The 1990s witnessed a deep change in India – a constitutional amendment, no less – that redefined decentralised governance. The reforms emphasised the democratic character of local governments and, in the case of cities, provided them many policy functions: infrastructural services such as water supply, sewerage, drainage, solid waste management and street lighting as well as education, public health, environmental management, poverty reduction and economic development. Together, these encompass wide possibilities for individual well-being and social justice. The beginning of the 1990s had already triggered a structural change in India's political economy and governance through a shift in the tectonic plates of mandal, mandir and market. The decentralisation reforms added to these. The broad sweep of the reforms created considerable expectations about the new possibilities. We begin by trying to understand governance in two specific cities. From the thousands of city governments in India, this chapter presents contrasting narratives for two – Trivandrum on the southern and Surat on the western coast.

Trivandrum is an erstwhile slow-paced city where pre-Independence royalty built progressive institutions and created public service systems. As the capital of the modern Kerala state, it houses public offices and, in recent post-liberalisation decades, also has thriving commercial and technological activity. Following the national decentralisation reforms, Kerala led India's states in efforts to operationalise it. Kerala's laws being particularly wide-ranging, Trivandrum too enjoyed a high degree of latitude in its decentralisation framework compared to cities in other states.

Surat is a bustling old commercial centre famous for specialised industries as diverse as textiles, diamonds and chemicals. The industrial landscape has attracted a considerable number of migrants. About a quarter-century ago, and soon after the decentralisation reforms, Surat experienced an outbreak of plague that suggested public health failure but also showed proactive response by the local government (Shah 1997b). Surat is located in the state of Gujarat, which, unlike Kerala, is seldom feted for decentralisation. However, under an old legislative provision, even prior to the decentralisation reforms, the city government had authority and responsibility over several local policy domains.

A 2017 survey benchmarks city government performance in 23 cities, including Trivandrum and Surat. It ranks both cities in the top five. However, Surat ranks better on ‘governance’ indicators while Trivandrum ranks better on ‘democracy’ indicators (Table 1.1).