>From " The Idea Of Delhi ", by Romi Khosla. The book is from Marg
>Publications, Army and Navy, Esplanade, Bombay, a nice office/outlet to visit.
It had become evident to the nation's leaders that to enable equitable
access to urban facities, the State would have to play a very substantial role
in restraining speculative interests. Land was percieved as a resource to be
controlled in order to ensure equitable development, with guidelines laid down
by a Master Plan. The plan called for 60,000 acres to be acquired and made
available " in adequate quanties, at the right times and at reasonable prices
to both public authorities and individuals ".
Paradoxically, however, the very organizational characteristics of Nehru's
Congress party undermined the effective omplementation of any redistributive
policies pursued through institutional channels. A reform minded party had a
structure that relied solely on established local leaders - dominant landlords,
merchants and businessmen - to organise mass support. This tendency helped
preserve and strenghten established patterns of dominance. Their power resulted
in reform policy having very little effect.
The Delhi Development Authority largely ignored its public housing
programme in the initial few years. A new spawned system of patronage
infiltrated the system of planning and resource allocation. Politicians as
patrons were able to offer concrete benefits in exchange for electoral support,
thus building up large vote banks. The 110 unauthorized colonies that existed
in 1962 had increased to 470 by 1980, and occupied 3000 hectares - a third of
the area meant for Master Plan housing.
The politicization of the bureaucracy and key institutions effectively
subverted the formal processes of planning and asset allocation. With policies
aimed at ensuring political returns, only, rather than the beneficail
development of the city itself, Delhi has increasingly been used as an element
of political capital making.
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