Pre-Election Political Awareness Campaign (PEPAC)

-a national campaign to put urban on nations political agenda

The soul of India lives in its villages, said Gandhi Ji in the very beginning of twentieth century. So, rightly, independent India embarked upon planned, ambitious and modestly successful rural development and rural governance initiatives. Indian political parties and national policy makers emphasized on need to bring positive changes in rural India. But India has changed over the time. The India of twenty -first century is significantly urban and if the trends from Census 2011 and other contemporary population projection are indicators, India would be majority urban around 20302040. But it seems our politicians and makers knowingly or unknowingly ignore urbanization trends and urban problems. The faster growth in urban is not limited to economy and geography of cities only. For the first in Indian Census history, absolute increase in urban Indian population was more than rural Indian population in Census 2011. The infrastructures and governance of our cities have not been able to adapt to growing population and its needs in the cities. It is in the interest of not only cities but country as whole that political leaders and policy makers should provide due priorities to Urban by coming up with clear-cut vision and action plans for bringing better changes in lives in the cities. So, urban is due in political manifestos and nation al polices? Some of following factual discussions would be helpful in highlighting importance of overdue urban policies, programmes and actions. policy
National Party BSP BJP CPI CPI (M) INC NCP

Separate Section on Urban in Political Manifestos of National and State Ruling Political Parties
Yes/ Ruling Party Yes/ Ruling Party Yes/ No (State) No (State No No AAP- Delhi Yes J&KNC J&K No Yes AIIDMK Tamil Nadu No NPF - Nagaland No No AINRC- Pondicherry No SAD - Punjab No No ATC- W.B. No SDF- Sikkim Yes Yes BJD - Odisha No SP U.P. No No JD(U) - Bihar No Source: Information from Copies of Manifestos for 2009 Lok Sabha Election

1.

India is almost half Urban:

As on 1st March 2011, Census of India 2011 reported that 31.16 % of Indians live in cities. The urban population growth in India during 2001-2011 was about 32% as against mere 12% of rural population growth. Literacy rate in urban India was 85% in 2011. Since then 3 years have elapsed. During this time there have been logical intellectual protests on underestimation of Urban Population. It is said that practical urban population is more than what technical urban population census 2011 reports. For example, there are 3,961 villages (practically towns but technically rural due to political reasons) that have a population of 10,000 persons or more. If the population of all these town -villages are added to urban population total, proportion of urban population will increase by 4% to be around 36%. From policy and programme point of view, floating population in cities should be taken as practically urban. Rough estimate suggest that average floating population in Indian cities add approximately 10% or more urban population pressure on existing urban infrastructure and services. They make urban population for policy development close to 46%. Considering the time gap of 3 years since last census 2011 was held and taking into account all above factors including faster urban growth, current urban population targeted for devising urban policies and programmes should be considered as 50% of current Indian population. 2. Indian Economic Growth is Urban Economic Growth

The report of working group of Planning Commission of India says that while urban areas contribute about 70% to countrys GDP, the plan outlays for XIth Five Year Plan (2006 11) for the Ministries of Urban Development and Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation was Rs. 68080 Crore (2006-07 prices) as against the same being Rs. 5.5 lakh crore for rural sector. India spent just 0.7 per cent of its GDP on urban infrastructure (China spent 2.7% on same). To put the figure in perspective, the Government of India spends 1.25 per cent of GDP in subsidies on fertilizers and petroleum products

(http://planningcommission.nic.in/aboutus/committee/wrkgrp12/hud/wg_Financing_rep.p df). The McKinsey Global Institute estimated that cities could generate 70% of new jobs created to 2030, and drive a near fourfold increase in per capita income across the country (not only urban but rural too). Cities will provide 85% of total tax revenue, which will be

used to finance development nationwide. Nearly 200 million villagers will directly benefit from 70 large cities near them. The report also says that cities can also deliver a higher quality of life. Urban scale benefits mean the cost of delivering basic services is 30 to 40 percent cheaper in concentrated population centers than in sparsely populated areas. But to reap such benefits, India needs to meet an unprecedented policy challenge. If it fails to do so, this could seriously jeopardize its growth and risk high unemployment. 3. Urban Economy is driven by Urban Poor

