Maharashtra appoints 10 IAS officers as mentors for smart cities

Q: The Maharashtra government has appointed 10 senior IAS officers to mentor each of the 10 cities in the state that have been selected for the Centre's "Smart City" project.

Kishore Pathak, Mumbai

8th September 2015

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municipal corporation of greater mumbai

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maharashtra government

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Replies (5)

To get the reasonable result, govt. should support those cities or state first. "Jyada Khakar Bimar Hone se Achcha Hai ki Kum Khakar Healthy Rahe".........

Government grants will be leveraged to attract funding from internal and external sources but unless there is a possible business model or guarantee from the centre, this would not be easy.

Also, the track record of Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects is at best mixed and when there would be multiple parties associated like the center, states, local bodies and private entities, the task would be even more challenging.

Daniel, Noida

16th September 2015

Comment

Hi folks!!!!
We all know that the government has recently identified 98 cities for the Smart City Project. And fund for 20 cities have been distributed. But funding for these projects and its execution will be a major challenge for companies. There is no doubt that this mission is expected to improve the quality of life for citizens of these cities. For government, the focus is on sustainable and inclusive development and the idea is to look at intensive areas and create a exemplary model.

Ravi Waghmare, Mumbai

16th September 2015

Comment

It's true Ravi.....
But i think that it would be better if the Govt's focus on smaller number of cities first and then developing them as model for others going forward.

Under the mission, it will be operated as a centrally sponsored scheme and the center will give financial support to the limit of Rs 48000 crore over 5 yrs, which is on an average Rs 1000 crore per city per year. And an equal amount, on a matching basis, will have to be contributed by the state and urban local bodies.

Anup Soni, Pune

16th September 2015

It's a good thought Anup, if implement ......."Thoda Khaye But Achcha Khaye" .....Govt. should think over this policy first....

If we look at the list of cities which have been selected as smart city, many of them would already have annual municipal budgets running into multiple times of this figure. On the other hand, there are few states which have shown doubt for implementing the scheme and if there is not enough support from them in terms of funding and administrative help, it would be difficult to take this scheme to its reasonable result.

Ravi Waghmare, Mumbai

16th September 2015

Hi folks....
First tell us the basis of choosing the target cities. Then explain what is existing and what change are going to come. Also explain the benefit people will have which is worth investment in that city. Just stories won't do anything.

Aditya Jogi, Indore

8th September 2015

Comment

i heard that Manu Kumar Srivastava, Principal Secretary (Revenue) will prepare a roadmap for Thane, while Sanjay Bhatia, Managing Director of CIDCO will take care of Navi Mumbai. UPS Madan, Metropolitan Commissioner (MMRDA) will mentor Kalyan-Dombivli.

Shreya Agarwal, Mumbai

8th September 2015

Comment

Absolutelt right....
Praveen Pardeshi, Principal secretary to Chief Minister has been given the responsibility of CM's hometown Nagpur, whereas, Milind Mhaiskar, secretary to CM will be the mentor for Solapur city. Apurva Chandra, Principal Secretary of Industries and Power has been given the responsibility of Aurangabad.

Vikash V, Ahmedabad

8th September 2015

Yes, the decision to appoint a mentor for these 10 cities has been taken keeping in mind that these places will be contending with other 90 cities from across the country to become a "Smart City".

Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Kalyan-Dombivli, Pune-Pimpri-Chinchwad, Nashik, Nagpur, Amravati, Solapur and Aurangabad are the 10 cities from Maharashtra selected for development as smart cities.

Anup Soni, Pune

8th September 2015

Comment

Now cities have to prepare their plan in a way that it remains in the competition till the end, experienced and senior bureaucrats have been appointed as mentors for each of the 10 cities. This is the only reason, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has taken care to make sure that the bureaucrat has in depth-knowledge of the city concerned and is aware of its need.

Ketalpujara, Mumbai

8th September 2015

You are right Ketal,
Maharashtra PM has previously worked in the city or at the Municipal Corporation, for which he has been appointed.

Similarly, Nitin Kareer, Principal Secretary (UDD-1) has been appointed as the mentor of Pune-Pimpri-Chinchwad, Ajoy Mehta, present Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) will be the mentor for Mumbai.

Anup Soni, Pune

8th September 2015