A TALE OF TWO INDIAN CITIES Crisis, Post-Crisis Administrative Leadership and Reform Initiatives

Crisis often proves to be a turning point in human life. The same is true of an organization, or for that matter a city or a country. Does crisis lead to change? Are these changes for the better? To put it in one single question; does crisis always lead to reforms? In those cases where a post-crisis reform is visible, to what extent is leadership responsible? This paper looks at two case studies of cities recovering from crises; Surat after the Plague epidemic in 1994 and Ahmedabad after the earthquake in 2001. At least in the visible spheres and in public view, Surat changed for the better after 1994. Ahmedabad shows no such change-story after 2001. Why is it so? The nature of crisis response shown by the leadership! I have tried to look at the City Governance in the post-crisis phase from the viewpoint of administrative leadership to probe these questions. Politics forms the essence of city governance and beyond all types of leadership is the social leadership provided by the citizens. This paper looks at the complex inter-leadership relationships and leadership styles behind the city governance in a post-crisis phase and searches for answers.