• financial paucity
    • taxes not sufficient
    • 0.6% revenue generated by municipal bodies in india, compared to 0.6% in developing and 2.1% in developed nations
  • corruption
    • underpaid staff, resorting to corruption
  • excessive state control
    • state govt have power to supersede and dissolve municipal bodies
    • state govt have powers like approval of municipal budget
    • more control exercised via accounting, audit systems
  • limited devolution of functions
    • states slow in transferring fn listed in 12th Schedule to ULB
  • unplanned urbanization
    • failed to cope with inc needs of population
    • situation worsening because of rural influx in towns, cities thus converting them into ghettos
  • multiplicity of agencies
    • works not well allocated among different agencies
    • diffused accountability
    • eg. Jal Boards, developmental authority
  • headed by bureaucrats
    • not accountable
    • dilute importance of elected members
  • dilution of efforts
    • multiple layers of planning, administration, resource allocation end up in sub-optimal results
  • substandard personnel & shortage
    • lack of professional services
  • land tilting in urban areas
    • 90% land titles in india are unclear
    • leads to loss of 1.3% in GDP
  • limited capital expenditure
    • thus, administrative expenses, financial charges are rising, but capital expenditure minimal
  • low people participation
    • very low voter turout
  • ecological challenges
    • due to population growth
    • rise of industries
    • leading to ecological degradation (water, air, land)