Uneven Access: Mapping Disparities In Basic Urban Amenities Across Indian Cities

Sandra Menon

An average can hide a great deal. According to the 2011 Census, 70.6 per cent of urban households in India had access to piped water [1]; but only around 62 per cent of those used treated piped water [2]; and almost 13 per cent of urban households continued to practice open defecation [3]. Such statistics give a comforting impression of progress at the national level. But they tell us nothing about where such progress is lacking. This policy approach views such deficiencies as shortages in pipes, toilets, and wastewater facilities. In this blog post, I will try to demonstrate why such framing is inadequate. It becomes clear from research that in addition to the physical deficiency, there exists an institutional issue as well. Municipalities differ widely in terms of the things they can do in a legal sense, the amount of resources available for spending, and even in the availability of personnel to manage constructed infrastructure. Such inequality is just inequality of capabilities at the household level.

What the numbers hide?

Census 2011 gives the most elaborate view of amenities at the household level, and this view itself is enough to demonstrate the extent of the generalization. Up to 8.1 per cent of households in the urban area received their water supply from sources outside of the house [2]. About 60 million urban people could not have access to improved sanitation, and more than two-thirds of the sewage were released into the environment without any treatment [3]. According to the estimates of the National Sample Survey Office, about 31 per cent of the households in the urban areas relied on shared community or public toilets [3], which are not included into the definition of the improved sanitation. The studies on the metropolitan cities have shown that while the difference between the cities is well described, the disparity between the different regions of the same city is largely ignored [4].

Census 2011 is a decade-old data, and things have surely changed since then.

Decentralisation on paper

Urban local bodies received constitutional recognition through the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act and were assigned 18 functions, including the provision of water supply and public health and sanitation services, which the state could devolve [5]. However, the audit results regarding the implementation of this devolution are not optimistic. An audit compendium compiled by CAG on performance audits in 18 states indicated that out of 18 functions that were to be devolved by law, only four have been completely devolved and exercised by ULBs with full autonomy [6]. This means that a city may have constitutional responsibility for the provision of water and sewage but still have to depend on an outside agency for its delivery.

Money and capacity

It is the responsibility of municipalities without revenue that leads to the problems becoming compounded. According to the report on municipal finance by the Reserve Bank of India for 2024, in which it considered 232 municipal corporations, the revenue generated by these corporations amounts to only about 0.6 percent of GDP in the years 2023-24, while the Centre and the States generate 9.2 percent and 14.6 percent, respectively [8]. Property taxes, which form the backbone of urban revenues, amount to only 0.15 percent of GDP in India, as opposed to 1.7 percent in advanced economies [9]. It has been observed that the share of revenue collected by municipal authorities forms only 32 percent of the total revenues of urban local bodies [7].

Moreover, the extent of dependence varies from state to state. According to the RBI report on municipal corporations, those in the state of Delhi contribute 34.5 percent of the total revenue receipts, whereas in Maharashtra and Gujarat, it amounts to 14.1 percent and 7.8 percent, respectively [10].

Another limitation needs to be pointed out. This is because the RBI paper deals with municipal corporations, which are bigger and more equipped institutions. Janaagraha city systems survey notes that “staff vacancies are higher as one goes from municipal corporations to town panchayats” [11]. The institutions that need the most attention are the ones we know the least about.

Why building more is not enough?

One can argue that this is a reasonable point because grants for infrastructure bring tangible results and capacities take time to develop. This is true and indeed tangible assets do matter. However, the asset requires manpower to run and money to maintain it. The capital expenditure increased from 56.1 per cent of the expenditure of the municipal corporations in 2019/20 to 61.5 per cent in 2023/2024 [10]. This fact shows that assets have been developed. This does not show if these assets have been maintained or distributed evenly, which is what the data on service delivery at the city level must show.

What a better approach would look like?

The weight of the evidence suggests otherwise. States will have to go through the process of devolving the functions as per the 74th Amendment and ensure timely and predictable transfers based on recommendations made by State Finance Commissions. Reforming property taxation with the help of GIS and rationalising user charges is suggested by RBI report as well [8]. None of the above tasks is really glamorous and there is no possibility of getting a ribbon-cutting ceremony for any of them. But these are the things that make sure that the municipality’s water system keeps running even after the ceremonies end.

Better data on public service delivery is one of the solutions as well. Mapping the service outcomes in cities of different size and regions with their finances and personnel will make it hard to treat inequitable access to services as an unfortunate geographic phenomenon. This will demonstrate it for what it truly is, which is the result of policy design.

References

1. Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Rajya Sabha statement, “Access to Potable Water”, Press Information Bureau. https://pib.gov.in/newsite/printrelease.aspx?relid=101803 2. India Water Portal, “Water and facilities flow better into cities” (analysis of Census 2011). https://www.indiawaterportal.org/drinking-water/water-and-facilities-flow-better-cities

3. Wankhade, K. (2015). “Urban sanitation in India: key shifts in the national policy frame”, SAGE Journals. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0956247814567058

4. “Availability, accessibility, and inequalities of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services in Indian metro cities” (2019), ScienceDirect. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2210670719301763

5. Deccan Herald, “Empowering LSGs: the Karnataka quandary” (opinion, discussing the CAG audit of the 74th Constitutional Amendment). https://www.deccanherald.com/amp/story/opinion%2Fempowering-lsgs-the-karnataka-quandary-34050 91

6. ThePrint (4 March 2025), “Over 30 yrs after 74th Amendment, CAG flags ‘weak compliance’ with law empowering urban local bodies”. https://theprint.in/india/governance/over-30-yrs-after-74th-amendment-cag-flags-weak-compliance-wit h-law-empowering-urban-local-bodies/2357067/

7. Vision IAS (15 November 2024), summary of the CAG Compendium of Performance Audits on the 74th Constitutional Amendment. https://visionias.in/current-affairs/news-today/2024-11-15/polity-and-governance/cag-releases-compen dium-of-performance-audits-on-the-implementation-of-the-74th-constitutional-amendment-act-caa-199 2

8. Vision IAS (14 November 2024), summary of the RBI Report on Municipal Finances. https://visionias.in/current-affairs/news-today/2024-11-14/polity-and-governance/report-on-municipal-f inances-released-by-reserved-bank-of-india-rbi

9. PubAdmin Institute, “Exploring the Financial Resources of Local Bodies in India” (drawing on the RBI Report on Municipal Finances, 2024). https://pubadmin.institute/decentralisation-and-local-governance/financial-resources-local-bodies-india

10. Swarajya (19 November 2024), “What This Latest RBI Report Says About Fiscal Health Of India’s Municipal Corporations”. https://swarajyamag.com/economy/what-this-latest-rbi-report-says-about-fiscal-health-of-indias-municipal-corporations

11. Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy, Annual Survey of India’s City Systems (ASICS). https://www.janaagraha.org/asics/

About The Author

Sandra Menon is a first-semester MA Public Policy student at M.O.P. Vaishnav College for Women, Chennai, with a keen interest in environmental and climate governance and sustainable urban development. She currently serves as a Research and Editorial Intern at IMPRI, where she writes Policy Update articles on current Indian policies and reviews submissions from fellow interns. She is excited to be part of DAPRF Cohort 5.0 to strengthen her analytical and data driven approach to policy research.