Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday launched three flagship schemes for urban development and promised that states and Union Territories (UT) will have a greater say in the implementation of the these programmes.
While releasing operational guidelines for implementation of Smart Cities, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and Housing for All by 2022, Modi said the residents of the cities should decide how their city should grow and not private property developers.
The prime minister stressed that aspirations of migrants from rural areas and slum dwellers should be balanced with the changing global environment and said ensuring a good life for them is the government’s responsibility.
While 500 cities will be developed under AMRUT scheme, 100 Smart Cities will be built over five years and Housing for All aims construction of 2 crore houses in urban areas in the next seven years. A Smart City will be selected through a competition among cities while 500 cities are being identified under AMRUT.
Referring to Smart City, Modi said, “For the first time in India, a challenge was being floated, in which the citizens of urban India could contribute in the formulation of development visions of their cities.”
Those cities which were able to competitively meet the required parameters would be developed as smart cities. According to the guidelines, the states and UTs will have full liberty and flexibility in formulation, approval and execution of projects under the three missions.
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