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Centre puts the brakes on JNNURM research projects, capacity-building -Mehboob Jeelani
-The Hindu

36 States asked to end research and capacity-building.

The Urban Development Ministry has asked 36 States to terminate their research and capacity-building measures under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), a move that will roll back the achievements of the scheme launched by the UPA government and render it defunct.

Under the JNNURM, the State governments established Reform and Performance Management Cells (RPMCs), a body of experts to guide municipal bodies in urban planning.

The first outcome of the decision will be closing of RPMCs, though the Central government has invested Rs. 43 crore in them.

And then the States will have to fire several hundred employees — researchers, municipal engineers, sanitary workers and computer operators — and abandon a big line of research projects.

In a circular released on August 14, the Ministry’s message was blunt that “no structures of earlier missions will be supported.” It also directed the States to wrap up “individual” training programmes.

In the early 2013, the Congress-led government realised that it could implement an ambitious scheme like the JNNRUM only if the municipal bodies were efficient. So the idea of capacity-building became a buzzword in the Ministry, which was quickly embraced by the BJP-led government, which included it in the Smart City Mission and the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT).

So the idea of capacity-building became a buzzword in the Ministry, which was quickly embraced by the BJP-led government, which included it in the Smart City Mission and the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT).

Since urbanisation experts were always consistent in their demand for fixing the municipalities nationwide, the Congress-led government included RPMC in the JNNRUM to allow the States to hire experts in town planning, infrastructure development, solid waste management, procurement and information technology. Their main job was to conduct research, understand shortcomings of cities and help mayors and commissioners in planning and raise funds from private investors.

Speaking to The Hindu, J.M. Pathania, Director, Urban Development, in Himachal Pradesh, said he was surprised by the government’s decision. “We are at the stage where the new hires are already working. Some States have started research and midway you say stop, it is unfair,” he said.

“This [the JNNURM] was a sanctioned project. The previous government gave the first instalment. And now, all of a sudden, the new government asks us to stop it.”

Mr. Pathania hired 79 professionals within a year and the thought of firing them troubles him. He’s unsure of how to maintain the infrastructure — a training hall, a computer lab and a library — that he built in the last two years without the Central government funding. “It seems like we have been penalised for following the guidelines of the previous scheme,” Mr. Pathania said.

Similarly, as the circular was released, the government of Uttarakhand had to withdraw the advertisements for hiring experts.

G. Vijay Kumar, Under-Secretary at the Urban Development Ministry, who’s signatory to the circular, said the decision was made to help the States adjust themselves to the new urban policies. “The JNNURM has so many objectives, so many people who are not doing anything for the last many years, so they may be fired.”