Centre seeks to revamp child care scheme in urban areas - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

Centre seeks to revamp child care scheme in urban areas.

NITI Aayog will develop draft policy, which will be circulated to the Ministries for consultations

Urban areas are likely to receive a renewed focus under the government’s ICDS programme, which provides for anganwadis or day-care centres across the country for delivery of nutrition and pre-school education.

The government’s think tank, the NITI Aayog, has prepared a draft working paper, which once approved would be circulated to different ministries for consultations. These include the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Ministry of Women and Child Development, the Ministry of Urban Housing and Affairs and the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation.
“Health and ICDS models that work in rural areas may not work in urban areas because of higher population density, transportation challenges and migration,” a government official familiar with the deliberations, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told The Hindu.
‘Other models’
“Because of these issues it may not be possible for a community worker to keep in contact with the beneficiaries, which she is able to achieve in rural settings. We have seen some models in India, and in other countries and we are trying to synthesize learnings from those,” the official added.
According to government data from 2018, of the 14 lakh anganwadis across the country there are only 1.38 lakh anganwadis in urban areas. The Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) provide for anganwadis or day-care centres which deliver a package of six services including supplementary nutrition, pre-school non-formal education, nutrition and health education, immunisation, health check-up and referral services to hospitals.
Urban challenges
The first-ever pan-India survey on the nutrition status of children, highlighted that malnutrition among children in urban India is characterised by relatively poor levels of breastfeeding as mothers have to travel long distances for work. It also found a higher prevalence of obesity because of relative prosperity and lifestyle patterns, along with iron and Vitamin D deficiency. Children in rural parts on the other hand suffered from higher levels of stunting, were more underweight, and wasting and the lower consumption of milk products were more prevalent.
Children in urban areas were overweight and obese as indicated by subscapular skinfold thickness (SSFT) for their age. While 14.5% of children in the age group of 5 to 9 years in cities had higher SSFT, than 5.3% in rural areas, 10.4% of adolescents surveyed in urban areas in the age group of 10-19 had higher SSFT, than 4.3% in rural areas
Avani Kapur, a policy researcher, said improving infrastructure in urban areas would be key as the government embarks on improving service delivery under the ICDS programme.
“One thing which will be crucial for anganwadi services in urban areas is strengthening safety and infrastructure,” said Ms. Kapur, Director at Accountability Initiative of the Centre for Policy Research.
“The other critical thing that needs some serious thinking with respect to ICDS strengthening is the role we expect from the anganwadi centre (AWC) and workers. With talk on merging the pre-school education component with schools in some States — we need to re-imagine their role. Nutrition is one part but we should not forget the support that the AWC provides to the community as a safe place where kids can be left and services availed,” she added. (Source: The Hindu)


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Centre seeks to revamp child care scheme in urban areas.

3 of world’s 10 fastest-growing urban areas are in Kerala: Economist ranking - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

3 of world’s 10 fastest-growing urban areas are in Kerala: Economist ranking.

Cities from Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat find a mention in the fastest-growing urban areas across the world in the last five years in the EIU survey.

Three cities in Kerala feature among the fastest-growing urban areas across the world, according to a ranking released by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) survey. The three cities — Malappuram, Kozhikode and Kollam — are the only places from India to feature in the top 10 rankings.
While Malappuram is the fastest growing city over the past five years with a 44.1 per cent change, Kozhikode occupies the fourth slot with a change percentage of 34.5 per cent. Kollam, the third city, has jumped 31.1 per cent, the ranking says.
Thrissur from Kerala also finds a mention in the list at 13th position. Thrissur’s ranking has seen a 30.2 per cent jump between 2015 and 2020. Gujarat’s Surat comes in at 26th position with 26.7 per cent change, while Tamil Nadu’s Tiruppur is ranked the 30th fastest growing city in the world in the last five years.

Other than India, the top 10 ranking includes three cities from China and one from Nigeria, Oman, UAE and Vietnam each.
In another ranking released by EIU in September last year, Vienna grabbed the top spot on the Global Liveability Index for 2019. The Austrian capital, which attracts tourists for its classical music scene and imperial history but also has abundant green spaces and excellent public services, last year ended Melbourne’s seven-year run at the top of the survey of 140 cities, helped by an improved security outlook across Europe.
The EIU is part of The Economist magazine and provides forecasting and advisory services through research and analysis. (Source: The Indian Express)


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3 of world’s 10 fastest-growing urban areas are in Kerala: Economist ranking.

