SR
Rao as Municipal Commissioner of Surat
faced the challenge of overcoming immense gravity,
cynicism and perceived helplessness in transforming
a plague-ridden city into the country’s 2nd
cleanest city in just 20 months. Some transformations
he brought about are:
Population
covered by sanitation from 63% to 96.5%
Population
covered by protected water from 60% to 95%
Increased
daily garbage collection to 98% of total garbage
Increased
street lighting to 98.2%
Out
of tax arrears of Rs.102 crores, achieved 97% recoveries
Brought
about citizen auditing and increased civic pride
to the extent that citizens voluntarily demolished
own property to help in road widening
Rao
achieved this through building capacity in his
people by demolishing vertical hierarchies, built
trust in the public by going after the biggest,
most powerful defaulters following his policy
of beginning regulation from the top where the
law never reaches and of beginning development
from the bottom where benefits rarely reach. He
also created commitment and trust within his organization
by enforcing discipline from the top and rewarding
from the bottom.
The
effect of Rao’s 20 months in Surat is still
felt 10 years after he left it with Surat continuing
to be a model city with tremendous civic pride
and citizen-politician-municipality cooperation.