National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector (NCEUS) estimates that informal sector contributes about 50% to countrys economy. That means half of Indias 1.83 trillion US$ is informal. This average for most of transition and emerging economies is about 20%. With 55%, only sub-Saharan Africa has a larger unorganised economy than India's. According to Economic Survey of 2013, the contribution of service sector (including constriction) to GDP of India is about 65% and Indias service sector is one of the fastest growing sectors in world. Who all drive the service sector? They are mostly people living in slums and other urban poor pockets of the cities across the country. They provide what we call cheap labour. They pull rickshaws, construct buildings, clean cities, and provide domestic help, do hawking and much more. Without them lives in Indian cities would come to standstill. A recent national study by PRIA in 50 major cities of India estimates that these urban poor do contribute more than 7.56% to urban GDP of India, as per national accounts calculations. Their contributions become more significant if we also weigh their life constraints. The same study finds that an investment to increase 1% demand among urban poor would increase Urban UDP by 3%. Thus it is not only present contribution but also the potential of urban poor is lucrative to growth of urban economy and so, wellbeing of the country.

4.

Nevertheless Urban Poor are most deprived Indians

Cities are not home to prosperous only. About 75% of urban citizens live in bottom income segment earning about 1.3 US dollar a day. More than one third of urban population are poor. PRIAs national study on Urban Poor in 50 cities and census data finds that n early 40% of the countrys households live in slums. Mumbai, D elhi, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata contribute to 50% of the slum households in the country. According to Census 2011, 10

states in the country account for about 85% of total slum households. The top 5 states account for about 65% of total slum households- Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Madhya Pradesh. About 50% of urban slum dwellers do not have within house premise in Maharashtra, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Delhi. About 40% of these states as well practice open defecation including Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. At All India level, 36% of urban slum dwellers do not have basic services like electricity, tap water and sanitation. Ever increasing urban population and ever undermining powers and authorities of elected Urban Local Bodies makes lives of urban poor more miserable as powerful authorities dont hear them and elected local representatives dont have capacity to deliver development.

5.

Urban is no longer politically passive It will decide 2014 Lok Sabha elections

The conventional wisdom among political parties was while urban India makes noise, it is rural India that can make or break their chances to capture power. Not any more, thanks to the considerable increase in the number of urban constituencies. There are 57 Lok Sabha constituencies in big cities alone. If we include towns and small cities in this list, the number of urban constituencies goes up to 201 (http://www.business-

standard.com/article/politics/urban-voters-too-can-swing-national-political-fortune113101500006_1.html). Some surveys suggest that 44% of Indian voters are urban and recent Google India survey claims that 94% of urban voters would vote in 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Thus Urban India is a big decisive factor in 2014 Lok Sabha election. This time people in urban India dont want to be mere passive spectator. They wish to decide on their votes who would agree to work for improving qualities of lives and services in cities.

PEPAC for Urban Governance & Urban Poverty

In the interest of country and our future, we must highlight the ever degrading and depriving plights of countrys urban areas and urban people. Currently our national policies and programmes on urban are dole-outs in the form of various national schemes. Rural development grant seeking politics by the state governments encourage categorization of practically urban areas into rural (thousands of 10000 plus population, market driven and urbanized villages have yet not been termed as urban while ever increasing peri-urban areas remain policy-less). The cities are centres of informalities- in livelihood, systems and practices. These informalities promote sense of insecurities but also do divide the city denizens. The divides between poor and non-poor of cities, as some findings from PRIAs national study as well as other economic surveys suggests, are ever increasing. Our cities cant be liveable and lucrative unless political leaders of democratic India provide due attention to them. Our urban spheres require political attention not the current political indifference and sometime also political exclusion. That can happen only there are buzz around every hue and corner, on every lip and in every corridor demand clear-cut articulation of future policies and programmes in election manifestos of political parties during forthcoming Lok Sabha election in April-May 2014. There should be demands for recognition, convergence and new ways to emancipate urban India. So, the PEPAChas been visualized as a collaborative effortof PRIA and other partner organizations, which include NGOs, FIUPW, RWAs, Traders Associations, Academia, Media and other stakeholders. The PEPAC would cover all parts of the country. However, this campaign would be more intensified in those states where responses would be more encouraging. The approaches forPEPAC are given below.

I.

Objectives of the Campaign:

The overall objectives of the campaign are:

1. 2014 Lok Sabha Election Manifestos of Political Parties must include separate sections on Urban 2. Policy on Urban Development and Urban Governance, which must promise Institutionalizing Community Participation through development planning by the Mohalla Sabhas Tome-bound irreversible Devolution of Funds, Functions and Functionaries (3 Fs) to elected Urban Local Bodies and Mechanisms for their social accountabilities Urban reforms (Institutionalizing land reforms, Participatory urban planning for infrastructure development and urban services, Housing for urban poor, Livelihood guarantee and health securitiesfor urban poor) Integration of the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) and Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (MoHUPA) Exclusive Membership for Urban Sector in Planning Commission of India 3. Advocacy with 14th Finance Commission to provide additional resources for catalysing urban reforms and strengthening the urban governance.

