How about Narayana Murthy as CEO of Bangalore?

How about Narayana Murthy as CEO of Bangalore, Ratan Tata as CEO of Mumbai and YC Deveshwar as CEO of Delhi? This sounds like a radical idea but that’s what citizens in these cities are hoping for since the three CEOs possess great managerial skills that are needed to transform Indian cities which are fast deteriorating into urban sprawls.

It’s true that that the Indian economy is growing at a break-neck speed at over eight per cent a year, and matching infrastructure to support this growth is never going to be easy. Rural poverty and fast population growth have seen mass migration and changed the once beautiful cities and towns into mass refugee camps.

So, tough challenges need innovative solutions. Knowing India’s high corruption levels and the rural politicians’ main objective to plunder cities’ wealth, there is a need today for a major systemic change. Citizen groups are campaigning for de-linking provincial (state) government and city administration. Currently, for example, the Bangalore city mayor reports to the state government and has little autonomy to effect change. Most of the tax collected in the city is spent elsewhere and very little is ploughed back. City corporations, in fact, have to borrow from financial institutions to fund basic infrastructure projects.

The suggestion doing the rounds is to make cities independent of the states even if they continue to function as their political capitals. The mayor or the CEO of the city can be directly elected by the people of the city, as it happens in New York. This way, cities can be sure of what percentage of their revenues can be spent and what can be used for rural development. This will ensure greater accountability. Some Indian cities such as Chennai and Kolkata have some kind of autonomy and the difference is evident.

With constant media campaigning and pressure from the industry, the central government must be made to effect this systemic change quickly by an amendment in the constitution. Governance is the biggest issue under consideration today and a more accountable administration can provide it better. Corruption can be brought down significantly with an independent city mayor. This will also make it easier for businesses to function better and cities can attract more investment since investors wouldn’t need to go to multiple points for approvals. Resistance from politicians will be there but it’s time citizens and businesses pushed for change.

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