Citizens Consultation for the Smart Cities Mission
On 25 June 2015, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi launched the Smart Cities Mission to enable the holistic development of Indian cities. This bold new initiative under the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) aims to drive economic growth and improve the quality of life of people by enabling local development and harnessing technology as a means to create smart outcomes for citizens. According to MoUD, the core elements of a Smart City include: adequate water and electricity supply, suitable sanitation and solid waste management, efficient public transportation, affordable housing, robust IT connectivity and digitalization, e-governance with citizen participation, sustainable environment, and safety and security of citizens with health and education for all. These objectives are proposed to be attained through a judicious mix of retrofitting, redevelopment and greenfield development.
Citizen consultation is an important pillar of the first phase of the Smart Cities Mission. The Ministry encouraged local governments to engage citizens as they worked on their city’s Smart City Proposal, and recommended MyGov as the core platform for citizen consultation. Municipal governments supplemented their online MyGov activities with meetings, discussions, and other public interactions in their respective cities.
MyGov facilitated citizen consultation for the Smart Cities Mission in two stages. During the first round, it offered cities a range of citizen consultation methodologies, such as discussion forums, tasks, online polls, public talks, and blogs. These tools served as a catalyst for citizens to participate in the Smart Cities Mission and the competition, also known as the India Smart Cities Challenge, and offer suggestions for the development of their city.
During the second round of the Smart Cities Mission, municipal authorities from the shortlisted cities used MyGov to collect suggestions from citizens on their vision for a Smart City to incorporate these into draft proposals. Of the 98 cities, 57 put the draft proposals online for further comments and inputs from the public. Overall, the proposals received a total of 1,42,895 comments.
The 98 cities adopted a range of measures to encourage citizen engagement. Municipalities reached out to young citizens by visiting schools and colleges to educate them about the Mission. Municipal corporations used popular social networking platforms like Facebook and Twitter to spread awareness about the mission. Still others created dedicated websites with detailed updates on progress. SMS campaigns, voice message campaigns, and airtime on radio channels helped expand a municipality’s reach. Many cities even created free Wi-Fi hotspots in crowded areas so that people could access Internet and submit suggestions. Advertisements in newspapers, pamphlets, hoardings, and the MyGov app played a significant role in making the Smart City Mission a nationwide phenomenon.
The Smart Cities Mission – MyGov collaboration is an unprecedented exercise in urban planning, which has transformed planning from a top-down centralized activity into a democratic consultative process, taking the citizens’ perspective as the foundation stone on which the city plan is built. MyGov looks forward to partnering with more cities and citizens in the subsequent rounds of the Smart Cities Mission play its part in developing Smart Cities across India.
– Gaurav Dwivedi,
CEO, MyGov
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I am jaydeep parmar from rajkot, Gujarat
I have a suggestion on health. if we establish gym, sports and yoga club replacing and banning pan masala and gutkha shops, we will spend less on hospital and medicine. in addition we will have energetic and healthy work force.
Myself Tushar Shashikant More. I am advocate from Jalgaon, Maharashtra.
I have prepared a complete plan of a smart city plus I have prepared a complete plan for the betterment of Indian Railways & how the present junction management can be upgraded with new lines & stations for the betterment of the region.
Dear sir, SMART CITY is the great idea for decentralization and development of INDIA as a whole. One of my concern is "As cities develop to higher stages, they forget about the basic needs like GARBAGE problem of Bangalore city. So why can’t we make ‘separate household trash’ as compulsion like Malaysia." It might be great initiative.
Link: http://poskod.my/cheat-sheets/need-know-mandatory-waste-separation-scheme/
sir, we have started to develope our cities, but citigens facing some problem due to smart city project in a instant of time changing our lifestyle is not so easy if we want to create really smart cities we should give /provide city habitat to rural regions so that n future they should not face any problem about smart city.
Respected sir..
Undoubtedly the concept of smart city is good… But the city which r selected for smart city are highly conjusted and mismanaged which require huge investment in reconstructing. Why don’t government select those small towns which are under developed are having enough area and opportunity to explore. This will require less investment as well as small towns will come in light with full-fledged faculty and create opportunity for people and government.
Dear sir
It is good to see that NDA is trying in every possible means to implement schemes for benefit of people, and i am not against any scheme or program started by the gov.
But it is heartbreaking to remember SEC Census 2011.
I will suggest that while imlproving our cities to smart we should also focus on improving our villages to Basic atleast.
This will need major electoral reforms on ground level. But as seen either UPA or NDA both flees the scene when it comes to vote bank!
Dear Sir,
for Mumbaikars u should develop one smart city for business purpose in virar side.
As u knw in morning the public rush go to churchgate side nd in evng vice versa. u should develop one business park as like bandra Kurla Complex in virar side, so the rush can very low. benefits:-
1. reduce the public rush in trains.
2. no requirements of extra tracks nd trains.
3. time saving of public.
I think before upgrading the city we have to upgrade our technology methodology and process of doing work .such as if GOVT plan for any project its need several approval from its different offices which take year and year. and there are engineers in country who are having more than 25 year experience but they are using old methodology they don’t have update of new technology. and young engineers where busy in cracking exam . after that they don’t have experience to perform they need training and
It should be amazing .if 80% electricty in smart city should be produced by solar.
Dear Sir,
I am P A Cariappa, " Smart City " , Mission is wonderful initiative taken by
" GOVERNMENT OF INDIA", why because, with out any goal, or vision , India can not
become " Super Power", so I want " India to be " Super Power", so this initiative , is
very much important.
Regards.
P A Cariappa.