II.

Strategies and Major Activities PEPAC: The PEPAC should be at 3 levels: city, state and nation levels. City forums should anchor awareness campaign and demand generation. State Urban Coalitions (SUC) should coordinate activities in different cities of the state and consolidate the city demand charters to prepare state urban charters for consultations with state representatives of political parties. Similarly at national level, city and state inputs would be basis for highlighting the issues nationally. National coalition should advocate with political parties to promise specific initiatives for urban sector in their political manifestos.

(i)

City Coalition: Building city and state specific coalitions of NGOs, RWAs, Trader Associations, City Clubs (Lions, Rotary), Cultural groups in cities, Schools/Colleges and Local Media to draw attention towards existing indifference of political

parties for lives in cities (ii) Citizens Assertions/City Demand Charters:Meetings and discussions with citizens, members of political parties to emphasize growing economic and social

importance of urban sector but continued exclusion of urban in political policies of the country. Efforts should also be made to highlight critical roles of urban voters in forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. City coalitions should evolve a list of demands for political parties through internal consultations and feedback from communities (iii) Media Campaign: Strategic partnership with print, electronic media in cities and also the social media (including the blog Terraurban) should be undertaken. Support from media would be very helpful in scaling up the importance of urban in political discourse of the country. Research support from local academia would bring in evidences to highlight contemporary urban issues in city media. (iv) Divisional Consultations: In every state there are identified administrative divisions often called commissionaries or divisions. One division/region or commissionary within a state may have a number of cities/Lok Sabha consituencies. All city level coalitions in a division should periodically discuss common issues for concerted political demands at division levels. (v) Promises from Contestants: Constituency specific Consultations with all key contestants of Lok Sabha elections should be organized to solicit their promises for urban reforms and inclusive policies of urban areas. City coalitions could convene a public interface of all contestants to discuss their thoughts about urban and also to solicit their firm commitments for better cities. Written Promises, in a pre-prepared standard format, from all contestants could be an effective tool for pursuing political commitments for urban. (vi) Interface with Political Parties for Political Manifestos: City level meetings by CityCoalitions to pitch for demanding emphasis on urban in political manifestos would help in effectively pursuing inclusion of urban in political manifestos at state and national levels.Brief notes on issues in Urban (with data and evidences) should be periodically shared with the leaders of the political parties to sensitize and encourage them for making informed commitments (vii) Post-Election Follow-up: Critical follow-up on promises in party manifestos and also on promises by contestants wouldpressurize the elected representatives. Loosing candidates, who also made similar promises, could be political ally for pursuing the matter post-election.

III.

Current Key Partners:

PRIA, FIUPW (comprising: National Campaign Committee of Constructional Labourer (NCCCL), All India Platform For Labour Rights (AIPLR), All India KabadiMazdoorMahasangh (AIKMM), Delhi JhuggiJhopri Ekta Manch (DJJEM), National Alliance for Labour Rights (NALR), Delhi ShramikSangathan, National Hawkers Federation, Federation of Rickshaw Pullers of India, Janpahal, Delhi Hawkers Welfare Association (DHWA), SAHAR, AsanghathitShramikAdhikarMorcha (ULRF), Hawker Joint Action Committee, NirmlaNiketan, Voluntary Health Association of Punjab, Housing and Land Right Network, Domestic Workers Forum, GhareluKamgarSangathan, Basti Vikas Samiti, Delhi

GhareluKamgarhSangthan, Delhi NirmanMazdoorSangathan), DVAS Bihar, DEEP Bihar, NMKS Bihar, IRADA Bihar, SAHAYI Kerala, CINI West Bengal, NIDI Odisha, CIVIC Karnataka, G. Umashankar Tamilnadu, PRIA Bihar, PRIA Rajasthan, PRIA Chhattisgarh and UNNATI Rajasthan IV. Current Intervention States: Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Punjab, Delhi V. Campaign Structure: The national campaign would be anchored at 3 levels: City, State and National. 1. In each intervened city a city forum would anchor the buzz around inclusion of urban in political agenda. 2. In each intervened state a civil society coalition will coordinate engagements with all possible actors to make noise for policy statements on future urban governance and urban development by political class and political parties. 3. At national level FIUPW and PRIA will coordinate with major political parties for inclusion of urban in their election manifestos.