What gets measured, performs better. That could be one reason why municipal finance in India has seen a secular decline in the share of its own revenues to total receipts from 63 percent in 2002–03 to 53 percent in 2007–08 and further to 43 percent by 2017–18. The resultant gap between need and resources is met by Union government transfers (12 percent of which7 percent were Union Finance Commissions grants and 5 percent were other grants), state government transfers (33 percent), and borrowings (2 percent). Municipal governance remains below the radar at the national level. Most states view municipalities as their deconcentrated local offices not a third level of government. Even the 74th Amendment to the Constitution, 1992, circumscribed their autonomy versus state governments.
Indian cities—Stunted by partial democratisation | ORF (orfonline.org)
