The Cabinet Secretary spoke to the municipal commissioners of 15 cities, including 4 winners, and those who are to compete in fast-track and second round of competitions along with respective chief secretaries asking them to share their experience of preparation of the proposals and possible reasons for winning in the first round of competition and not making it to the first list.
Jaipur, which stood third, said that financial viability based on monetization of substantial land parcels available in the city and focusing on benefits to the wider sections of the people instead of capital intensive projects were the core strengths of their proposal.
On being asked by the Cabinet Secretary about the efforts made for selection of three cities from Madhya Pradesh, the state Chief Secretary said that the state government has given renewed focus and thrust to urban governance and planning in the context of the importance of urban areas for economic development.
He said that the state government is going to set up special purpose vehicles for cities not included in the first list from the state.
Some cities and states that could not make to the first list of 20 observed that inherent and legacy issues like economic backwardness and urban governance proved to be the limitations and some special consideration may be given to such cities and states.
To this, the Cabinet Secretary said the Smart City Challenge Competition and selection of cities is based mostly on the proposals for future development of cities and such limitations do not really affect their chances.
Officials of 15 cities including Bhubaneshwar, Pune, Jaipur, Guwahati, Warangal, Passighat, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Bhagalpur, Agartala, Port Blair, Kohima, Amritsar, Salem, Rajkot, Hubli-Dharward, Tirupati and Durgapur shared their experiences and views with the cabinet secretary.
He complimented all the 97 Mission Cities for working diligently to prepare smart city plans almost on their own with some hand-holding from state and central governments, which he said is a departure from the 'top-down approach' to urban development in the country followed so far.
Urban Development Secretary Madhusudhan Prasad, Additional Secretary Samir Sharma and Mission Director and senior officials of Cabinet Secretariat and Urban Development Ministry officials participated in the video conferencing that lasted an hour.