Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority has just 200 employees in eight
departments to look after as many as 179 villages.
Sample this: The area under the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) is about 466 square kilometres. It has around 35,000 employees to look after its six million residents.
Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (AUDA) has around 1294 (with AMC area) square kilometres under its jurisdiction. But it has only 200 employees, including security staff, to look after the development of 179 villages!
Are you surprised with the AUDA manpower figures - 200 employees in eight departments as against the AMC's 35,000, despite the fact that it has double the geographical area under its jurisdiction than the AMC? Well, the discrimination in the lopsided manpower allocation to the two civic bodies has created a buzz at AUDA at least, as the staff crunch is being seen as a major reason behind the delay in implementation of proposed civic work in its area.
"Don't compare the work done by the AMC and that by the AUDA, as the AUDA doesn't have enough manpower and we also get villages which don't even have basic civic amenities. While the areas merged into the AMC have basic civic amenities as they were earlier with the AUDA," said a senior AUDA official.
If you analyse the data further, an engineer in AUDA has to look after around nine villages, as there are only 22 engineers including a chief engineer, an assistant engineer and a deputy assistant engineer, for 179 villages. In the same way, an engineer in the water supply department has to look after 29 villages simultaneously. If this was not enough, the AUDA has to look after the AMC areas as well, as it remains the final authority to study and revise town planning schemes and forward them to the state government for a final nod.
Interestingly, staff of gram panchayats in the areas merged with the AUDA are not considered as AUDA staff and neither do they share the AUDA's burden of work.
"I don't think the AUDA is slow in implementing civic work in its area. Earlier, it took us seven to eight years to prepare one development plan and now it takes us around two years. But yes, I agree with the fact that the state government should increase the staff so that developmental work can be implemented faster.”
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