NITI Aayog Organises Capacity Building Programme for Urban Water Management - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

NITI Aayog Organises Capacity Building Programme for Urban Water Management.

Organised in collaboration with Singapore Cooperation Enterprise & TF International.

NITI Aayog organized todaythe Second Phase of Urban Management Programme on ‘Water Recycling and Reuse’.in collaboration with the Singapore Cooperation Enterprise & TF Internationalat India Habitat Centre in the capital today. CEO, NITI Aayog, Amitabh Kant,Secretary, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation,ParameswaranIyer, along with High Commissioner of Singapore to India Lim ThuanKuan, CEO, Singapore Cooperation Enterprise, Kong WyMun, and CE of Temasek Foundation International,Benedict Cheong were present on this occasion.
Highlighting the importance of this capacity building programme on management of water,particularly its recycling & reuse, as crucial for future urban planning and policy, Amitabh Kant said that attaining high rates of economic growth for India will directly be a function of the sustainable use of water. He mentioned that NITI’s Composite Water Management Index, launched earlier this year, is a step toward increasing awareness and promoting best practises in water management throughout the country.
Delivering the Inaugural Address, ParameswaranIyer hailed the workshop as timely and spoke of the need for effective cooperation between the centre and state in water management. He emphasised need for all stakeholders to take ownership of water as a natural resource to ensure sustainable use of water. He emphasised the need to take steps to address solid and liquid waste management in 4000 Census Towns and peri-urban areas.
In order to develop recycled water as part of sustainable and diverse water portfolio, NITI Aayog has enteredinto a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Singapore Cooperation Enterprise - Temasek Foundation International to launch the Second Phase of Urban Management Programme on ‘Water Recycling and Reuse’.
Eight States/UTs -Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Meghalaya, Puducherry and West Bengalwere selected for the capacity building workshops through a Challenge Method. The participants of the workshops included the senior officials from Municipal and parastatal bodies of these eight States/UTs.
The programme launch was also attended by senior officials from the Central and State Governments, and representatives from the academia and think-tanks. The programme launch also showcased the best practices in the urban water sector in India besides discussing the challenges.
The capacity building programme featured experience sharing by consultants from Singapore, who were associated in the successful transformation of the urban waterscape over the last four decades. The broader capacity building engagement with SCE also includes a series of interactive workshops, advisory sessions and an expository visit to Singapore.
Background:
India is experiencing rapid urbanisation. The urban population has gone up from 29 crore in 2001 to 37.7 crore in 2011. Due to rapid urbanisation, water demand in urban areas is increasing rapidly.The water situation in metropolitan cities is particularly exacerbating, where the people in such cities face acute water shortage. Changing climate and its impact on temporal and spatial variability of rainfall, is a further deterrent to timely and sufficient availability of water resources.
In this backdrop, concerted efforts have been made by the Government of India to implement rainwater harnessing schemes for groundwater improvement, however, there is an urgent need for water portfolio diversification through introducing alternate sustainable water sources.
The recycle and reuse of water presents itself as a potential solution for ensuring assured water supply in the Cities, on a sustainable basis. Recycling and reuse has been widely practised in Singapore, where every drop of water is recycled for reuse. Such an approach not only reduces pressure on other water sources, but also offers a sustainable solution for water resources management.
While the AMRUT scheme drives the cities to undertake water supplies on a business model, yet the water source augmentation remains a challenge for ensuring assured water supply through the future. Nearly 30% of urban water supply and 70% of rural water supply in the country comes from groundwater, which is depleting day by day. (Source:pib)


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NITI Aayog Organises Capacity Building Programme for Urban Water Management.

Indo-German MOU on technical cooperation under Sustainable Urban Development programme & Smart Cities in India - Pragny IAS Academy -- news analysis

Indo-German MOU on technical cooperation under Sustainable Urban Development programme & Smart Cities in India

To develop & apply concepts for provision of Urban basic services & housing in Smart Cities Technical cooperation to support approaches in integrated planning, affordable housing & basic services: Hardeep Puri.

