[67th BPSC] Bihar: Urban Development

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Urban Development

  • In the 2011 census, the level of urbanisation in Bihar was recorded to be very low, only 11.3 percent. But after sound initiatives of the State Government, the present level of urbanisation in Bihar has been recorded to be 15.3 percent, which is an appreciable growth.
  • During the last fifteen years, the overall economy in Bihar, particularly the urban economy, has grown at a high rate. It is, therefore, expected that, during the next census, Bihar will record a much higher figure for urbanisation.
  • In recent years, the State Government has paid substantial attention to promote urbanisation in the state.
    • The public expenditure on urban development has increased from Rs. 3134.30 crore in 2015-16 to Rs. 8423.80 crore in 2019-20, an increase of 169 percent.
    • Out of the seven resolves (Saat Nishchay), three indeed are related to urban development.
    • Apart from its own programmes for urban development, a number of programmes are operational that are jointly supported by the Central and State Governments. These programmes include — Namami Gange, Deen Dayal Antyoday Yojana, Swachh Bharat Mission, and SMART City Mission.
    • The work for Patna Metro Rail has also started.
    • Very recently, the State Government has decided to strengthen the Department Of Urban Development and Housing by recruiting another 2850 functionaries at different levels.

Introduction

  • The level of urbanisation in Bihar, according to 2011 census, is only 11.3 percent, the lowest in India.
    • There was very limited increase in urbanisation during 1991-2001 (only 0.8 percentage point).
    • However, in absolute terms, out of the estimated present population of Bihar (about 125 million), the urban population will be at least 16 million.
  • As such, the task of urban development in Bihar is also very important. Broadly speaking, the task of urban development in Bihar has two equally important components.
    • The first of these two demands strengthening of basic facilities in the existing urban centres in the state.
      • Once the urban facilities are expanded, it is likely to draw more population from the surrounding rural areas, leading to a higher level of urbanisation.
    • Under the second component, the State Government endeavours to adopt those policies that gradually lead to conversion of large rural areas into urban centres.
  • To meet the goal of faster urbanisation, the State Government is presently working on both the fronts. It is currently implementing a number of programmes some of them in association with the Central Government. To support these programmes, the budgetary allocation for urban development has also been increasing in recent years.

Level of Urbanisation

  • In 2011, the level of urbanisation in India was 31.2 percent, registering an increase of 13.2 percentage points over a period of half a century (1961-2011).
    • This implies an average decadal increase by 2.6 percentage points.
    • During the same period, the level of urbanisation has increased in Bihar from 7.4 percent (1961) to 11.3 percent (2011), registering an increase of 3.9 percentage points. This implies an average decadal increase by only 0.8 point.
  • The urban population in Bihar has about 3.1 percent of total urban population of India in 2011 , and this ratio has remained nearly unchanged for several decades.
  • It is well known that the economy of Bihar, particularly the urban economy, has been growing at a high rate, at least since 2005-06. But, the urbanisation level in 2011 does not reflect the impact of this economic growth.
    • Since this growth momentum has continued in the last decade, it is quite likely that the next census would report a much higher level of urbanisation in Bihar.
  • Urbanisation Trend in Bihar and India (1961 to 2011)
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    • Just as there exists considerable economic disparity among the districts of Bihar, there also exists a huge variation among the districts in terms of urbanisation.
      • The level of urbanisation in Patna district (which includes the State capital town of Patna) is the highest-44.3 percent.
      • Next, there are only two districts where urbanisation is more than 25 percent — Munger (28.3 percent) and Nalanda (26.2 percent).
    • It might be noted here that these urbanisation rates have been prepared by the Department of Urban Development and Housing of the State Government, after declaring some rural habitations (as per census) as urban centres according to the revised criteria.
    • The pattern of urbanisation in Bihar is quite lopsided, with south Bihar being considerably more urbanised than the north.
    • Apart from the north-south disparity, the urbanisation pattern in Bihar is also characterised by concentration of urban population in larger towns.
      • According to 2011 census data, Class I towns (with a population of 1 lakh or more) accounted for no less than 57.5 percent of the total urban population.
      • The share of Class II and Ill towns together (with a population of less than one lakh) accounted for 37.2 percent of the total urban population, and
      • finally, smaller towns (with a population of less than 20 thousand) had a meagre share of only 5.3 percent.
    • There is no specific relation between urbanisation rate and Per Capita Income across the districts of Bihar. The relationship is not strong, as claimed sometimes.
      • This indicates that people occupy city space not only because of economic reasons, there could be other reasons, too, like better healthcare, education, infrastructure facilities, etc.

