<p>Union Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday said Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal owed an apology to the country for accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of bowing before Pakistan by allowing an investigation team to visit the Pathankot air base terror attack site.<br /><br /></p>.<p>On Tuesday, Kejriwal had said that the PM stabbed Mother India in the back. “On one hand they (BJP leaders) chant Bharat Mata Ki Jai and on the other hand they let people from the country from where most number of terrorists have invaded India to do inspection of the Pathankot terror attack site,” Kejriwal had said. Delhi Art and Culture Minister Kapil Misha had called the PM an “ISI agent”. Naidu said that opposition parties have been trying to malign the image of Union government.<br /><br />“There’s nothing wrong in chanting Bharat Mata Ki Jai. Freedom fighters chanted it for decades and even Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev chanted it,” Naidu said at the All India Council of Mayors at Civic Centre here.<br /><br />The meeting of All India Council of Mayors began with Vande Mataram and later mayors, who came from all over the country and were mostly from the Bharatiya Janata Party, started chanting Bharat Mata Ki Jai.<br /><br />While the union minister highlighted public private partnership model to successfully achieve urban development across the country, he said the funds provided by the Centre under the Smart City and Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) are inadequate.<br /><br />“It sounds good to hear crores being granted under such schemes but it is not enough. For implementing projects successfully, the amount allocated under these schemes is not sufficient,” he said. “So the government has decided to adopt the PPP model to implement these schemes without a glitch,” the minister added.<br /><br />Naidu said the government has decided to grant over Rs 87,000 crore to the local bodies in the country between 2016 and 2020. But they should all abide by the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act, which gives constitutional status to the urban local bodies.<br /><br />“We have been receiving complaints from mayors that some states don’t fully abide by the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act for urban local bodies. It’s a serious matter. All states must implement the Act in true spirit,” the minister said. The government will incentivise the states which abide by the Act, he said.<br /><br />“The states have always been asking for more powers, but at the same time they should delegate authority to the local bodies.”<br /><br /></p>
<p>Union Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday said Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal owed an apology to the country for accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of bowing before Pakistan by allowing an investigation team to visit the Pathankot air base terror attack site.<br /><br /></p>.<p>On Tuesday, Kejriwal had said that the PM stabbed Mother India in the back. “On one hand they (BJP leaders) chant Bharat Mata Ki Jai and on the other hand they let people from the country from where most number of terrorists have invaded India to do inspection of the Pathankot terror attack site,” Kejriwal had said. Delhi Art and Culture Minister Kapil Misha had called the PM an “ISI agent”. Naidu said that opposition parties have been trying to malign the image of Union government.<br /><br />“There’s nothing wrong in chanting Bharat Mata Ki Jai. Freedom fighters chanted it for decades and even Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev chanted it,” Naidu said at the All India Council of Mayors at Civic Centre here.<br /><br />The meeting of All India Council of Mayors began with Vande Mataram and later mayors, who came from all over the country and were mostly from the Bharatiya Janata Party, started chanting Bharat Mata Ki Jai.<br /><br />While the union minister highlighted public private partnership model to successfully achieve urban development across the country, he said the funds provided by the Centre under the Smart City and Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) are inadequate.<br /><br />“It sounds good to hear crores being granted under such schemes but it is not enough. For implementing projects successfully, the amount allocated under these schemes is not sufficient,” he said. “So the government has decided to adopt the PPP model to implement these schemes without a glitch,” the minister added.<br /><br />Naidu said the government has decided to grant over Rs 87,000 crore to the local bodies in the country between 2016 and 2020. But they should all abide by the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act, which gives constitutional status to the urban local bodies.<br /><br />“We have been receiving complaints from mayors that some states don’t fully abide by the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act for urban local bodies. It’s a serious matter. All states must implement the Act in true spirit,” the minister said. The government will incentivise the states which abide by the Act, he said.<br /><br />“The states have always been asking for more powers, but at the same time they should delegate authority to the local bodies.”<br /><br /></p>
