Venkaiah Naidu

MINISTER FOR URBAN DEVELOPMENT, HOUSING AND URBAN POVERTY ALLEVIATION

FOR NAIDU, THE BIGGEST achievement of his ministry is ushering in ‘bottom up’ planning. This has ensured participation of all stakeholders in launch of new urban missions. “Every municipality forms a plan in accordance with central guidelines and generates a certain amount of resources. This is paying huge dividends, as seen in the scale of approval of investments,” says the minister. The Smart City project has already gained some momentum and his next big claim is that under AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation), the government now have detailed action plans for all 500 cities. The Liveability Index of our cities and towns, RERA to clean up the real estate sector etc are other path-defining schemes launched by the ministry. But the ministry faces several tough challenges. Four of the world’s 10 most congested cities are in India. Outdoor air pollution in Indian cities is now among the worst and 14 Indian cities figure on the list of world’s 30 most polluted cities. And India accounts for 11 per cent of global road deaths.