Organization of Civic Bodies

  • According to the Bihar Municipal Act, 2007, 12 Nagar Nigams, 49 Nagar Parishads and 81 Nagar Panchayats are presently active in the state.
    • According to the Bihar Municipal Act, 2007, the share of non-agricultural population should be at least 75 percent for a habitation to be declared as an urban bodies area.
      • In Bihar, there are many habitations, whose non- agricultural population is less than 75 percent of the total population, but are already showing influence of urbanisation. In spite of having such qualities, such habitations could only be put under the category of urban areas, according to the Act.
  • To overcome this restriction, the Bihar Municipality Act, 2007 was amended by promulgating the Bihar Municipality (Amendment) Act, 2020.
    • Under the new Proviso, for a large rural area to be classified as urban area, the percentage of non-agricultural workers should be below 50 percent of the total workers of that area.
    • In light of the amendment, 109 new Nagar Panchayats have been set up, along with 8 new Nagar Parishads. In addition, 32 old Nagar Pachayats have been upgraded to Nagar Parishads, while 5 old Nagar Parishads have been upgraded to Nagar Nigams. The area of jurisdiction for 12 existing Nagar Parishads has also been expanded.
    • As a result of setting-up of municipalities, upgradation and area expansion, 284 Gam Panchayats will get completely incorporated into urban areas, while another 205 Gram Panchayats will do so partially.
    • Also, a population of 4,607,477 of these rural areas will be added to urban areas.
    • Because of this additional urban population, the total urban population in Bihar is 1.50 crore, instead of 1.17 crore as reported by the 2011 census. This will raise the urbanisation rate from 11.3 to 15.3 percent.

Expenditure on Urban Development

  • In the recent past, to improve basic services in urban areas, the State Government is paying more attention to urban development.
  • The expenditure on urban development of the State Government was Rs. 1648.50 crore in 2015-16, which increased by 68 percent in five years to reach Rs. 2765.90 crore in 2019-20.
  • Similarly, the expenditure for housing was Rs. 1485.70 crore in 2015-16, which increased to Rs. 5657.90 crore in 2019-20, nearly four times during the same period.

Urban Development Programmes (State Plan)

