Infosys founder appeals to leaders to improve urban governance

Infosys founder appeals to leaders to improve urban governance

The Hindu

Transparency, fairness, and accountability have to be ensured, says Narayana Murthy

# State will emulate Rajasthan, West Bengal: Dharam Singh
# Government not against solving problems in Bangalore: Deve Gowda



A PARTNERSHIP: Chief Minister N. Dharam Singh flanked by former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda (left) and N.R. Narayana Murthy, founder and chief mentor of Infosys, at a presentation on regional planning in Bangalore on Saturday. — Photo: K. M urali Kumar

BANGALORE: N.R. Narayana Murthy, founder and chief mentor of Infosys, on Saturday suggested to Chief Minister N. Dharam Singh, his Cabinet colleagues, and former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda to implement measures for improving urban governance for correcting disparity in growth between cities and villages and tackling infrastructure bottlenecks.

Mr. Murthy, Ramesh Ramanathan and Swathi Ramanathan, campaign coordinators of Janagraha, made a six-page presentation on "Karnataka regional planning for urban-rural partnership activities" at "Krishna", the home office of the Chief Minister. They said that unlike rural decentralisation, urban decentralisation has barely made a beginning, and regional planning structures have not been constituted. Cities have strong economic energy but poor governance structure. Rural areas have low economic energy but are blessed with a good governance structure, Mr.

Murthy told presspersons after a two-hour-long interaction with Mr. Dharam Singh and Mr. Deve Gowda. The presentation made by Mr. Ramanathan is applicable to all cities and towns in the State, and "it is beyond Bangalore and infrastructure," Mr. Murthy said.

He said transparency, fairness, and accountability are features of good governance, and the administrative machinery must incorporate them in its functioning to deliver goods and services to the people. Municipal laws must be amended for improving governance of urban bodies, he said.

Mr. Murthy said there is no opportunity for citizens to participate in urban governance. He suggested formation of district planning committees (DPCs) for semi-urban areas, municipal planning committee for urbanised areas, and clear demarcation of municipal planning committees and DPCs."

The Government is at risk of moving too slowly, Mr. Murthy said. "Infrastructure bottlenecks and environmental issues are major urban challenges. City corporations and municipalities must also address issues of poor quality of life for urban poor (housing, water, and sanitation) and increasing rural-urban migration.

The funds required for improving urban governance have to be worked out. However, all these are not at the expense of rural people," he said.

`A complex process'

The Infosys founder said economic growth is closely linked to urbanisation, which is a complex process. The State has the potential to increase software exports from Rs. 30,000 crores to Rs. 1 lakh crores and employment opportunities from three lakh to one million. There is a golden opportunity before the State, and the Government must take steps for improving its machinery, he said.

Mr. Dharam Singh said Rajasthan and West Bengal have initiated measures to improve urban governance. A team of officials will be sent to these States to study the reforms taken up by them.

"Today's meeting was very fruitful and educative," he said and appreciated the initiative taken by Mr. Murthy.

Mr. Deve Gowda said there is a wrong impression that the coalition government is not making efforts to solve infrastructure problems in Bangalore. The Government is not against solving the problems. The presentation made by Mr. Murthy and Mr. Ramanathan will help to tackle problems, he said.

Industries and Finance Minister P.G.R. Sindhia, Public Works Minister H.D. Revanna, Municipal Administration Minister S.R. More, and Chief Secretary B.K. Das, and top officials of various departments attended the meeting.