NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday chaired a high-level meeting with government officials here on the Smart City initiative, with an aim to improve urban infrastructure and governance.
“One of the aims of the Smart City initiative is to improve the quality of urban governance, thereby lending greater strength to the overall governance processes of the country,” the Prime Minister said during the meeting. He asked the officials to identify the basics of infrastructure, quality of life, and citizen-centric services that would be essential to cities of the 21st century. Modi also said the cities should be identified as hubs of economic activity.
“The Prime Minister asked the government officials to visualise “urban-dependent” population, in addition to “urban” population, while planning for Smart Cities,” the PMO said in its statement.
Modi directed the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) to organise a workshop of all Central and state Urban Development authorities at the earliest, on reforms in the laws related to urban development.
“The Prime Minister called for identifying parameters that could be laid down for Smart Cities,” the PMO release added.
Officials from the PMO, MoUD and the Ministry of Information Technology attended the meeting.