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In a subtle but strong message to parochial leaders of the likes of Raj Thackeray, Vice-President Mohammad Hamid Ansari said here on Friday that India’s urban centres should remain ‘national’ in their character and not succumb to narrow or sectarian monopolies.
Making a strong case for “inclusiveness” in urban Government, Ansari said: “We do need a public debate to ensure that our urban spaces remain ‘national’ in their character, that there is transparency and inclusiveness in urban governance, and our cities do not succumb to narrow or sectarian monopolies”.
Delivering the Yusuf Meherally Memorial Lecture at the University of Mumbai here, the Vice-President said: “Urbanisation cannot be prevented; it is in our own interest that we manage it better and direct it to serve our national goals and public interest.”
“Equality of access to urban spaces, to availing of emerging social and economic opportunities, and to participation as equal stakeholders is essential to prevent social strife and economic conflict. Let us all empower the third tier of urban local Government in meaningful ways and let our cities not only survive, but thrive,” he pointed out.
Lamenting that the country’s urban spaces and governance mechanisms ‘have become the theatres for political conflicts and economic struggles’, the Vice-President said: “Our urban spaces have also been used for promoting reforms as well as for contesting such reform measures.”
Dwelling upon how the scale of investments and choice of projects had become a subject to political pulls and economic pressures, Ansari said: “While some critics speak of “elite capture” of our urban spaces and indeed of all ‘urban commons’, others bemoan that ‘exclusionary’ urbanisation is benefitting certain social groups to the detriment of others and directing resources to large metropolises depriving small and medium towns of funds needed for infrastructure and essential services.”
Ansari made a strong case for ‘keeping our urban spaces inclusive and preventing the metropolitan cities from becoming exclusionary and exclusivist’. “They (our metropolitan cities) experience competing claims emerging from diverse social, political and linguistic groups to appropriate urban spaces and opportunities for social and economic advancement. How the nation manages and addresses these claims is critical to keeping our urban spaces inclusive and preventing the metropolitan cities from becoming exclusionary and exclusivist,” Ansari said.
Expressing serious concern over the fact that the urban local self bodies were the most neglected tier of the Government with functional and financial decentralisation not flowing from the State Governments to the cities, Ansari called for financial empowerment of urban local bodies.
Citing examples of New York and London, the Vice-President called for radical elevation of role and prestige of managers of large urban agglomerations. “Megacities such as London and New York have empowered Mayors who set the agenda for the development of the city and promote the economic progress and social development prospects in the city. Contrary to this, our metropolitan city managers do not enjoy appropriate political prestige or economic clout,” he said.
Through his speech, Ansari indirectly drove home a point that it was high time regional political leaders eschewed their parochial agendas so that they could redirect their energies to serve national goals and public interest — a message that would not be lost on regional leaders like Raj Thackeray who, in particular, has been resisting the influx of migrants into Mumbai.
Making a strong case for “inclusiveness” in urban Government, Ansari said: “We do need a public debate to ensure that our urban spaces remain ‘national’ in their character, that there is transparency and inclusiveness in urban governance, and our cities do not succumb to narrow or sectarian monopolies”.
Delivering the Yusuf Meherally Memorial Lecture at the University of Mumbai here, the Vice-President said: “Urbanisation cannot be prevented; it is in our own interest that we manage it better and direct it to serve our national goals and public interest.”
“Equality of access to urban spaces, to availing of emerging social and economic opportunities, and to participation as equal stakeholders is essential to prevent social strife and economic conflict. Let us all empower the third tier of urban local Government in meaningful ways and let our cities not only survive, but thrive,” he pointed out.
Lamenting that the country’s urban spaces and governance mechanisms ‘have become the theatres for political conflicts and economic struggles’, the Vice-President said: “Our urban spaces have also been used for promoting reforms as well as for contesting such reform measures.”
Dwelling upon how the scale of investments and choice of projects had become a subject to political pulls and economic pressures, Ansari said: “While some critics speak of “elite capture” of our urban spaces and indeed of all ‘urban commons’, others bemoan that ‘exclusionary’ urbanisation is benefitting certain social groups to the detriment of others and directing resources to large metropolises depriving small and medium towns of funds needed for infrastructure and essential services.”
Ansari made a strong case for ‘keeping our urban spaces inclusive and preventing the metropolitan cities from becoming exclusionary and exclusivist’. “They (our metropolitan cities) experience competing claims emerging from diverse social, political and linguistic groups to appropriate urban spaces and opportunities for social and economic advancement. How the nation manages and addresses these claims is critical to keeping our urban spaces inclusive and preventing the metropolitan cities from becoming exclusionary and exclusivist,” Ansari said.
Expressing serious concern over the fact that the urban local self bodies were the most neglected tier of the Government with functional and financial decentralisation not flowing from the State Governments to the cities, Ansari called for financial empowerment of urban local bodies.
Citing examples of New York and London, the Vice-President called for radical elevation of role and prestige of managers of large urban agglomerations. “Megacities such as London and New York have empowered Mayors who set the agenda for the development of the city and promote the economic progress and social development prospects in the city. Contrary to this, our metropolitan city managers do not enjoy appropriate political prestige or economic clout,” he said.
Through his speech, Ansari indirectly drove home a point that it was high time regional political leaders eschewed their parochial agendas so that they could redirect their energies to serve national goals and public interest — a message that would not be lost on regional leaders like Raj Thackeray who, in particular, has been resisting the influx of migrants into Mumbai.
