GK Question

Answer: True

Activity Mapping for Municipal empowerment: (a) Concept: Activity Mapping is a tool to operationalize devolution under 74th Amendment by clearly assigning specific activities under 12th Schedule subjects to Municipalities, State departments, or joint responsibility, (b) Rationale: (i) Clarity: Reduces ambiguity about which level responsible for which activity, preventing overlap, gaps, (ii) Accountability: Clear assignment enables accountability for service delivery, resource utilization, (iii) Capacity planning: Identifies capacity needs at each level for effective implementation, (c) Applications: (i) Progressive States: Tamil Nadu, Gujarat have developed comprehensive Activity Maps for 12th Schedule subjects, enabling effective devolution, (ii) Sectoral examples: In water supply, Activity Map may assign local distribution to Municipality, source development to State, quality regulation to higher levels, (iii) Planning: Activity Maps inform Municipality plans, budgets, ensuring alignment with assigned responsibilities, (d) Challenges: (i) Political will: Activity Mapping requires State commitment to devolution; some States resist clear assignment to retain control, (ii) Capacity: Municipalities need resources, training to perform assigned activities effectively, (iii) Coordination: Joint responsibilities require clear coordination mechanisms, avoiding duplication, gaps, (e) Illustrates operational urban federalism: Activity Mapping translates constitutional devolution framework into actionable assignments; enables effective urban governance through clarity, accountability, capacity building.