CITY stands for ‘Civic Infrastructure To You – Venkaiah Naidu
Urban Development Minister stresses on ‘new urban renaissance’ at the India Today Conclave 2017 in Mumba
Union Minister for Urban Development Venkaiah Naidu today emphasized on improving civic infrastructure in Indian cities as part of the ‘new urban renaissance’ initiative.
Speaking at the India Today Conclave 2017 in Mumbai, Mr. Naidu, known for coining new acronyms, said CITY stands for ‘Civic Infrastructure To You’. He said the Smart Cities Mission launched by the Government is an ambitiousgame changer that seeks to transform the cities and towns into sustainable centres of economic activity, providing an improved quality of life to the citizens in all respects. The minister stressed upon improving the ‘liveability Index’ of the Indian cities.
The Urban Development Minister further said that the Smart Cities Mission also mandates inclusive development stipulating affordable housing, ensuring availability of quality water, power, social infrastructure, promotion of walking and cycling, sanitation, push to employment generation etc. benefits of which accrue to the poor and the common man. He asserted that ‘Housing for All’ would become a reality by 2022.
Mr. Naidu said competition among cities is bringing very encouraging results. “We hit upon the idea of infusing a certain degree of competition among the cities because contest brings the best out of us. That is how the novel idea of Smart Cities Competition has taken birth and it made a huge difference to the way our cities looked at themselves” he added.
Venkaiah Naidu asserted that the Smart City concept is not utopian and said it is also not about building glossy urban islands amidst degrading city environment. He said a smart city is one which is smart in thinking, smart in vision and smart in execution, and is a liveable city. He said 100 smart cities are not sufficient but they will act as light houses to inspire other cities to become smart.
Mr. Naidu said Prime Minister Narendra Modi wanted initiatives and schemes to be public driven and involving greater public participation rather than being planned in New Delhi or state capitals. He cited Swachch Bharat as a fine example of how a government’s drive has become a people’s drive.
Union Minister for Communication & IT Ravi Shankar Prasad elaborated on Government’s Digital India initiatives and asserted that India, which missed out on the industrial revolution and the post war technological development did not want to miss the digital revolution.
Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar spoke about the empowerment of people through education and said the New Education Policy, to be announced soon would stress upon making education student friendly. He said it would be guided by the motto‘sabko shiksha, achchi shiksha’
India Today Conclave is an annual platform to brainstorm over ground breaking ideas, share innovative experiences and fuel thought provoking debates, attracting participation of political leaders, policy makers, captains of the industry, academics and international opinion makers.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will deliver a special address via video-link on Saturday evening on “Setting India’s New Agenda”.
PIB Mum | MD
