A Dedicated Urban Transport Cadre

Why in News?

Recently, an issue has been raised in Loksabha regarding urban mobility issues and a proposal was made for the creation of a specialised All India Service Cadre for the urban transport sector.

What is the status urban transport governance India?

• Jurisdiction – It does not find explicit mention in any of the three constitutional lists (Union, State, and Concurrent).
• While urban planning is a state subject, and highways and railways fall under the Union, urban transport cuts across both.
• Nodal ministry – Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (Mo HUA).  In 1986, the subject of urban transport was formally transferred to the Ministry of Urban Development.
• Programmes – Training and capacity building programmes to train town planners and professionals through projects like the Sustainable Urban Transport Project (GEF-SUTP).
• Dedicated officers – The Ministry appointed an Officer on Special Duty (OSD) for Mass Rapid Transit Systems (MRTS) to oversee upcoming metro rail projects.
• These were typically senior railway engineers with deep project execution experience on metro systems.
• This evolved into the OSD for Urban Transport a position occupied by several bureaucrats who played a vital role in piloting policies.
  • National Urban Transport Policy (2006), Metro Policy (2017), and managing centrally funded urban transport projects in several cities.

What are the Needs for integrated planning and management of urban transport?

• Committee’s recommendation – The High-Level Committee on Urban Planning Report (2023), recommended the creation of an All India Urban and Regional Planning Service.
• Governance challenges – Indian cities today face governance issues in the urban transport sector.
• Separated responsibilities – Duties are divided across municipal corporations, metro rail corporations, State Transport Undertakings (STUs), Regional Transport Offices (RTOs), and other autonomous agencies.
  • They works with its own logic, data, and priorities, often without a shared vision.
• Detached workforce – Professionals trained in urban transport engineering, planning, or policy backgrounds are dispersed across consultancies, academia, civil society organisations, and think tanks.
• Lack of distinct officers – While municipal commissioners currently fulfil many of these responsibilities in cities, they have limited tenures and are usually generalist than specialists.
• Absence of a unified administrative structure – Cities lack a dedicated corps of officers for long-term strategies, facilitate coordination among stakeholders, and lend continuity to policy frameworks.
• Many states have not setup their own unified metropolitan transport authorities.

What is Unified Metropolitan Transport Authorities (UMTAs)?

• UMTA – It is a nodal agency that brings together all the agencies working in the area of urban transport in Chennai to ensure seamless delivery of mobility.
• Background – It was recommended by the National Urban Transport Policy (2006), the 12th Five-Year Plan’s Working Group on Urban Transport and the Metro Rail Policy (2017).
• Objective – To act as nodal agencies for coordinated transport governance.
• Established in – Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, and Assam.
• Ongoing proposal – The Delhi government is planning to set up a UMTA to ensure seamless integration and efficient urban mobility.
  • The transport department is working on an Urban Transport Policy under which a unified body and a task force would be set up to coordinate with the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC), and Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), and other transportation-managing authorities.
• Worldwide examples – Cities such as London, Vancouver, Singapore, and Paris have lead institutions equipped with professionals to handle the complexities of urban transport.
  • For example, Transport for London (TfL) is responsible for the management and coordination of urban transport in the city.
• Issues – There are numerous issues faced by UMTA
  • Legal ambiguities
  • Lack of inter-agency coordinating mechanisms
  • Jurisdiction of UMTA
  • Institutional turf protection.

How urban transport cadre could help?

• Universal practices – It could draw techniques from other nations and tailor it to address the complexities of Indian cities.
• Indian administrative model - It would comprise professionals trained in transport policy, planning, finance, and infrastructure management.
• This lies Similar in spirit to the Indian Forest Service or the Indian Statistical Service.
• Expertise – Officers from this cadre could provide proficiency on policy, planning, regulation and operation of urban transport at the city or metropolitan levels.
• Coordination – They could support city governments, help establish and manage UMTAs, and foster coordination among various agencies.
• Availability of training – Administrative training and support could be sought from the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).
• Collaboration – In addition to technical competencies, focus on building collaborations with local leaders and elected representatives.

What are the Challenges in setting up a dedicated cadre?

• Existing concerns – The administrative system already faces challenges that often obstruct good governance.
• Adding a new cadre without addressing existing administrative and capacity constraints could add another layer of difficulty.
• Complexities of issues – Moreover, urban transport is not merely an engineering problem it is a deeply social, political, and environmental one.
• Depends on deeper reforms – The success of such a cadre would depend a lot on enabling the 74th Constitutional Amendment.
•  It should empower urban local authorities to set up bodies like UMTAs.
• Not a magical solution – All India Urban Transport Service is not a single and simple solution to address urban transport problems in Indian cities.
• It could only be seen as a first step towards addressing the issues of capacity and professional expertise in urban transport planning at city or metropolitan level.

What lies ahead?

• India could develop a professional, permanent institutional presence in cities to address complex and evolving urban challenges with the necessary expertise and stability.
• Government could make institutional reform that need to be responsive to local context, adaptability, and citizen participation.

Reference

The Indian Express| Special Cadre for Urban Transport in India