachh Bharat Mission, which is now Swachh Bharat Mission 2.0: The goals of the Mission are twofold.
- For Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban, the aim is to go beyond being open defecation-free to focusing on making urban India garbage-free and proposing sustainable solutions and practices for waste management.
- Swachh Bharat Mission-Rural focuses on maintaining the open defecation-free status, managing solid and liquid waste in rural India, and constructing household toilets.
- It also addresses liquid waste management, which Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban does; however, treatment plants cannot be built jointly.
- Similar goals for both these programmes: Run by the Government of India, aim for nearly the same outcomes, so realising these through imaginative practices could yield better results.
- Collaborative designing: Solid waste management plants in peri-urban and urban areas could be designed collaboratively at the district or regional levels.
- Need for good governance: Such liberty and autonomy will pave the way for better urban governance, rather than implementing programmes and projects from a centralised perspective.
Way forward: Governance models
- Strengthening the framework established by the 73rd and 74th Constitution Amendments: Under this framework, District Planning Committees comprising the Zila Panchayats and urban local bodies need to be strengthened and mobilised.
- The original plan was for district bureaucracies to be subordinate to the District Planning Committees, but currently, in most states, these committees have become mere extensions of the district bureaucracy.
- Stronger District Planning Committees can help address the challenge of a urban-rural continuum.
- Alignment of the ministries: In Kerala, a proposed solid waste landfill site in the periphery of a town had to be withdrawn due to public pressure.
- This was possible only because both rural and urban local bodies fall under the same Ministry. In other States, this would have taken much longer.
Conclusion
Thus, the urban and rural continuum in rapidly expanding urban areas needs urgent interventions at both the infrastructure and governance levels. The previous models of separate urban and rural local bodies need to be updated in today’s India, which is fast becoming urban. It is important to review why funds and resources are funded separately to urban and rural India, even when they are becoming increasingly intertwined. There must at least be some liberty in imaginatively designing plans in a joint manner. Planning needs to be a less rigid creative process that combines both.
Editorial 2 :
A human touch to India’s mineral ecosystem
Context
Each District Mineral Foundation embodies cooperative federalism and is an example of how economic growth is being balanced with local welfare and rights.
Introduction
In the year 2014, the higher judiciary turned the spotlight on the allotment of coal blocks with the Comptroller and Auditor General of India’s report of 2012 focusing on the allocation of coal blocks between 2004 and 2009. In 2015, the government amended the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act mandating auctions. As a part of the Bill, the government created a new body in the form of a District Mineral Foundation (DMF) where licensees and leaseholders pay the DMF a certain amount of the royalty. This was driven by the Prime Minister’s firm belief that local communities are the key stakeholders in the nation’s natural resource-led development.
A transformation
- Funding initiatives: Today, ten years later, the DMF has received a corpus of almost ₹1 lakh crore through which decentralised community-centric development works are carried out in mining affected districts.
- Bridging the funding gaps from deficit to surplus: The journey from huge losses in crores to the national exchequer to an almost ₹1 lakh crore corpus in the DMF is a transformation worth narrating.
- A special day: September 16 is District Mineral Foundation Day as the Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana (PMKKKY) scheme enters its tenth year.
- Projects sanctioned across the country: Today, the DMFs have resulted in three lakh projects being sanctioned across 645 districts in 23 States, transforming mineral wealth into a lifeline for development in mining affected regions.
- Objective in the PMKKKY: Is to implement developmental and welfare projects/programmes in mining affected areas alongside existing schemes/projects of State and central governments; minimising the impacts of mining on the people in mining districts and ensuring that those affected have long-term sustainable livelihoods.
- Empowerment of women from self-help groups set up by DMFs in Odisha: These women were not just artisans but were also entrepreneurs in the making.
- In Katni, Madhya Pradesh, DMFs are helping young minds master drone technology.
- Many have landed jobs and others are gearing up for new opportunities.
- Evolving the mining landscape: Through just launched National Critical Minerals Mission is to secure our footing in strategic and critical minerals and are expanding our global footprint through our international public sector unit, Khanij Bidesh India Ltd. (KABIL).
- Local welfare: DMFs complement this goal through the welfare of the local communities in mining areas.
- A collaborative effort: DMFs institutionalise this strategy by making State governments active partners and stand as a veritable picture of the philosophy of ‘Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas Sabka Vishwas Sabka Prayas’.
- Financial good governance: With a District Collector at the helm, funds flow to where the needs are greatest.
- The ‘National DMF Portal’ digitises the administration and the oversight of DMFs across India, enabling greater transparency and efficiency in operations.
Thus, the DMFs are not only spearheading national priorities but also supplementing efforts of the district administration in improving the socio-economic and human development indicators of the region.
Innovation at every DMF
- Boosting innovation: It is also interesting to note how every DMF is innovating to maximise the impact of the initiatives and devising strategies to address unique challenges and needs.
- Promoting democratic governance: For instance, some DMFs are ensuring inclusivity by including elected representatives in the governing bodies while some have non-elected members of gram sabhas as well.
- Specialised departments: Some DMFs have also adopted measures such as establishing a dedicated engineering department and deputing personnel from the State Public Works Department to ensure the efficient implementation of projects.
- Ensuring a well-planned outlook: DMFs are also chalking out a three-year-plan to ensure targeted goal achievement.
- Promoting standardisation: After studying these various models, our aim now is to ensure that such best practices are standardised across all DMFs without taking away the local context and knowledge that resides within the district.
These efforts will ensure that DMFs take up long-term and well-planned projects while avoiding the earlier fragmented approach.
Way forward
To further integrate DMFs operations, we are encouraging district administrations to:
- Dovetail the activities and goals of the DMFs with ongoing central and State schemes in aspirational districts and supplement efforts towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
- We are also aiming to use DMFs to augment the livelihood of forest dwellers by taking up projects in the plantation, collection and processing of medicinal herbs.
- The DMFs will also identify and nurture rural athletes while developing sports infrastructure and facilities.
- DMFs, in short, can be seen as microcosms of the government’s ‘whole of government’ approach, and will continue to be leveraged to reach out to the impacted communities
Conclusion: The advantage of convergence
The DMFs are a fine example of cooperative federalism and have the unique advantage of converging central and State schemes. Aligning goals and resources at three levels of governance ensures that national priorities meet local needs and amplify the impact and reach. Moving forward with a ‘whole of government’ approach, DMFs are becoming powerful tools for truly inclusive governance, reaching every corner of the nation. By tapping into India’s mineral wealth, these initiatives are transforming historically underserved regions, turning natural resources into drivers of local development. Beyond just empowering marginalised communities, India is reshaping how the world thinks about resource management, setting an example of how nations must balance economic growth with social welfare and rights. Thus, the advantage of convergence lies in its ability to align central and State schemes, amplifying impact by meeting local needs and transforming natural resources into drivers of inclusive development.
