Urban upliftment is Narendra Modi’s mission: Union Rural Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu

Bengaluru: With plans to revamp urban areas by developing more satellite towns, better transport facilities, efficient garbage management and introducing GIS-based towns in the state, Union minister, Urban Development, Venkaiah Naidu, held his first review meeting of the ongoing urban infrastructure projects on Friday.

“As a Rural Development minister I brought the Centre to all the states, and as an Urban Development minister, I will bring the Centre to all the cities. The state government officials need no longer go to Delhi and seek clearance for a project. I will ensure that the Central and state governments’ officials meet face-to-face to discuss the challenges concerning a project,” he said.

Highlighting the fact that two urban-oriented programmes, Urban Infrastructure and Governance (UIG) and Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns (UIDSSMT) were implemented in the state under JnNURM, Mr Naidu said that urban upliftment was the mission of the Modi government.

“Fifty-six projects have been approved under UIG at the cost of around Rs 4,145 crore and 71 projects have been approved under UIDSSMT at the cost of Rs 1,908 crore. The Central government has already released a majority of the funds it has to share, and so far, 26 UIG and 17 UIDSSMT projects have been completed,” Mr Naidu said.

Spelling out Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision for the country, Mr Naidu said that the party was working towards developing 100 smart cities across the country, which will have advanced facilities like free wi-fi, better town planning and state-of-the art infrastructure.

“Reports suggest that by the year 2050, 50 per cent of the population in the country would have migrated to towns. Three reasons why they will migrate are, education, employment and entertainment and these can be found only in urban areas. We need to create better facilities, better transportation system and a GIS-based master plan to develop urban areas. Developing more satellite towns around urban areas is our mission,” he said, adding that like Hoskote, where an underground sewage scheme was taken up at a cost of Rs 40.73