An Indo-German MOU has been signed for an “Implementation Agreement in Sustainable Urban Development and Smart Cities in India”, here today. The objective of the programme is to develop and apply concepts for sustainable urban development about the provision of urban basic services and housing in selected cities and Smart Cities in India. The Agreement was signed between Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs(MoHUA), Government of India and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit(GIZ) GmbH, India on behalf of the Government of Federal Republic of Germany in the presence of Shri. Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State (IC) for Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India and Dr. Martin Ney, the German Ambassador to India. The agreement was signed by Shri. Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and Ms. Annette Röckel, Deputy Country Director and Ms. Tanja Feldmann, Cluster Coordinator, Sustainable Urban and Industrial Development, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH India.
Speaking after signing of the MOU, Shri Hardeep Puri said that the technical cooperation measure will support approaches for sustainable urban development in the area of integrated planning, provision of affordable housing and basic services with particular focus on water, waste water and solid waste management and mobility. The ‘Sustainable Urban Development Programme - Smart Cities in India’ project is supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and jointly implemented by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). The project support to Government of India will seek to achieve the set target of promoting sustainable urban development under the national urban missions/programmes such as Smart Cities Mission, linking with the Sustainable Development Goal No. 11 ‘Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable’. The German contribution to the project is up to 8 million EUR. The project will continue for a duration of three years (starting from 2018 till December 2020).
MoHUA and GIZ will jointly work on implementing Government of India’s missions, the optimisation of the national orientation framework and the dissemination of practice-proven approaches on sustainable urban development. Amongst others, focus is given to integrated planning approaches for the three Smart Cities with development of local innovations and pilot approaches pertaining to the provision of affordable housing and basic services within the three cities. Experiences and learnings from previous technical cooperation measures in the area of the provision of housing and sanitation as well as solid waste management will be integrated into the new project.


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Indo-German MOU on technical cooperation under Sustainable Urban Development programme & Smart Cities in India

Only 28% of Urban India lives in rented houses: Economic Survey 2018- Pragnya IAS Academy -News Analysis

Only 28% of Urban India lives in rented houses: Economic Survey 2018

The figure is a steep decline from the scenario in 1961 when 54% of Urban India used to live in a rented house instead of own house, shows Economic Survey 2017-18

A mere 28% of India’s city dwellers live in a rented house, which is a steep decline from the scenario in 1961 when a majority of them (54%) used to live in a rented house instead of owning one, according to a longitudinal analysis of India’s housing pattern undertaken by the Economic Survey 2017-18. (See Chart 1)
While India is in the middle of a “Housing for All” mission, which aims to build 3 million houses in urban areas alone, the survey flags the cost of over-reliance on house ownership at the expense of other models of dwelling.
While reliance on renting as a practice has declined, there has been a dramatic rise in the number of houses lying vacant in cities across the country.
According to the survey’s analysis of census figures, 12% of the total housing stock in urban India remains vacant. Mumbai has 500,000 vacant houses, followed by Delhi which has 300,000 vacant houses. (See Chart 2)
Clearly, there are deep systemic problems in the rental market and addressing them is important for solving India’s enormous housing challenge, the analysis pointed out.
Tying the issue of housing with impediments to migration and economic activity, the analysis observes that rental housing is important for both horizontal and vertical mobility as it allows people to access suitable housing without actually having to buy it.
“Across the income spectrum, rental housing is an important foothold into a city for new arrivals, until they are able to, or choose to, purchase their own homes. For rural migrants, in particular, whose financial portfolios may already be tied up in land and livestock, it is access to shelter that is more important than investing in another lumpy asset that is subject to local market risk,” the survey said. However, rent control, unclear property rights and difficulties with contract enforcement along with India’s encouragement of home ownership through socioeconomic policies have resulted in the present scenario.
India’s housing requirements are “complex” and a broader set of policies are needed than just building new houses and encouraging ownership, said the survey. (Source:Livemint)

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Only 28% of Urban India lives in rented houses: Economic Survey 2018