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CPPR Talk Series: US Presidential Elections 2020
February 28, 2020
Kochi: Onus on civic body to ensure quality of water , say experts
March 2, 2020Trichy’s Initiatives to Enhance Ease of Living
The article discusses the challenges before the Trichy City Corporation in achieving the vision of ‘ease living for all’. It also sheds light on how a slew of innovative initiatives undertaken by it, involving citizens in most of the programmes, have yielded good results.
The southern Indian State of Tamil Nadu has 15 City Corporations which play a pivotal role in economic development. These 15 cities account for one-third of the State’s population and 11 among them were selected under the Smart Cities Mission to transform ease of living by adopting technology and innovative approaches. But cities in Tamil Nadu are facing many challenges due to the dearth of adequate civic facilities. Even after close to three decades of the reforms of the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act of 1992, which recognised the importance of local self-governments for the delivery of essential services, they are yet to be fully implemented.
The will of the people was time and again betrayed by the elected representatives who make the laws on behalf of the people. This was mainly due to two factors: the lack of citizens’ engagements in the implementation of policies by the authorities and the failure of the overall governance system in which the citizens’ role has been undermined.
Views expressed by the author are personal and need not reflect or represent the views of Centre for Public Policy Research
Chandrasekaran Balakrishnan is Research Fellow (Urban Eco-system and Skill Development) with CPPR. His areas of research interest are economics of education, vocational education and skills development, economic reforms, liberal vision for India, water management, regional development, and city development. Chandrasekaran has an MA in Economics (University of Madras) and an MPhil in Social Sciences (Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya University, Indore).
