Tamil Nadu is one of the most urbanized states in the country with 48.45% of its population living in urban areas. As people from villages and smaller towns keep migrating to larger urban centres, the DMK government has decided to expand its urban base – creating more Corporations and Municipalities.
Presenting demands for grants for his department in the state Assembly recently, Minister for Municipal Administration K N Nehru has said the urban population in the state grew from 1.9 crore in 1991 (34% of total population) to 3.5 crore in 2011 (48.45% of total population), translating into a growth of 83% during this period.
Pointing that this population shift and the resultant rapid urbanisation had added pressure on the cities which already faced gaps in delivery of basic urban services, he announced creation of six new Municipal Corporations, taking the tally to 21. The Minister also announced creation of additional 28 Municipalities in 38 Districts in the state.
Tambaram, Kancheepuram, Kumbakonam, Karur, Cuddalore and Sivakasi would be the six new Municipal Corporations, Mr Nehru said. Besides, the existing four Municipal Corporations - Trichy, Nagercoil, Thanjavur and Hosur -- and three Municipalities Chengalpattu, Poonamallee and Mannargudi would be expanded by merging the town panchayats and village panchayats adjacent to them, he said.
Kollengode, Musiri and Lalgudi will be upgraded as Municipalities while Punjai Pugalur and TNPL Pugalur would be merged to create Pugalur Municipality, the Minister added. The ward members of such panchayats who were elected in the local body elections would continue in their positions till the end of their terms, the Minister clarified.
As the delimitation of wards in the newly created Municipal Corporations and Municipalities required time, the government moved the Supreme Court, seeking more time to conduct elections to the rural local bodies in nine districts created during the previous AIADMK regime and to the urban local bodies. The Supreme Court in its June order, had directed the Tamil Nadu State Election Commission to hold elections to the rural local bodies in nine districts and all urban local bodies by September 15.
The expansion of urban base with the creation of more Corporations and Municipalities was a welcome move as they would help growth and development in the respective regions, Dr S R Masilamani, former Head of the Department, Planning, Anna University, said. “As economic growth is largely associated with urbanization, creation of additional urban bodies would be a boon to development,” he said.
The move would also help to provide better urban services such as water supply, roads, underground sewerage, street lights and give facelift to the village panchayats that would be merged with urban bodies, he said. After elections, the urban local bodies would gain political credibility and become people centric to serve the public better and develop the infrastructure facilities, he added.
The Municipal Corporations and Municipalities have to focus more on developing urban infrastructure and improve the service delivery system to meet the aspirations of the urban population, said Dr K P Subramanian, former Anna University Faculty. The urban local bodies should be aware that when economic capacity and per capita incomes grow, people’s aspirations and expectations with respect to urban services need to be fulfilled, he said. While expanding the urban base, Mayors and Chairmen should ensure that Agriculture lands were not converted for housing and commercial purposes, he said. They should adopt an inclusive and transparent participatory approach of urban development, he suggested.
Citing “Population projections 2011-36, Census of India, 2019”, Mr Nehru said Tamil Nadu’s urban population would be 4.7 crore or 60% of total population by 2036. “Therefore, with a view to achieve sustainable and inclusive development the Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department has formulated a citizen centric Vision for next 10 years,” he said.
As envisaged in the state Budget, works like improvement of internal street lanes, community halls, shopping complexes, markets, modern libraries etc., will be taken up under Kalaignar Nagarpura Membattu Thittam for implementation in 121 Municipalities and 528 Town Panchayats with an allocation of Rs. 1,000 crore, he said.
The Namakku Naame Thittam (NMT) will be implemented to take up works like restoration of water bodies, parks, recreation and sports facilities, tree plantation, construct or upgrade school buildings, dispensary buildings, libraries and study rooms in all Corporations including Greater Chennai Corporation, 121 Municipalities and 528 Town Panchayats, with an allocation of Rs.300 crore, he said.
Package Tender Goes
The DMK Government’s decision to scrap the package tender system, ostensibly designed to benefit a few big contractors who were close to the power center in the previous AIADMK regime, has brought cheers and relief to the small-time contractors in Tamil Nadu.
About 2,000 small-time contractors who had virtually gone into wilderness in the last 10 years heaved a sigh of relief as PWD Minister E V Velu announced the scrapping of the ‘ill conceived’ system on the floor of the Assembly on August 27.
The package tender system meant clubbing together eight to ten works, each with an estimate of Rs 1 to 10 crore into one and awarding it to a single contractor. This was in vogue for 10 years in the Highways and PWD departments during the AIADMK regime though the system had several flaws costing public exchequer dearly on the one hand and adversely affecting the quality of the works on the other.
“Compared with the regular tender process, the package tender process resulted in an additional expenditure of Rs 50,000 a km (in the Highways projects),” Mr. Velu told the Assembly. Moreover, local small-time contractors could not take part in the tenders and this had resulted in unemployment among youth, he said. “If the total estimate of a project was Rs 800 crore or Rs 1,000 crore, local contractors could not take part in the tenders as they had taken tenders so far with lesser estimates,” he said.
Under the package tender system, “unknown contractors from outside the state were awarded projects,” the Minister further said. Thus, local contractors who were more concerned about implementation of projects in their areas could not take part in the package tenders and this had an adverse impact in the areas.
The government would restructure the tender system in such a way that small-time contractors became eligible to get tenders in their respective regions, Mr. Velu said. The existing system of renewal of the registration of the contractors every year would henceforth be once in three years, he added. Both the registration of contractors and renewal of registration would be undertaken at the level of Regional Chief Engineers, he added.
Information Minister M.P. Saminathan who was Minister for Highways in the previous DMK regime pointed out that the ‘package tender’ system was introduced by the AIADMK when it came to power in 2001. The DMK regime, headed by Mr. M Karunanidhi scrapped the system after it came to power in 2006 but the AIADMK re-introduced the system when it came to power in 2011, he said.
Leader of the Opposition and former Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami defended the system, stating only those who were found eligible for the tender process were allowed during the AIADMK government. Mr. Velu, however, said the system ‘benefited’ only big contractors who came from other states.
Giving an insight into the package tender system, a retired Chief Engineer, PWD, preferring anonymity, said despite several disadvantages, the previous AIADMK government continued with the system for reasons best known to it. In this system, the contractors were invariably ‘outsiders’ who had high level contacts and could not be accessed by field level offices like Assistant Engineers to ensure execution of quality works.
When the works were awarded to small time local contractors, they would not only provide employment to local people but executed quality works. Local public would also question the contractor if something went awry, the official said. There was a move to bring even the maintenance works under the package tender system during the previous AIADMK regime but department officials thwarted it.
