Indian Smart Cities Mission: Common Fallacies

Ever since its launch by PM Modi on June 25, 2014, Indian Smart City Mission (SCM) has been subjected to criticism from multiple quarters. Though pointing out deficiencies in the Govt. scheme is not a new phenomenon in India and the jury is still out on the impact and success of this ambitious program, some of the adverse point are misplaced and indicates universal pessimism prevailing in the society. This piece is an attempt to address these and bring out what is mission is “Not” about. All 100 cities participated in the competition, out of which 60 have been selected in 3 rounds (including a “Fast Track” round). PM’s own constituency Varanasi ranked 94 after round I of the competition. Nellore constituency of Union Minister for Urban Development, Venkaiah Naidu is not even make it to the list of 100 cities. Hence any accusations of political favoritism are misplaced and unsubstantiated. The fact that the entire Mission is based on the Bottom-Up approach, it is eventually for the citizens of the cities to decide the area they want to develop. Typically, most of the cities have gone for redevelopment or retrofitting of the most congested and visited areas for upgradation. One needs to appreciate that Indian cities are run by career bureaucrats - IAS officers, with no dedicated municipal cadre to support. Catering to the entire (and increasing ambitious & educated) city population is not an easy task. Capacity is a huge gap that long needs to be addressed. One of the unfulfilled mandate of the 74th CAA is citizen empowerment and those mission has taken the whole concept of citizen engagement to an altogether revolutionary level. If successful, the newly constituted SPV model is expected to be replicated across the city.