  • The State Government has been endeavouring to provide better living conditions in urban areas, and is now implementing a number of programmes to attain this goal.
  • Mukhyamantri Saat Nishchay Yojana:
    • The Saat Nishchay (Seven Resolves) scheme aims to improve the lives of the people through promoting education, skill development, electricity connection, piped water supply, and road and drainage.
    • Out of the seven resolves, three are related to urban areas — ‘Shauchalay Nirman Ghar Ka Sammaan’, ‘Har Ghar Nal Ka Jal’ and ‘Har Ghar Pakki Gali evam Naaliyan’.
      • The Department of Urban Development and Housing is implementing the schemes related to these resolves.
  • Mukhyamantri Shahri Peyjal Nishchay Yojana:
    • The State Government has introduced ‘Har Ghar Nal Ka Jal’ scheme to provide clean and safe drinking water to all households in urban areas with water pipeline connections by 2021-22.
    • Under this scheme, it is targeted to remove all the hand pumps, on which the urban people depended so far for water. It is estimated that around 15.85 lakh households would benefit from this programme.
    • The scheme is being implemented through Bihar Urban Infrastructure Development Corporation (BUIDCO), Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) and Urban Local Bodies.
    • All urban bodies have been allotted the funds as per the following norms:
      • 30 percent of the total fund required would come from the Fifth State Finance Commission,
      • 2.30 percent of the fund required would come from the Fourteenth Central Finance Commission,
      • and the rest of the funds would be provided by the State Government.
    • Details of Mukhyamantri Shahri Peyjal Nishchay Yojana:
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  • Mukhyamantri Shahri Naali-Gali Pakkikaran Nishchay Yojana:
    • It has been resolved that each street in all the wards of the urban areas in the state would be concretised, each urban habitat would be connected through concrete roads, and each household will have access to a drainage system.
    • Towards this, the State Government has initiated the ‘Ghar Tak Pakki Gali-Naaliyaan’ programme.
      • The Urban Local Bodies, on the basis of the recommendation of the Ward Sabhas, have prepared long-term plans which are now being implemented as per the priority list.
    • To meet the fund requirement, 20 percent of the State Finance Commission funds have been reserved for the scheme, which will be supplemented by State Plan funds.

Urban Development Programmes (Jointly Funded by Central and State Governments)

