such handicaps, the JNNURM succeeded in containing
the drinking water problem significantly and the sewage
and city transport problems, moderately, though in solid
waste management, it could not make any significant
impact.
Despite the partial success of the JNNURM, a key
outcome has been the realisation that even with less
than 5 per cent of the required level of investment, the
quality of urban services could be improved significantly.
That too, when the Central and the State Governments
contributed the investments almost entirely, with very
little contribution made either by the municipalities or
the users. Most cities could not enforce user charges ef-
fectively, even though they swore to do so as required
under the JNNURM Guidelines.Finance Commission Grants
The Fourteenth Central Finance Commission (CFC) has
recommended grants of the order of Rs. 84,000 crore to
be made available to the 4,000 and odd municipalities
for the 5-year period 2015-2020. Municipalities could
deploy this grant to part-fund their infrastructure pro-
jects. This would be in addition to the grants made avail-
able by the State Governments under the awards of their
respective State Finance Commissions, which could be
of even a higher order than the CFC grants.Sale of recycled waste
Most municipalities treat the waste as a conventional
burden, which is fit only for landfill. In the process, they
are not only missing on the economic returns that the
waste could offer, but are also letting the waste become
an environmental hazard. The green waste can be con-
verted into fuel or manure, household kitchen waste
into manure, plastic waste into oil and methane, con-
struction & demolition waste into bricks, while paper
and most metals can be recycled. Sewage can be recycled
into water fit for safe use for non-potable purposes such
as horticulture, industrial use or in construction activi-ties. In all such cases, as a thumb rule, at least 40 per cent
of operations and maintenance costs can be recovered.User charges
Until about 10 years ago, city managers used to worry
about popular resistance to levy of user charges. Pursu-
antly, most cities did not levy water or waste manage-
ment charges or levied it at nominal rates. The JN-
NURM insisted on 100 percent cost recovery of
operational expenses as a pre-condition for sanction of
central grants, which led not only to imposition of user
charges, but also to the astonishing realisation that peo-
ple were willing to pay for services. As a thumb rule, im-
position of Rs. 200 per month on a household of modest
means of, say, 1,000 square ft and proportionately
higher amounts for more affluent units, would be
enough to recover around 60 per cent of the operational
costs for water supply, sewage management and solid
waste management, each.Betterment levies
Any infrastructure project enhances the economic pros-
pects of the land and buildings in its influence zone. Ac-Guest Column
The Fourteenth Central Finance
Commission has recommended
grants of Rs. 84,000 crore to
the 4,000 odd municipalities