While the object of this research project is to study urban governance, policies and major urban actors in 4 Indian metropoles, this study has a more limited objective for the time being – to examine with data available, mainly from Census and other secondary sources, the urban spread of educational and health facilities in the city of Kolkata (the Municipal area). However, before studying in greater detail Kolkata itself, this paper attempts to situate Kolkata in the overall perspective of education and health indicators in West Bengal, and also to do some preliminary comparisons with Hyderabad and Mumbai.

In addressing this problem, I would like to present a Public Economics viewpoint : i.e., understanding the relationship between the access to public goods and services (in urban spaces) of different categories of the population and the subsequent effects on economic growth and social mobility, and its eventual impact of human welfare.