Hardeep Puri calls for making Smart Cities Mission into people’s Movement

An awards distribution ceremony was organised, during the inaugural wherein award winners of the India Smart Cities Awards Contest (ISAC) 2020 were felicitated.

The 3-day "Smart Cities, Smart Urbanization" conference had a grand opening in Surat today. The event is being organised by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India with Surat Smart City Corporation Development Ltd., under the clarion call of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav (AKAM), given by Hon'ble Prime Minister to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Independence.

Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs was the chief guest at the event. Shri Bhupendrabhai Patel, Chief Minister of Gujarat addressed the gathering through a Video Message. Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Shri Kaushal Kishore, Union Minister of State for Railways Ms Darshana Jardosh, Shri Vinod Moradiya, Minister of Urban development and urban housing, Government of Gujarat, Dr Audimulapu Suresh, Minister of Education, Andhra Pradesh, Shri C.R. Patil, MP, and Smt. Hemali Kalpeshkumar Boghawala, Mayor, Surat took part in the inaugural session. All key urban stakeholders from Central and State Governments joined the event, including inter alia, Secretary, MoHUA Shri Manoj Joshi, Principal Secretaries of States/UTs, Municipal Commissioners of Cities, MDs/CEOs of 100 Smart Cities, State Level Nodal Agencies/ Mission Directorates, professionals, industry representatives, media, and members of academia also attended the event, which highlighted some of the important initiatives being implemented in 100 Smart Cities.

An awards distribution ceremony was organised, during the inaugural wherein award winners of the India Smart Cities Awards Contest (ISAC) 2020 were felicitated. These awards were earlier announced through virtual conference in 2021. However, the award distribution ceremony was deferred due to the prevailing COVID-19 situation at that time. Surat and Indore were given the Best city award, while Uttar Pradesh was awarded the Best State. The list of the awardees is enclosed at Annexure I, II & III.

The event also featured release of Urban Outcomes Framework 2022 including, 'Ease of Living', 'Municipal Performance Index', 'Data Maturity and ClimateSmart Cities Assessment Framework. Ministry's integrated data portal AMPLIFI, which will provide valuable data about Indian cities, was also launched. Further, Smart Cities Mission also launched a comprehensive dashboard with Outcome Output Management Framework (OOMF) dashboard in GMIS during the event.

The opening day of the 'Smart Cities Smart Urbanization' mega conclave showcased various interactive activities, arranged interactions with eminent speakers and learnings across the 5 themes vis. Reimagining Public Spaces, Digital Governance, ClimateSmart Cities, Innovation and Smart Finance, for over 1000+ participants registered from across the country. The dignitaries took a tour of the five thematic pavilions being exhibited at the venue. These five themes demonstrated the variety of urban projects being developed in the Smart Cities.

(With Inputs from PIB)