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About the book
Decentralisation and Empowerment: The Odisha Model for Urban Development, discusses the key approaches and factors that underlie the highly successful urban development initiatives implemented in Odisha, India for close to a decade. The application of the governance principles of decentralisation and empowerment across sub-sectors, including drinking water supply, environmental sanitation, municipal waste management, slum land rights, and upgrading infrastructure, has led to the development of the Odisha Model. This book details the conceptualisation, design, learning and implementation processes behind the rapid and significant achievement of various urban initiatives rolled out in the State, many of which have been awarded multiple national and global accolades.

The book explains the reasoning behind the various innovative approaches designed and adopted while planning, implementing and monitoring these initiatives. It provides an insider’s perspective on the thought processes that informed the development of these public programmes which focus on the wellbeing of citizens. The academic and research community, including students, will benefit greatly from the insights provided in the book and could be a source of inspiration and a valuable guide for governments, city administrations, and urban practitioners.

Reviewer’s comments: 
‘’Odisha’s development journey holds remarkable learnings for cities embarking on a path towards inclusive urbanisation around the world.’’
Ms. Anacláudia Rossbach, Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat)

“I strongly recommend this book to policymakers, water utility managers, academics and students, to learn how and why Odisha became a success story.”
Dr. Asit K. Biswas, Academician and Distinguished Visiting Professor, University of Glasgow, UK; Chief Executive, Third World Centre for Water Management, Mexico; Stockholm Water Prize Laureate, 2006

“Odisha’s urban transformation is perhaps one of the most inspiring stories of change seen in India in recent times…. This book documents this comprehensive process of change, authored by two key agents of this urban transformation…”
Dr. Amita Bhide, Professor, Centre for Urban Policy and Governance, School of Habitat Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India

“This book is highly recommended for city leaders, specialists, and students alike—and is a must-read for anyone interested in urban issues”.
Mr. Barjor Mehta, President, CEPT University

About the authors: 
Mr. G. Mathi Vathanan is a senior Indian Administrative Service Officer of Odisha cadre, presently posted as the Director of the State Administrative Training Institute and Head of Centre of Good Governance, Odisha. Until July 2024, he was the Additional Chief Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development Government of Odisha. He led a variety of initiatives, including the Jaga Mission, which provides slum dwellers with land rights and upgrades, and the 24 × 7 Drink from Tap Water Supply program, which offers every urban household direct access to clean drinking water. These initiatives have earned global recognition, including  the World Habitat Awards in 2019 and UN Habitat: World Habitat awards in 2023.

Under his guidance, Odisha has achieved 100% water supply house connections in 105 cities out of 115, and Puri and Gopalpur have become the only two towns in India to achieve a 24 × 7 Drink Directly from Tap Quality water supply system. Furthermore, he is promoting city-wide inclusive sanitation in all 115 cities in Odisha. His work has been recognised globally, including the Global Water Leader Distinction Award given to WATCO at the Global Water Summit in Spain in 2022 and WRI: Ross Prize for cities Award, 2022 for the Urban Wage Employment scheme.

Since 2023, he has been a member of the Advisory Board for IWA’s Inclusive Urban Sanitation initiative. His last book, People First: How Odisha’s Drink from Tap Mission Quenched Every Thirst, was published in 2024 by Rupa Publications.

Shubhagato Dasgupta is a well-regarded urban professional with over 30 years of analytical and operational experience in India and across Asia and Africa; having worked in public, private, multilateral, non-governmental, and academic organisations.

In the public sector, and with multilaterals he has been involved in drafting national policies, supporting the setting up of retail housing finance, institutional restructuring and project evaluations. He also played a key role in developing pro-poor urban and housing policies and supported implementation across 15 states of India. In the private sector, Shubhagato led private investments in urban infrastructure projects and structured a number of flagship urban infrastructure and housing PPPs.

He has the rare experience of being closely involved in designing large, pioneering and transformative public and private programmes at national, state and city levels. He has successfully built and delivered large-scale research and practice programmes (Scaling City Institutions for India), which involved research to develop transformative policies and programs including some of the initiatives in Odisha discussed in this book.

Shubhagato trained as an architect at the Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology in Ahmedabad and holds an MSc in housing and development planning from the Development Planning Unit at University College London. He is also a PhD candidate at the University of Amsterdam. He has authored several journal articles, and his first book Social Innovations in Urban Sanitation in India: Meeting Unmet Needs (along with his co-authors) was published by Routledge in 2023.