  • To improve the living conditions in urban areas, the State Government is implementing a number of development programmes, in collaboration with the Central Government, apart from the programmes of its own.
  • Namami Gange Programme
    • It is an integrated conservation mission, approved as a flagship programme of the Central Government in June 2014, with a budget of Rs. 20,000 crore.
    • This programme is being managed by the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG). The objectives of the programme are effective abatement of pollution, conservation and rejuvenation of the Ganga, the national river.
    • The key components under this programme are
      • (a) Creating Sewerage Treatment Capacity (Sewerage management projects are being implemented by the State Government),
      • (b) Creating River Front Development, and
      • (c) River Surface Cleaning.
    • In addition, the programme also includes components for afforestation and promotion of awareness.
    • In all, 20 towns along the bank of river Ganga have been identified under Namami Gange Programme.
    • Till date, 52 projects have been sanctioned at a cost of Rs. 6017.37 crore, which are in different stages of implementation.
    • Sewerage Infrastructure:
      • A total 30 sewerage infrastructure projects have been sanctioned at a cost of Rs 5487.74 crore, which are in various stages of implementation in different towns — Patna (11 projects), Phulwarisharif, Begusarai, Hajipur, Mokama, Sultanganj, Naugachia, Barh, Bhagalpur, Sonepur, Chhapra, Khagaria, Fatuha, Bakhtiyarpur, Maner, Danapur, Munger, Barahiya, Kahalgaon and Buxar (one each).
      • These projects will facilitate the treatment of 651.54 MLD (Million Litres per Day) of sewage, through creation / rehabilitation of Sewerage Treatment Plants (STP), sewerage network and allied interception and diversion works.
      • At present, 3 projects have completed, 21 are under progress, and 6 are under tendering.
    • River Front Development :
      • Patna River Front Development (RFD) is under implementation at a cost of Rs 336.73 crore.
      • In Phase I, 16 Ghats, 1 crematorium, 3 multipurpose buildings, and 5.5 kms. promenade have been completed. The rest of the work for waterways is also almost completed.
      • The work related to three Ghats have not been taken up due to raised water level in the bank.
    • Ghats and Crematoria :
      • At present, 12 projects have been sanctioned for development of 30 Ghats and 4 crematoria at a cost of Rs 105.50 crore in Buxar (3), Munger, Jamalpur, Hajipur (2), Sonepur (2), Danapur, Chhapra, and Sultanganj.
    • Ghats :
      • Presently, 1 project is sanctioned for development of Ghats — 3 Ghats for Muzaffarpur and 2 Ghats for Gopalganj at a cost of Rs. 10.77 crore and Rs. 8.25 crore, respectively. The work is in progress for all those
    • River Surface Cleaning :
      • One river surface cleaning project in Patna at a cost of Rs 3.96 crore is under operation. The project started in January 2017.
      • Through the trash skimmer, 1 tonne of waste per day is collected on an average and disposed from river surface / banks.
    • Afforestation :
      • A total of four projects have been sanctioned. A sum of Rs. 24.924 crore was sanctioned to the Bihar State Forest Department for afforestation work in 600.50 ha. land during 2016-18.
      • Further, during 2018-19, another 2653.10 ha. of land is to be afforested at an estimated cost of Rs. 18.10 crore.
    • In situ Treatment of Drains : Two projects for In situ treatment of Danapur Cant Drain and Rajapur Drain have been sanctioned.
  • Deendayal Antyoday Yojana-National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY—NULM):
    • To reduce poverty and vulnerability of the urban poor households by providing them with gainful self-employment or skilled wage employment opportunities, this Mission aims to build strong grassroot-level institutions of the poor.
    • The Mission aims to provide shelters in a phased manner, which are equipped with essential services for the urban homeless.
    • In addition, the Mission also addresses livelihood concerns of the urban street vendors by facilitating their access to suitable spaces, institutional credit, social security and skills for accessing emerging market opportunities.
    • This programme has five components —
      • (i) Social Mobilisation and Institutional Development (SM&ID);
      • (ii) Employment through Skill Training and Placement (EST&P);
      • (iii) Financial Inclusion and Self-Employment Programme (FI&SEP);
      • (iv) Support to Urban Street Vendors (SUSV); and,
      • (v) Shelter for Urban Homeless (SUH).
    • Social Mobilisation and Institutional Development (SM&ID) :
      • The mobilization of urban poor households to form their own institutions is an important instrument for an effective and sustainable poverty reduction programme.
      • The National Urban Livelihood Mission (NULM) envisages universal social mobilization of the urban poor into Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and their federations.
      • At least one member from each urban poor household, preferably a woman, should be brought under the SHG network in a time-bound manner. These groups would serve as a support system for the poor to meet their financial and social needs.
      • The Covid-19 pandemic affected the achievements under NULM.
        • The number of Self-Help Groups (SHGs) formed under NULM in Bihar has decreased from 4542 in 2019- 20 to 2876 in 2020-21.
        • The number of members in SHGs under DAY-NULM also decreased from 42,351 in 2019-20 to 28,759 in 2020-21.
        • The number of SHGs which got Revolving Fund (RF) in Bihar has also shown a decrease from 3084 in 2019-20 to 1555 in 2020-21.
    • Employment through Skill Training and Placement (EST&P) :
      • The main objectives of this programme are to train urban BPL youths and provide them with either salaried employment or self-employment opportunities. This programme is implemented through Bihar Skill Development Mission (BSDM).
      • There is also arrangement for assessment and certification of the trained beneficiaries in association with Sector Skills Council (SSC).
      • The number of persons who have completed training was 6065 in 2019-20 and 330 in 2020-21
    • Financial Inclusion & Self-Employment Programme (FI&SEP) :
      • This component of NULM focuses on providing financial assistance to individuals and groups of urban poor who are desirous of setting up gainful self-employment ventures or micro-enterprises, suited to their skills, aptitude and local conditions.
      • Besides generation of income, such ventures empower the urban poor by making them self-reliant.
