Orbit Shifting Transformations Can Happen : S R Rao and HisExperimentation with Surat City
Can you believe that a Municipal Commissioner can transform India's filthiest city , that too with 30 lac population , into the second most clean city of the country with in a span of 20 months, sounds impossible, but it was exactly done by S R Rao in Surat that too after 1994' worst epidemic Plague.
An IAS officer of 1978 batch with no previous experience in running a municipality, S R Rao joined Surat as Commissioner in 1995, every body said nothing is possible due to draconian old laws, political pressures and interference, unwilling and corrupt officials, limited budget. For a month initially he spent his time just observing what was happening around him, held meetings, spoke to cross section of people, walked all around the city. This has helped him to identify core issues behind city's problems. Rather than attacking the symptoms of the problems, Rao drilled down to these core issues affecting the functioning. And he finally decided to transform the city by Administrative Capacity Building, Financial Capacity Building and Public Health Engineering Capacity Building and started in these three areas almost simultaneously.
First step was to set his own house in order. He realised that in order to hold his staff accountable for the results, he first had to provide them with responsibility, with authority and freedom to make decisions that goes with responsibility. He broke compartmentalisation, made all functional heads as commissioners . Divided the city in six zones and each zone was given to a commissioner to handle as a mini corporation. This smart move was end turf protecting hierarchies, to ensure effectiveness, he devolved both administrative and financial powers to them and to make them accountable for their respective geographical region, demanding detailed work plastic, road maps and clear tangible results in the key areas. Rao created AC to DC rule that meant from Air conditioned Offices to Daily Chores on the field. He instructed all his commissioners to spend at least 5 hours in the field between 7 am to 3 pm and during this period to AC operational in Municipal Corporation Office, daily meetings, collective decisions and strictly monitored time based complaint redressal system. At the bottom, the conservancy workers were recognised and rewarded for good work. Most of the conservancy workers lived in the dirtiest part of the city where little or no sanitation reached, Rao decided to clean up these parts first so that they could experience for themselves what it was like to live under clean and hygienic conditions. Prior to Rao's arrival in Surat the Corporation was ruled by the most powerful, with the result any subordinate officer who had political clout could manipulate resources - human, material and finance. Rao decided to set strict norms for resource allocation - worst affected areas would get priority in terms of resources and focussed attention. Before his joining, level of sanitation was 35%, solid waste removal only 40%. Post micro planning and with just 10% additional investment 95% parts of Surat city were covered by95% and 97% of solid waste was lifted.
Once he managed corporation's house in order, Rao start imposing moral authority on the citizens, for this first by educating them - eateries were given individual cleanliness instructions, while municipal sweepers were to collect garbage from house to house on trolley and transport to nearest garbage collection point, the commercial establishments including shops and roadside joints were instructed to maintain dustbin in front of their shop/ establishment. restaurants and hotels started maintaining bins for collecting garbage and also had to pack and dispose at designated sites.
After three months, he saw that his efforts were yielding results but not to the desired level, so to enforce discipline, he took immediate action in three critical areas : illegal constructions,poor hygiene standards and property tax evasion. He demolished an illegal building of the most powerful and politically connected man in the city, raided city's most prestigious five star hotel for non compliance with regulations, attached property of Surat's biggest property tax defaulters - a mafia don. So in one swoop he attacked the powerful vested interest rather than go after the powerless.For ten days after these raids, he did not take any phone call or respond to messages.
The press as well as judiciary supported him in all his endeavor. The Chief Justice even put stop on stay orders that would have prevented him from carrying on demolitions. He also impose a fine on those who chucked garbage on road, when he was reminded that he has no authority to impose fine, he levied 'administrative charges' on the ground that the corporation has to clean the road an extra time because these garbage throwers making public place dirty ! And of course , this penutive levy began a sea change in citizen's habits, also increased social vigilance at the community level.
The impact of the Surat First Campaign and Operation Moral Authority was that once citizens saw that rule of law was really equal for every one , they began taking a real pride in their city. The impact was so positive that many came forward to voluntarily demolish their own illegal structures. With the result a stretch of 200 km of roads that was under stay orders widened !
The lesson from this story is that system can work, rules may be moulded to speed of public good, efficiency can be achieved, cities can be of worth staying and living provided the person at the helm of affair start earnestly, judiciously, fearlessly. Rao was an orbit shifter for filthiest city Surat, he could overcome obstacles, found ways that always exist. It is that the vast majority of us do not bother to exercise the six inches between our ears. It is far easier to go along and not buck the tide but the price for that is boring mediocrity-and possibly being one of the first to be laid off in any downsizing.
After his Surat transformation, Rao moved strength to strength, he was deputed to Centre and given charge of Vishakhapatanam Port Trust and he made it the most efficient among all the Ports in all parameters. Thereafter the than Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Chandra Babu Naidu asked Centre for his reputation to Hyderabad Municipal Corporation. The cleanliness and road quality there today is result of his painstaking efforts.At present S R Rao is Commerce Secretary at Centre.
