Madhya Pradesh commercial capital Indore has topped the municipal performance index (MPI) ranking of 2020 in the Million+ (over 10 lakh) population category, highlighting the effective municipal services delivery in the city. State capital Bhopal has been placed third in the country, while Chhattisgarh capital Raipur is at number 9.
The MPI was introduced for the first time by the ministry of housing in 2020 along with the ease of living index (EoLI). Indore has also made it to the ninth spot in the EoLI ranking, though it slipped one position compared to the 2019 ranking.
Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) Hardeep Singh Puri announced the final rankings of EoLI and MPI on Thursday in an online event. Durga Shanker Mishra, secretary, MoHUA, and senior officials of the ministry were present in the event.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan congratulated citizens, people’s representatives and administration of Indore and Bhopal for the achievement. Chouhan said the main objective of the MP government was to improve the standard of living of every citizen and make development oriented atmosphere available to them. All the civic bodies should seek inspiration from Indore and Bhopal to come out with better performance, the CM was quoted as saying in a tweet by his office.
The CMO also tweeted to say that Union minister Hardeep Puri had given the credit of the performance of Indore and Bhopal to the thought process and hardworking attitude of CM Chouhan. Puri also said the constant top rank of Indore in Swachhata Sarvekshan (sanitation survey) was also a result of this. The CMO quoted Puri as saying that the CM, departmental minister, mayor and municipal commissioner play a major role in the development of a city and Madhya Pradesh is a good example of this.
While speaking to THE WEEK, Indore Municipal commissioner Pratibha Pal said it was a big achievement and highlighted the effective municipal services delivery in Indore. She said there were several parameters on which the rankings were based, including drinking water, sewage system, ‘e-nagar palika’ and others. She added that efforts would be made to continue with the good work in the city.
Bengaluru tops in Ease of Living Index
Bengaluru emerged as the top performer in the Million+ category, followed by Pune, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Surat, Navi Mumbai, Coimbatore, Vadodara, Indore, and Greater Mumbai. In the ‘less than million’ category, Shimla topped, followed by Bhubaneshwar, Silvassa, Kakinada, Salem, Vellore, Gandhinagar, Gurugram, Davangere, and Tiruchirappalli.
In the Million+ category of MPI, Indore topped, followed by Surat and Bhopal. In the ‘less than million category’, New Delhi Municipal Council has emerged as the leader, followed by Tirupati and Gandhinagar.
The ease of living index (EoLI) is an assessment tool that evaluates the quality of life and the impact of various initiatives for urban development. The assessment also incorporates the residents' view on the services provided by city administration through a Citizen Perception Survey. The Municipal Performance Index (MPI) seeks to examine local government practice in municipalities across areas of services, finance, policy, technology and governance, a PIB release said
The MPI evaluation framework covers 20 varied sectors vis. Education, Health, Water and Wastewater, Solid Waste Management and Sanitation, Registration & Permits, Infrastructure, Revenue Management, Expenditure Management, Fiscal Responsibility, Fiscal Decentralisation, Digital Governance, Digital Access, Digital Literacy, Plan Preparation, Plan Implementation, Plan Enforcement, Transparency & Accountability, Human Resource, Participation and Effectiveness, the release added.
