MAKING THE CAPITAL LIVABLE

Delhi ’s ranking as the 118th most livable global city and continuing to top the list of most polluted cities in spite of heavy investments in infrastructure and public transport is a matter of concern for all patriotic Indians.

Besides being the capital of the second most populous country in the world, its strategic location in the “Ganga-Yamuna Doab” region surrounded by predominantly agrarian and populous States with a well-connected and economical rail network to the capital has made migration for education, employment, entertainment a naturally attractive option.

With tier-II towns in the larger States like Uttar Pradesh (UP), Madhya Pradesh (MP) Haryana developing with quality educational and health care facilities coming up providing an attractive option over the huge real estate costs of Delhi, migration is bound to come down.

But Delhi will continue to be a congested and polluted city owing to it being the location of various national institutions in a center focused federal structure like ours. One of the solution hence seems to be moving bulk of the Ministries and Departments away from Delhi to other non-metro locations, preferably tier-II towns across the country.

The above proposal is similar to such experiments being tried out in many countries like Norway, Finland, Denmark, Mexico etc. as reported by the wellrespected journal “Economist” recently. Even in our neighborhood, Malaysia has moved its bureaucrats to Putrajaya and Indonesia is mulling a similar move out of Jakarta.

With information travelling at lightning pace unlike the snail’s pace only a decades back, video chats with a simple click makes this idea workable and is gathering supporters.

Economist (April 2019) lists the other benefits, 

dispersing the risk of terrorist attack or natural calamity that could cripple the nation, new ideas in governance that may emerge in smaller places which in walled up capitals may not happen.

It even thinks that “unloved bureaucrats in smaller towns will become as popular as fire fighters once they mix with the locals”.

Nations consider dispersing the Government function from a single place essentially with three specific aims a) improve the lives of civil servants, b) to save money, c) redress regional imbalances.

In the Indian context, bringing down the pollution level of the capital through decongestion and moving away (at least part of the Government machinery) from our hostile western neighbor could be additional objectives.

Moving civil servants for a better life has been attempted in other countries (post war England and Netherlands). However, this is not being done actively fearing attrition. This however may not be an issue for us where a Government job is sought after.

Real Estate costs are certainly higher in the capital. But leaving the established network to a new place where infrastructure needs to be created may not be a prudent decision at least economically.

Countries like Norway treats federal jobs as a resource every region deserves to enjoy. It is but natural that wherever Government jobs are created, private jobs (both direct and indirect) are bound to come up.

Most important advantage will be that such relocations will help to fulfi ll the aspiration of the country’s second tier cities. Much of our agricultural progress owes its success to the progressive farmers of Punjab and Haryana. It makes sense to locate the Union Ministry of Agriculture and ICAR in a place like Hissar, Karnal or Ludhiana.

This, besides creating an opportunity for the policy makers for a quick firsthand knowledge of the ground realities will also help in developing an eco-system centered around agriculture (similar to Atlanta, Georgia becoming a hub of health care a er CDC was established there).

Few other Ministries / Departments which I can immediately think of are Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region to Guwaha / Shillong, Ministry of Railways to Nagpur (center of the country), Ministry of Mines to Ranchi / Dhanbad, Ministry of Culture to Bhopal etc.

The above principle could be applied in the States too. For e.g. in Uttar Pradesh Department of Industries and other agencies connected with industrial development could be located in Kanpur, the Department of Tourism could be head quartered in Varanasi or Agra . The large State of Tamil Nadu similarly could locate its agricultural department either in its agricultural hub of Thanjavur or at Coimbatore where the reputed agricultural university is located. The Tourism Department of State could be in Madurai a historical city or even in Kanniyakumari.

Now, how do we implement this idea if found acceptable with the policy makers. The biggest opponents will be the bureaucrats themselves at all levels. They may not like it for reasons like children’s educa on, aged parents to take care of etc. The employees’ Unions too are unlikely to welcome it.

The main technical objection could be the inability to convene inter-ministerial meettings requiring the physical presence of senior bureaucrats at a short no ce on urgent issues.

However, with availability of digital connectivity in almost all the tier-II towns, video conferencing could solve this problem to a large extent. Further, to begin with, Ministries / Departments may be relocated to such places with air connectivity to Delhi so that officials could reach the capital in few hours’ notice.But the States will certainly welcome it as they will see potential for job creation and economic development of the region. Of course, alloting various Ministries / Departments at different places across the country needs to be done in a fair and transparent manner.

It is worth mentioning here that currently Head Quarters of 2 Departments of Government of India are located outside Delhi (Atomic Energy, and Space) and both these Departments have done the country proud.

Finally, a strong political leadership is required for a major decision like this and fortunately we have one currently.

(This views expressed are personal)

DR STEPHEN MERVIN ALEXANDER psc, ndc

(Rtd Special Secretary to Govt of India)