An IAS officer of 1978 batch with no previous experience in running a municipality, S R Rao joined Surat as Commissioner in 1995, every body said nothing is possible due to draconian old laws, political pressures and interference, unwilling and corrupt officials, limited budget. For a month initially he spent his time just observing what was happening around him, held meetings, spoke to cross section of people, walked all around the city. This has helped him to identify core issues behind city's problems. Rather than attacking the symptoms of the problems, Rao drilled down to these core issues affecting the functioning. And he finally decided to transform the city by Administrative Capacity Building, Financial Capacity Building and Public Health Engineering Capacity Building and started in these three areas almost simultaneously.
First step was to set his own house in order. He realised that in order to hold his staff accountable for the results, he first had to provide them with responsibility, with authority and freedom to make decisions that goes with responsibility. He broke compartmentalisation, made all functional heads as commissioners . Divided the city in six zones and each zone was given to a commissioner to handle as a mini corporation. This smart move was end turf protecting hierarchies, to ensure effectiveness, he devolved both administrative and financial powers to them and to make them accountable for their respective geographical region, demanding detailed work plastic, road maps and clear tangible results in the key areas. Rao created AC to DC rule that meant from Air conditioned Offices to Daily Chores on the field. He instructed all his commissioners to spend at least 5 hours in the field between 7 am to 3 pm and during this period to AC operational in Municipal Corporation Office, daily meetings, collective decisions and strictly monitored time based complaint redressal system. At the bottom, the conservancy workers were recognised and rewarded for good work. Most of the conservancy workers lived in the dirtiest part of the city where little or no sanitation reached, Rao decided to clean up these parts first so that they could experience for themselves what it was like to live under clean and hygienic conditions. Prior to Rao's arrival in Surat the Corporation was ruled by the most powerful, with the result any subordinate officer who had political clout could manipulate resources - human, material and finance. Rao decided to set strict norms for resource allocation - worst affected areas would get priority in terms of resources and focussed attention. Before his joining, level of sanitation was 35%, solid waste removal only 40%. Post micro planning and with just 10% additional investment 95% parts of Surat city were covered by95% and 97% of solid waste was lifted.
Once he managed corporation's house in order, Rao start imposing moral authority on the citizens, for this first by educating them - eateries were given individual cleanliness instructions, while municipal sweepers were to collect garbage from house to house on trolley and transport to nearest garbage collection point, the commercial establishments including shops and roadside joints were instructed to maintain dustbin in front of their shop/ establishment. restaurants and hotels started maintaining bins for collecting garbage and also had to pack and dispose at designated sites.
After three months, he saw that his efforts were yielding results but not to the desired level, so to enforce discipline, he took immediate action in three critical areas : illegal constructions,poor hygiene standards and property tax evasion. He demolished an illegal building of the most powerful and politically connected man in the city, raided city's most prestigious five star hotel for non compliance with regulations, attached property of Surat's biggest property tax defaulters - a mafia don. So in one swoop he attacked the powerful vested interest rather than go after the powerless.For ten days after these raids, he did not take any phone call or respond to messages.
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| Once the filthiest city Surat now a completely transformed thanks to S R Rao |
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| S.R.Rao |
The press as well as judiciary supported him in all his endeavor. The Chief Justice even put stop on stay orders that would have prevented him from carrying on demolitions. He also impose a fine on those who chucked garbage on road, when he was reminded that he has no authority to impose fine, he levied 'administrative charges' on the ground that the corporation has to clean the road an extra time because these garbage throwers making public place dirty ! And of course , this penutive levy began a sea change in citizen's habits, also increased social vigilance at the community level.
The impact of the Surat First Campaign and Operation Moral Authority was that once citizens saw that rule of law was really equal for every one , they began taking a real pride in their city. The impact was so positive that many came forward to voluntarily demolish their own illegal structures. With the result a stretch of 200 km of roads that was under stay orders widened !
The lesson from this story is that system can work, rules may be moulded to speed of public good, efficiency can be achieved, cities can be of worth staying and living provided the person at the helm of affair start earnestly, judiciously, fearlessly. Rao was an orbit shifter for filthiest city Surat, he could overcome obstacles, found ways that always exist. It is that the vast majority of us do not bother to exercise the six inches between our ears. It is far easier to go along and not buck the tide but the price for that is boring mediocrity-and possibly being one of the first to be laid off in any downsizing.
After his Surat transformation, Rao moved strength to strength, he was deputed to Centre and given charge of Vishakhapatanam Port Trust and he made it the most efficient among all the Ports in all parameters. Thereafter the than Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Chandra Babu Naidu asked Centre for his reputation to Hyderabad Municipal Corporation. The cleanliness and road quality there today is result of his painstaking efforts.At present S R Rao is Commerce Secretary at Centre.
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