Al Ngullie

The Ministry of Urban development has released Rs.120 crore to states including two towns in Nagaland, to prepare developmental plans as a part of the ambitious nationwide urban development project Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation scheme (AMURT).

It is informed that the Secretary to the Urban Development Ministry, Madhusudan Prasad, has written to all the chief secretaries of states identified for the project, asking them send the State Annual Action Plans at the earliest.

This information was received from official government publicity on Tuesday, August 4.

According to information available to this reporter, the Ministry of Urban Development has released about Rs.120 crore to states and union territories for preparation of what has been dubbed the ‘Service Level Improvement Plans’ (SLIP) for each of the 482 Cities identified under the AMRUT program.

In the first release of funds under the Atal Mission, each mission city has been given an advance assistance of Rs. 25 lakhs for preparation of SLIP.

Under AMRUT, the primary purpose is to cover all urban households with water supply and sewerage including septic systems before taking up other projects related to storm water drains, urban transport and provision of public and green spaces.

SLIP for each selected city/town is required to identify gaps in provision of water supply and sewerage connections and draw up detailed plans for bridging the gaps. SLIP will also include strategies to mobilize resources including for operation and maintenance costs and plan for implementation of reforms.

All the city level service level Improvement plans will be aggregated into State Annual Action Plan at the level of each state. The plans would be sent to the Ministry of Urban Development for approval. However, unlike the procedure required in another city development program, the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, the ministry would not assess and approve individual projects for AMRUT.

So far, the ministry has identified 482 cities and towns each with a population of above one lakh under AMRUT which was launched on June 25, 2015.

The aggregate cities:

Uttar Pradesh with 60 cities, West Bengal with 59 cities, Maharashtra with 43 cities, 32 cities from Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, 31 cities each from Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan with 28 cities, Karnataka with 27 cities, Bihar with 26 cities, Haryana with 20 cities, Punjab with 16 cities, Telangana will 11 cities, 9 cities each from Chattisgarh and Odisha, 7 cities each from Kerala and Jharkhand, Uttarakhand with 6 cities, 4 each from Assam and Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir with 3 cities, 2 cities each for Nagaland and Puducherry, one each from the A&N Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Dadar and Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Lakshdweep, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Sikkim and Tripura.

The remaining 18 cities will be chosen from the cities and towns on the stems of main rivers, from hill states and tourist destinations, available information suggests.

Under AMRUT, central assistance will be one-third of the project cost for cities with a population of above 10 lakh and 50% of project cost for cities/towns with a population of below 10 lakh for projects related to water supply, sewerage, septic systems, storm water drains and urban transport. Balance funding is to be arranged by State governments and urban local bodies including through PPP.

After the approval of State Annul Action Plans (SAAP), first installment of over Rs.2,000 crore will be received for implementation of city level SLIPs.

Allocation of funds under AMRUT for states and union territories are based on an objective criteria giving equal weight to the urban population and number of statutory cities and towns in each state  / union territory.

From JNNURM to AMRUT

Based on the learning from the implementation of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission that ended up in sub-optimal physical and financial performance, the Central Government has radically overhauled the Operational Guidelines for implementation of Smart Cities Mission, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and Housing for All Mission in Urban Areas.

The guidelines released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the launch of the three new urban missions in June allow the states and union territories full liberty and flexibility in formulation, approval and execution of projects under the three missions.

The two urban ministries have sought to ensure timely sanction and execution and certainty of resources for various projects and participation of citizens in identifying development needs under the new urban schemes.

The central government has virtually withdrawn from the earlier practice of appraising and sanctioning individual projects, there by ending the scope for subjectivity and discretion.

The major new provisions incorporated in the Guidelines and common to all the three urban missions include:

The objective criteria for selection of cities and allocation of funds:

• Potential Smart Cities and AMRUT cities are to be based on an objective and equitable criteria giving equal weight to urban population and number of statutory cities in each state / union territory.

• Housing Mission to be implemented in all the 4,041 statutory cities/towns.

• For smart city development, each selected city will be provided central assistance of Rs.100 crore per year.

• AMRUT, allocation of funds will be as per urban population and number of cities / towns in each state / union territory

• To avoid delays and non-completion of projects on account of lack of resources, states / union territories will now be required to firmly indicate resource tie ups under state level action plans.

• To enhance urban governance, clear Action Plans for timely implementation of identified reforms need to be indicated.
• State level Action Plans to clearly indicate convergence with other central and state government schemes as appropriate for resource maximization

• Public-Private Partnership model shall be the main resource of resource mobilization.

• Involvement of members of parliament and state assemblies in formulation and monitoring of projects provided for.

Mission-wise guidelines for better execution of project:

•  No projects without availability of land and all necessary clearances shall be included in the Mission by States/UTs.
•  States shall transfer funds to urban local bodies within 7 days of transfer by central government and no diversion of funds to be made failing which penal interest would be charged besides taking other adverse action by the centre.
•  Action Plans should provide for O&M costs for assets created for at least five years based on user charges.
•  For water supply, sewerage, “septage”, storm water drains and urban transport, centre’s share to be in the range of 1/3 of project cost to 50%. States are to mobilize the balance with its own share being not less than 20%.

– The mission will be implemented as a centrally-sponsored scheme. Share of states / union territories vary from one to the other. Under AMRUT, share of states shall not be less than 20%.