With an objective to promote a clean and sustainable environment and excellent infrastructure with the application of smart digital solutions, the Government of India under the Prime Ministership of Shri Narendra Modi launched the Smart Cities Mission on 25th June 2015. The aim was to give a decent quality of life for all the citizens of the country.
What does a smart city in India include?
As per the government norms, the core elements that are included in a smart city are namely:
Affordable housing
Safety and security of citizens with a major focus on the elderly, women and children
Uninterrupted water and electricity supply
Proper sanitation
Solid waste management and sustainable environment
Good governance, especially e-governance and digitalisation
Efficient urban mobility and availability of various public transportation
Health and education facilities from basic to an advanced level
Hence, when cities will be redeveloped into smart cities, the slums nearby would be developed into better planned human settlements and improve the overall livability of the cities.
The cities selected in this mission
The selection process of a city to develop it into a smart city is based on the idea of Competitive and Cooperative Federalism and undergoes challenging process, consisting of two stages - State and Central levels.
Smart Cities Mission in the year 2016
On the basis of All India Competition, 20 smart cities were selected in Round 1 (Annexure-I) with Bhubaneswar (Odisha), Pune (Maharashtra), Jaipur (Rajasthan) as few of them.
Lucknow (UP), Warangal (Telangana), and Dharamshala (Himachal Pradesh) are some names out of 13 cities which were selected in May 2016 in fast track round (Annexure-II).
The same year conducted round 2, where 63 potential smart cities participated, and 27 Smart Cities qualified for the development in September 2016 (Annexure-III). Gwalior (MP), Agra (UP) and Nashik (Maharashtra) were some selected cities.
Smart Cities Mission in the year 2017
45 potential smart cities participated in round 3, out of which 30 Smart Cities were selected in June 2017 (Annexure-IV). Take a look:
List of cities selected in the Third round
Smart Cities Mission in the year 2018
The year 2018 conducted round 4, where 15 potential smart cities participated, and 9 Smart Cities were selected in January 2018 (Annexure-V). Take a look:
List of cities selected in the Fourth round
How Has Smart Cities Mission impacted a citizen's life so far?
Giving you a sneak-peek of the impact of Smart Cities Mission and some projects implemented under it:
Citizens and the communities being at the core of this mission, the ease of living is quite evident. For instance, specific neglected spaces within a city were included and transformed after the city was declared a part of the mission.
Cities like Ahmedabad, Surat and Visakhapatnam have remarkably made travel within the city seamless and efficient like never before with the assistance of smart governance and Traffic Management System.
Smart Classroom projects cities like New Delhi, Kakinada, and Jabalpur came up with regular training of teachers and better learning management. With such initiatives, the cities have witnessed improvement in the results of the students.
- For employment opportunities to poor urban youth, Lighthouse Project under Smart Cities Mission in Pune imparts essential skills to earn their livelihood.