Darshini Mahadevia

1
Policies and Institutional Structure for Social
Protection in Urban India

• Darshini Mahadevia
• CEPT University
• Paper Presented At
• The Research Meeting On Social Protection
  Policies In South Asia,
• 18-19 March 2010, New Delhi
• Organized By ICSSR And UNESCO

2
Social Protection Concepts

• Promotional
• Protectional
• Transformational

3
Policies, Programmes and Schemes - 1

• Promotional Social Protection
• 1 Water Supply and Sanitation Programmes/ Schemes
• JNNURM Two components, but Basic Services for
  the Urban Poor (BSUP)
• Low Cost sanitation
• Slum Development
• National Urban Housing and Habitat Policy
• BSUP and Integrated Housing and Slum Development
  Programme (IHSDP)
• City specific slum improvement and upgradation
  programmes such as the Slum Networking Programme
  (SNP), extension of individual Household level
  services under 9010 scheme or similar ones,
  schemes of slum upgradation funded by
  international development agencies such as DFID,
  World Bank, etc.
• Rajiv Awaas Yojana Affordable housing and land
  tenure

4
Policies, Programmes and Schemes - 2

• Transport programmes Bus Rapid Transit System
  (BRTS) in some cities, however, it is not
  affordable to the bottom 30 per cent of urban
  population and National Urban Transport Policy
• Health care No specific urban programme unless
  the National Urban Health Mission comes (This has
  privatisation thrust and hence reach deabtable)
• Education
• Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan
• State level programmes if any
• NGO led programmes for special groups
• Social Security
• Building and Other Construction Workers Act,
  1996
• NGO led insurance programmes, e.g. Vimo SEWA
• Employment
• Swarna Jayanti Shehri Rojgar Yojana
• Individual state level scheems such as Umeed in
  Gujarat

5
Policies, Programmes and Schemes - 3

• Transformational Social Protection
• Land Tenure regularization Only in two states,
  Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan
• De facto land tenure extension In Gujarat
  through SNP and all states through cut-off dates
• Micro finance programmes of the NGOs

6
Increasing Vulnerabilities

1. Increased demolitions and displacements in large
   cities
2. Displacements of hawkers and livelihood
   disruptions
3. Privatization of basic services
4. Pushing out of the poor to the periphery of the
   city and lack of affordable transport options
5. Unwillingness of the ULBs to extend de facto
   tenure security as urban land has become very
   valuable
6. Increase in urban violence
7. Flooding and inundation every monsoon and damage
   and destruction of habitats

7
Institutional Issues

1. Defining urban entity, its boundaries and
   jurisdictions of ULBs
2. Changing urban boundaries
3. Multiplicity of governance institutions
4. Multiplicity of service delivery institutions and
   lack of coordination among them
5. Lack of powers (financial and legislative) for
   performing social development and security
   functions
6. Lack of institutions for social development and
   social security
7. Large presence of Non-state Actors, their
   coordination among themselves and with the State,
   accountability and transperancy

8
Urban Citizenship

• Who is urban citizen
• Urban citizenship defined by
• Legality of dwelling unit defined by town
  planning legislation and municipal bye-laws
• Cut-off dates and ID Cards based on the cut-off
  dates for the informal housing settlements
• ULB notifications
• Administrative tools such as property tax bills
• Welfare measures extensions such as water supply
  sanitation
• Voter ID Card

9
Issues

• Need for flexible and inclusive definition of
  urban citizenship
• Right to basic shelter, universal access to
  water and sanitation irrespective of land tenure
• Process of giving de facto land tenure
• Urban Local Body (ULB) to be converted to Urban
  Local Government (ULG) with all functions, (not
  just physical planning and four basic services
  provision) water supply, sewerage, storm water
  drain, solid waste management and footpaths and
  roads), to be vested with it.
• All the social development and social security
  funds to be vested with the ULG then