Dimapur/Kohima, March 4: State capital Kohima has improved its ranking in the Ease of Living Index (EoLI) from being the second most ‘unlivable’ city in India ranking 110 out of 111 in 2018, but the only ‘Smart City’ in the State still remains far from being livable ranking a dismal 49 (49.87 score) out of 62 cities with less than a million population.
In fact, it can also be said that Kohima is the 13th most ‘unlivable’ city out of the 62 cities under a million population assessed on ease of living parameters.
In cities with a population of less than a million, Shimla was ranked the highest followed by Bhubaneswar while Muzaffarpur in Bihar had the lowest score and was ranked 62, according to the Ease of Living Index 2020 prepared by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, which was released today.
Bengaluru emerged the top performer in the category of ‘population more than a million, followed by Pune and Ahmedabad. The ease of living is the lowest in Bareilly, Dhanbad and Srinagar, ranked 47, 48 & 49 in the category of population with more than a million.
There were 49 cities in the more than a million category and 62 cities in the less than a million population category.
The slight improvement in the ranking of Kohima in the Ease of Living Index appears to do more with its high score in the Citizen Perception Survey, in which Kohima was ranked 27 out of the 62 cities in the under a million population category. The Citizens Survey under the theme “My City My Pride” was assigned a weightage of 30% under EoLI launched on 24th January and which went on till 29th February 2019.
Except in the Citizen Perception Survey, Kohima showed dismal ranking in the other pillars: Quality of life – 40, Economic ability – 62 and Sustainability – 47.
In fact in ‘Economic ability’, Kohima was last (ranked 62) with a score of 0.55. In the category ‘Level of economic ability’, Kohima was again ranked 62 (0.52 score), while in ‘Economic opportunity’, the city was ranked 53 with a score of 0.59.
Under ‘Quality of life’, in the category ‘Education’, Kohima was ranked 12, ‘Health’ a dismal 54, ‘Housing & Shelter’ – 48, ‘WASH & SWM’ – 59, Mobility – 11, Safety & security – 12, Recreation – 13.
Under ‘Sustainability’, in the category ‘Environment’ Kohima was ranked 54, Green spaces & buildings – 40, Energy consumption – 34 and City resilience – 34.
Municipal Performance Index
In the Municipal Performance Index (MPI), Kohima was ranked 58. In the vertical ‘Services’, the city was again ranked a low 58. Under ‘Services’, in the education sector it was ranked 32, health – 31, water & wastewater – 59; SWM & sanitation – 54; registration & permits – 60 and infrastructure – 53.
In the vertical ‘Finance’ it was ranked 54, and in the sector revenue management it was 49, expenditure management – 30; fiscal responsibility – 56; fiscal decentralization – 42.
Kohima was ranked 36 in technology. In the sector digital governance, it was ranked 38, digital access – 5 and digital literacy – 60.
In planning, Kohima was placed at 60. In plan preparation it was 60; plan implementation – 47 and plan enforcement – 53.
In the vertical ‘Governance’, Kohima was ranked 46. But in transparency & accountability it was a dismal 57, human resources – 40; participation – 5 and effectiveness – 54.
On the performance of Kohima in the EoLI 2020 and MPI, Chief Executive Officer, Kohima Smart City Development Limited, Kovi Meyasi said the Government has done a little better this time than the last; reasons being varied, and he was hopeful that by the next round different stakeholders will also take interest in making Kohima the city people will love.
Thanking NGOs and stakeholders for their support and participating in the survey, he was confident that Kohima Smart City will show improvement as there is a perceptible change of people’s mindset towards cleanliness and sanitation.
The EoLI 2020 has strengthened its scope by consolidating the framework with the addition of a Citizen Perception Survey in the index, holding a weightage of 30%. It examines the outcomes that lead to existing living conditions through pillars of quality of life, economic ability, sustainability, spanning across 13 categories of – education, health, housing and shelter, WASH and SWM, mobility, safety and security, recreation, level of economic development, economic opportunities, environment, green spaces, and buildings, energy consumption, and city resilience, that account for 70% of the overall outcome.
Expanding the scope for the EoLI framework in order to make it more robust, a Municipal Performance Index (NPI) assessment was also undertaken for the first time in the country. Whereas, the Ease of Living Index measures an outcome of the indicator, MPI focuses on the factors that produce those outcomes. The latter serves in determining elements that prevent efficient local governance in service delivery mechanisms, planning, financial systems, and governance practice.
(Page News Service)
