The Lift Line
“Dreaming by a politician is not planning. It privileges charisma over diagnosis, visibility over equity, and legacy over expertise.”
Why This Editorial Matters for Your Exam
Fahad Zuberi, a PhD scholar at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who writes on cities, offers in The Indian Express of 1 October 2026 a sharp post-mortem of the Smart Cities Mission (SCM). Its value for aspirants lies in linking a flagship scheme to a constitutional theme: the weakness of urban local bodies despite the 74th Amendment. It is a critical view; balance it with the mission’s achievements in your answer.
GS Paper 2: Devolution of powers and finances up to local levels and challenges therein; government policies and interventions. GS Paper 1: Urbanisation, its problems and remedies.
Background and Context
The Smart Cities Mission.
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Launched | 25 June 2015, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs |
| Cities | 100, chosen through a City Challenge competition |
| Strategy | Area-Based Development (ABD): retrofitting, redevelopment, greenfield; plus pan-city technology solutions |
| Delivery | Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs), companies under the Companies Act, 2013, with the State/UT and the urban local body as promoters |
| Status | The mission has ended (as background, its deadline was extended to 31 March 2025) |
The evidence the author cites.
| Study | Finding |
|---|---|
| Sarbeswar Praharaj (2025) | Interventions reached under 10% of the population across the 100 cities; in 41 cities the ABD area was under 10% of municipal territory and 5% of the population; in Ludhiana, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, about 0.5% of the city got about 20% of investment |
| Bajpai and Biberman (2021) | About 40% of Smart City transport funding went to roads and parking, only 2% to buses |
The constitutional frame. The 74th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992 added Part IXA (Articles 243P to 243ZG) and the Twelfth Schedule (18 functions, including urban planning, roads and bridges, water supply, public health and sanitation, slum improvement).
The Analysis
1. Vagueness as a feature. “Smartness” was undefined, which let governments present very different projects as proof of modernity: an effective public-relations machine.
2. Showcase over coverage. ABD concentrated money in small precincts that could be photographed as transformation; the enclave was then presented as the city.
3. Working around the third tier. SPVs were justified by low municipal capacity, but instead of building that capacity, they bypassed it, reproducing the core weakness of Indian urbanism: fiscally dependent, decision-poor local bodies.
4. A template, not a diagnosis. Chennai’s floods, Surat’s industry, Guwahati’s growth, Jaipur’s heritage and Bengaluru’s mobility needed different answers. Spending skewed to roads, parking and dashboards rather than buses, drains and housing.
5. Citizens as an audience. Drone shots and inaugurations included citizens visually while excluding them from planning. Consultation came after the direction had already been “dreamt”.
6. What works. Ground-up programmes such as Odisha’s Jaga Mission and the alliance of SPARC, NSDF and Mahila Milan were less photogenic but democratic and durable.
Data and Institutions Vault
Prelims-grade facts:
Smart Cities Mission:
- Launched 25 June 2015; 100 cities via a City Challenge; Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
- Implemented through SPVs under the Companies Act, 2013.
- Strategy: Area-Based Development plus pan-city solutions (for example, Integrated Command and Control Centres).
Urban local government:
- 74th Amendment, 1992: Part IXA, Articles 243P to 243ZG; Twelfth Schedule, 18 functions.
- Article 243W: powers and responsibilities of municipalities (as the State legislature may provide).
- Article 243Y: State Finance Commission reviews municipal finances.
Ground-up example:
- Jaga Mission (Odisha): land rights and upgrading for urban slum dwellers, with community participation.
⚠️ Watch the trap: The Twelfth Schedule (municipalities) has 18 subjects; the Eleventh Schedule (panchayats) has 29. Devolution of these functions is at the discretion of State legislatures.
The Debate
For the author’s view. Evidence on concentration of spending and on bypassing local bodies supports the charge that the mission privileged visibility over equity and local democracy.
The complications. Command centres proved useful during the pandemic and for traffic and emergency management; SPVs brought project-management skills where municipalities lacked them; and competition among cities spurred planning.
The balanced verdict. The mission produced assets but not stronger cities. The next generation of urban policy should channel money through empowered, accountable local bodies, with participatory planning and priority to everyday services.
How to Think About This
Separate the project from the institution. A scheme can build good projects and still weaken the institutions meant to run the city. In any urban question, ask who decides, who pays and who maintains after the ribbon is cut.
Diagram-in-Words
Takeaway Box
- SCM: 2015, 100 cities, ABD and pan-city projects, delivered by SPVs.
- Evidence: under 10% of population reached; 40% of transport money to roads and parking, 2% to buses.
- Core flaw: bypassed urban local bodies (74th Amendment, Twelfth Schedule).
- Better models: Odisha’s Jaga Mission; SPARC, NSDF, Mahila Milan.
- Lesson: aspiration tested against evidence and local knowledge.
Sources: The Indian Express, Smart Cities Mission, Constitution of India, Part IXA
Source: The Smart Cities Mission Was a Dream, and That Was the Problem: Showcase Enclaves, Bypassed Local Bodies — Ujiyari.com | Free UPSC & State PCS Editorial Analysis
