The Union Urban Development Ministry has released Rs.25 lakh each for the cities selected under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) scheme of the Central government. Seven cities — Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha, Kochi, Thrissur, Kozhikode, and Palakkad — in Kerala have been selected for the implementation of the programme.
The ministry has selected 27 cities in Karnataka, 31 in Andhra Pradesh and 32 in Tamil Nadu under the scheme.
Funds for SLIP
The fund is to be utilised for preparation of service level improvement plan (SLIP) for capacity building of the urban local body in each of the cities.
Under the AMRUT scheme, the city-level plans will be aggregated into State Annual Action Plan for approval. Unlike JNNURM projects, the SLIPs are approved as one lot under the State category and not individually.
The SLIPs are envisaged to identify the gaps in provision of water supply and sewerage connections and prepare plans to bridge the gaps. Strategies for resource mobilisation, including costs for operation and maintenance, would have to be planned.
Enhancement of functional knowledge, improvement in job-related skills and change in the attitude of municipal functionaries are envisioned in the individual-capacity building programme, under the scheme.
Training
A year-long training will be imparted to municipal functionaries in training institutes, followed by application of the skills at the workplace.
The entire training programme is aimed at improving the efficiency of major departments such as Finance and Revenue, Engineering and Public Health, Water and Sanitation, Drainage and Solid Waste Management, Town Planning, and e-governance. A pro-poor planning is envisaged in urban planning.
The Ministry of Urban Development has already approved the State-level Action Plans of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan.
The mainstay of the projects there is to enable water supply and sewerage connections to all urban households. Plans worth Rs.2,786.28 crore have been approved for 89 cities in the three States.
Central aid
Under AMRUT, the Union government will provide an assistance of 50 per cent of the project cost for each city with a population of up to 10 lakh. For cities with population exceeding 10 lakh, the Central aid will be one-third of project cost. The rest of the project cost has to be borne by the States and urban local bodies. Union government has approved an outlay of Rs.50,000 crore for development of 500 cities in the country under the scheme.
