Administration of urban civic services in India: A case study

The governments at all levels involve in the production of goods and delivery of various services to the public at concessional rates or for free. Like any government bodies, local governments have also the role in the production of goods and services that can satisfy the local public needs. As a result local authorities perform different functions with the objective of satisfying public demand. Promoting economic, ecological and social development places a greater pressure in executing these functions such as health, education, sanitation, etc. Another area of interest for local government is the duty to improve the well-being of residents and attain maximum level of public satisfaction. Therefore, local governments do this by providing services, encourage community improvement and protect people from harm. The practice of administering public or civic services has changed its pattern from exclusive government provision to more decentralized approaches. More of the trend is to engage the community and the private sector in the provision and administration of civic serves. An attempt is made in this article to examine the civic services administered by the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) in the city of Visakhapatnam.