      • The urban local bodies provide support for processing loan applications for individual urban poor. It also supports in assessing the skills requirement of the beneficiaries and linking them with training programmes of Rural Self- Employment Training Institutes (RSETI).
      • In 2018-19, there were 208 SHGs with credit linkage, which has increased nearly four times to 821 SHGs in 2020-21.
    • Support to Urban Street Vendors (SUSV) :
      • This programme aims to organise street vending activities in 142 urban centres of Bihar. It first proposes to conduct a survey of the street vendors, and then issue them I-Cards and facilitate their linkage with different welfare schemes.
      • In particular, the programme promotes financial inclusion, training, and insurance coverage for identified street vendors across the state.
      • The Department of Urban Development & Housing of the State Government is currently implementing the provisions of the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihoods and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014.
      • In exercise of the powers conferred by the Act and after consultation with the Urban Local Bodies and Town Vending Committees, the State Government has notified the Bihar Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Rules, 2017 and is implementing them.
        • According to the Rules, Certificate of Vending (COV) and Identity Cards are being distributed to surveyed street vendors.
      • The Town Vending Committees (TVC) have also been constituted in all towns of Bihar as per the provision of the Act.
        • The Urban Local Bodies, in consultation with the Town Vending Committees, are in the process Of developing City Street Vending Plans.
    • Shelter for Urban Homeless (SUH) :
      • The SUH scheme aims to ensure availability and access to permanent shelters for the urban homeless population, apart from providing the basic infrastructure facilities like water supply, sanitation, safety and security.
      • To cater to the needs of specially vulnerable segments of the urban homeless population (dependent children, aged, disabled, mentally ill, and people recovering from grave illness), the State Government is creating special sections with in shelters and providing special service linkages for them.
      • The Department had sanctioned the construction of 54 new shelters (50-bedded) in 51 towns. Apart from the new construction, refurbishment as well as operation and maintenance of 42 existing shelters have also been undertaken under SUH scheme.
  • Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM):
    • This is one of the flagship projects launched by the Central Government in 2014 to improve the sanitation standards in the country.
    • Bihar has set a target for the construction of 4.30 lakh toilets in the urban areas.
      • The number of toilets constructed in 2018 was 2.71 lakh, which increased to 4.00 lakh in 2020 and 4.10 lakh by September 2021.
      • For Individual toilets, the State Government provides a subsidy of Rs. 8000 to each family, in addition to the central assistance of Rs. 4000.
      • Till date, 142 urban centres and a total of 3367 wards have been declared as ODF (Open Defecation-Free).
    • The figures for constructed and under-construction toilets for 2020 have declined from the previous year, as the number of toilets not funded by SBM was ignored.
    • Bihar State Housing Board (BSHB) has been constituted to cater to the people of Bihar in terms of better housing facilities and amenities. In lieu of the housing services provided through different schemes, the BSHB charges subsidized value for the allotment of housing units and plots.
    • Shelter is a basic human need, next only to food and clothing. ‘Housing for All’ Mission for urban area will be implemented during 2015-2022.
  • Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) – Housing for All
    • The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Mission was launched in June 2015. The duration of the Mission is up to March, 2022. The main objective of this scheme is to provide pucca houses for the homeless families under different income slabs.
    • As per PMAY (Urban) guidelines, the size of a house for Economically Weaker Section (EWS) could be up to 30 sq. mts. area; however, States have the flexibility to enhance the size in consultation with and after approval of the Ministry.
    • Towards empowerment of women from EWS and Low-Income Group (LIG), PMAY (Urban) has made a mandatory provision for the female head of the family to be the owner or co-owner of the house provided under this scheme.
    • This is a welcome deviation from practices of all other existing schemes.
  • Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT)
    • The AMRUT Mission was launched in June 2015, and it focuses on provision of basic services in all urban areas- Water Supply, Sewerage, Storm-water drainage, Pedestrian path, Public transport facilities, and Parks and open spaces.
    • The State Government has sanctioned a number of Water Supply Schemes, Drainage Schemes, and Parks under AMRUT.
  • SMART City Mission
    • Under this scheme, four cities in Bihar have been selected Patna, Bhagalpur, Biharsharif and Muzaffarpur.
    • Since Bhagalpur was selected during the first phase, Rs. 382 crore has already been earmarked for Bhagalpur.
    • The approval of the State Government has already been obtained on planned budget for Patna, Muzaffarpur and Biharsharif.
    • Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) has been established for these three towns.
  • Patna Metro Rail
    • The Patna Metro Rail project, with a total cost of Rs. 13,365.77 crore, was sanctioned in February, 2019. For implementation of the project, Patna Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (PMRCL) was constituted and also registered in February, 2019.
    • The total length of the project is 32.49 kms., with two corridors East-West corridor and North. South corridor.
    • The implementation of the Patna Metro Rail project will entail a cost of Rs. 13,412 crore in the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) mode. The initial work for the project include the preparation of the Detailed Project Report (DPR).
    • In the first phase, a total length of 17.93 kms. has been for the East-West Metro Corridor (Danapur to Mithapur via Bailey Road and railway station).
    • In the second phase, a total length of 14.56 kms. has been proposed for the North-South Metro Corridor (from Patna railway station to New Inter-state Bus Terminus (New ISBT) via Gandhi Maidan, Patna Medical College and Hospital, and Rajendra Nagar Railway Station.
    • The work has been awarded to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC). A contract agreement between PMRCL and DMRC had been signed in September, 2019. The DMRC has already started the work, but, the progress has been affected because of the Covid 19 pandemic.

