News Excerpt
The Smart Cities Mission approaches its June 2024 deadline.
Key Points
- As per deadline cities in Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Rajasthan are among the top ten in terms of project completion and financial progress, while UTs and cities in Northeastern states are among the bottom ten.
- According to data from the Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry, approximately 22% of the projects (1,745 of 7,947) are still under progress, accounting for 33% (Rs 57,028 crore of Rs 1.70 lakh crore) of the total expenditure.
- According to data, the majority of projects (6,202) have been completed.
- According to Ministry data, Surat (Gujarat) topped in terms of completion of projects, fund usage and other criteria, followed by Agra (UP), Ahmedabad (Gujarat), Varanasi (UP) and Bhopal (MP) in the top five.
- The rest of the top 10 include Tumakuru (Karnataka), Udaipur (Rajasthan), Madurai (TN), Kota (Rajasthan) and Shivamogga (Karnataka).
- The UTs and Northeastern cities, on the other hand, have continued to lag.
- The bottom 10 cities are Kavaratti (Lakshadweep), Puducherry, Port Blair (Andaman and Nicobar Islands), Imphal (Manipur), Shillong (Meghalaya), Diu, Guwahati (Assam), Aizawl (Mizoram), Gangtok (Sikkim) and Pasighat (AP).
- However, the ongoing projects are likely to meet the June 2024 deadline.
Smart City Mission
- This mission Launched on 25th June, 2015.
- From January 2016 to June 2018, the Smart cities Mission selected 100 cities through a phased process.
- The selected cities were expected to complete all of their proposed projects within five years of being chosen.
- The deadline for all cities was extended in May of the current year (2023) to June 2024.
Prelims PYQ
Q. "Mission Indradhanush’ launched by the Government of India pertains to (UPSC 2016)
- immunization of children and pregnant women
- construction of smart cities across the country
- India’s own search for the Earth-like planets in outer space
- New Educational Policy
Mains PYQ
Q. Smart cities in India cannot sustain without smart villages. Discuss this statement in the backdrop of rural-urban integration. (UPSC 2015)
