The real assessment of the progress of any country is not made from its big metropolises, but from the condition of its cities, towns and villages. The most basic facilities connected with the daily life of people, roads, sewerage, drinking water, street lights, cleanliness, parks and other public facilities, are the responsibility of Municipal Corporations, Municipal Councils and Nagar Panchayats. If these institutions themselves are financially and administratively weak, then the entire process of development gets affected.
In the last two decades, the expansion of cities has happened very rapidly. New colonies have been settled, number of vehicles has increased, population has increased and expectations of people have also increased considerably than before. But in comparison to this, there has not been improvement in the financial resources, technical capability and administrative structure of local governments in that proportion. As a result, many cities are still struggling for basic facilities. Compared to rapidly growing cities, the capacity of Municipal Corporations and Councils is not increasing. Development works are affected due to shortage of technical staff and lack of coordination between departments. Often a newly built road is dug up after some time for sewerage, water, electricity or telecom lines and then rebuilt. With this cycle continuing continuously, there is wastage of government money and common people have to face unnecessary difficulties.
Financial weakness not only slows down development works, but it also creates opportunity for corruption. When resources are less and needs keep increasing, then sometimes priorities start being decided on the basis of other influences instead of public interest. Small irregularities slowly become part of the system. The biggest loss of this is to the common citizen, who has to compromise with incomplete facilities.
Even bigger concern is that the world is changing very fast. The world is moving forward towards Smart City, Digital Administration, Sustainable Urban Development, Modern Transport System and Environment Friendly Infrastructure, while many of our cities are still stuck in basic problems like broken roads, choked sewerage and haphazard development. Its impact is not limited to facilities only, but also on investment, employment and standard of living.
People give regular income to local governments in the form of various local taxes and other fees. Therefore it is natural to expect that this money will be spent on roads, cleanliness, water supply, drainage and other public facilities. But when problems remain as they are for years, then weakening of people's trust is inevitable. Due to this lack of trust, today in many areas residents are forming their own committees and getting roads, drains or other small development works done at their own level. This initiative of people may be a sign of social responsibility, but at the same time it also shows the weakness of the government system. When public works start being done at private level, then they are often made according to the convenience of some people instead of the needs of the whole area. Somewhere barricades are put up citing the road built by themselves, somewhere a situation like informal encroachment on public paths is created. This fragmentation of public infrastructure shows the failure of the system due to which people have to find their own solutions.
However, it is also true that the cause of every problem is not only lack of money. Where financial resources are limited, transparent use of available money, timely completion of projects, accountability and modern management are equally necessary. Therefore, only increasing the budget is not the solution, but ensuring transparent, honest and effective use of that budget is equally essential. The need of the hour is that local governments should be given adequate financial assistance according to their responsibilities, they should be strengthened with modern technology, trained human resources and digital monitoring system. Also, information about every development work and expenditure incurred on it should be made public so that people's trust is rebuilt and accountability increases.
Local governments are the closest and most important link of democracy. If this very link remains weak, then development of any state or country cannot be sustainable. Only when local governments get the required resources and an accountable system for their proper use, then our cities and towns will be able to face the challenges of the future firmly and will be able to move ahead in the race of development.

- Davinder Kumar