Municipal Finance

  • The State Government has been collecting data on municipal finance for 35 Urban Local Bodies, in which the Double Entry Accounting System (DEAS) was introduced by 2015-16.
  • The revenue grants comprise a very large part of the total revenue income of municipal bodies.
    • In 2019-20, out of a total income of Rs. 18,921.76 lakh, the revenue grants accounted for Rs. 10,285.29 lakh (54.4 percent). In 2018-19, out of a total income of Rs. 25,962.44 lakh, the revenue grants accounted for Rs. 20,395.74 lakh (78.6 percent).
  • Unless the self-generated income of the municipal bodies grows fast, their heavy dependence on the revenue grants will continue for many more years. In the recent past, the self-generated income of the local bodies has grown only at a modest rate.
  • In case of expenditure, the major component is establishment expenditure.
    • In 2019-20, the expenditure on establishment was Rs. 15,404.46 lakh, which is no less than 38.6 percent of the total expenditure of Rs. 39,863.02 lakh.
  • In general, the municipal bodies in Bihar, as elsewhere in India, are highly dependent on external support. If one takes into account the share of self-generated income in the total revenue income, it is less than 16 percent in all the years.
    • The highest share (15.3 percent) was achieved in 2016-17.
  • Consequently, self-generated income is not able to cover even the establishment expenditure of the Urban Local Bodies.
  • However, self-generated income as percentage of total establishment expenditure has registered a positive trend. In 2018-19, it was 85.3 percent, although there was a decline in the next year. The data for 2020-21 is not available, as the newly appointed audit agency is yet to submit its report.

Recruitment in the Department of Urban Development and Housing

  • The State Government has endorsed the anticipated annual expenditure of Rs. 76.36 crore for the creation of 2850 posts in the Department of Urban Development and Housing. These posts will be part of a total of 4503 posts of various types that will be created when a new Directorate at the headquarter level and nine Regional Directorates at the division level will be organized.
  • Also, there will be creation of additional posts in Municipalities that exist at different levels.It is expected that this will result in the empowerment and strengthening of the urban administration.
  • Also, organisation of new urban bodies, upgradation of old urban bodies and expansion of the jurisdictional area of urban bodies are being undertaken under the provision of the Bihar Municipal (Amendment) Act, 2007 for the same purpose.
  • For the Patna Metro Rail project, the State Govemment has decided to surrender two posts of Chief General Manager (Technical) and General Manager (S & T) out of a total of already sanctioned 188 posts of various and create a new post of Director (Electrical & Systems). The purpose is to achieve a discharge of functions at the Patna Metro Rail Corporation Limited.
  • The State Government has also given administrative endorsement to the construction of 75 Public Service Centers, for which a total of Rs. 17.50 crore has been earmarked. Out of these Public Service Centers, 28 will receive funding for equipment.
    • These are being undertaken for the purpose of the centrally-sponsored Patna Smart City Mission.

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