(a) whether a three day Conference on Good Urban Governance was jointly organized by the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements and his Ministry at New Delhi recently;
(b) if so, the details thereof alongwith the consensus arrived in the conference deliberations;
(c) whether the Government have formulated any Action Plan to reform the urban local bodies and funds earmarked for the purpose during the last three years; and
(d) if so, the details thereof?
MINISTER OF URBAN DEVELOPMENT & POVERTY ALLEVIATION ( SHRI ANANTH KUMAR )
(a)to(d): A Statement is laid on the Table of the Sabha.
STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION
NO.140 FOR 27.11.2001 REGARDING CONFERENCE ON GOOD URBAN GOVERNANCE.
(a): Yes, Sir.
(b): The Ministry of Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation
in association with the United Nations Centre for Human
Settlements (HABITAT) organised the launch of National Campaign
for Good Urban Governance at New Delhi on September 4-6, 2001.
The main objective of the Launch was to bring together all the
stake holders such as Municipal Corporations/Municipalities,
Non-Government Organisations, Para-statals, Academic
Institutions and the Media, to capture and disseminate examples
of Good Practices of City Governmance, encourage cities to
follow examples of other cities, and strengthen co-ordination
between National and International Agencies in the field of
improving urban governance practices. The Launch was followed
by a Workshop which made several recommendations on
Decentralisation, Municipal Finance, Urban Environment,
Municipal Management, Capacity Building, etc.
(c)&(d): As per Entry 5 of the State List II under VIIth
Schedule of the Constitution, Local Government, including
Municipal Corporations, Improvement Trusts, etc., is a State
subject. In view of this, it is for the State Government to
take necessary steps to reform the Urban Local Bodies. No fund
has been earmarked by the Ministry of Urban Development &
Poverty Alleviation during the last three years for such
purpose. However, the Ministry of Urban Development and Poverty
Alleviation is taking various steps to bring needed Urban Sector
Reforms at the local level, which included issue of the
following Guidelines to the State Governments:-
1. Guidelines for Property Tax Reforms.
2. Guidelines entitled `Urban Development Plan Formulation &
Implementation` which include innovative approaches to
fiscal resourse mobilisation.
3. Guidelines for regulating the Tax Free Municipal Bonds.
Besides the above, fiscal incentives have also been
provided in the Union Budget for 2000-01 by amending Income Tax
Act to allow Urban Local Bodies to issue Tax Free Municipal
Bonds. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) upto 100% has also been
permitted for development of integrated townships, including
housing, commercial premises, hotels, resorts, city and regional
level urban infrastructure facilities such as roads and bridges,
mass rapid transit systems, and manufacture of building
materials.