A pet project of PM Modi in a Gandhian way, sanitation ministry’s Swachh Bharat Mission got wide public support, especially on social media after celebrities joined the Clean India challenge. Not just stopping with cleaning the locality, the government has taken initiatives such as building more toilets, waste management, and waste segregation. The real success will, however, happen when manual scavenging is completely eradicated.
India’s lobbying got success when the United Nations declared June 21 as the International Yoga Day. The mass yoga performance at Rajpath, which was led by PM Modi himself, set the record of most number of people participating in such an event.
Mann Ki Baat made a mark at the national level. A first such initiative in India where a top leader addresses millions that too periodically. The programme even featured former U.S. President Barack Obama during his visit to India.
Digital India saw significant progress. This flagship programme of Ravi Shankar Prasad’s Communications Ministry aims to create a knowledge economy and good governance is travelling on the right path. Every minister and every ministry is now on Twitter. A slew of e-governance measures like digital locker and feedbacks through mygov.in are some notable initiatives. Now, the public can air their views and the same reach Prime Minister for swift action.
Make In India got the much-needed momentum and the share market saw the first upheaval after a long time. Monsoon failure throughout the country gave some anxious moments and a setback for the ruling party but we hope rain Gods will open the skies early and we can see twilight in a Twitter and Facebook world and the Social media will shower more praise of the wholehearted efforts of a tireless leader. It is time to set right the goals.
A ‘smart city’ is an urban region that is highly advanced in terms of overall infrastructure, sustainable real estate, communications, and market viability. It is a city where information technology is the principal infrastructure and the basis for providing essential services to residents. There are many technological platforms involved, including but not limited to automated sensor networks and data centres. Though this may sound futuristic, it is now likely to become a reality as the ‘smart cities’ movement unfolds in India.
There are basic needs for achieving the yardstick and Citizens expect those basic amenities. The main and the major ones are commented upon here:-
We need to have a better public transport system to be on par with the world’s best cities. The growing urbanisation has increased the number of private vehicles thereby creating traffic congestion in almost all cities of India. In Mumbai, we look upon local trains as our lifeline and if it stops on day and everything goes awry.
Now it is time to make sure that the city is clean and green to give the much-needed ambiance required for setting up a smart city. The city will have to take up the additional responding of providing quality education, dependable power supply, health consciousness, e-governance, affordable housing for poor, water supply and several other sectors would be the centre of focus under the project. Smart city tag will bring cheers to the citizens of the country and we dream of becoming a place to behold in the world.
The task in hand is connecting the major rivers in India. In Assam, we get surplus rains but at the same time, down south Chennai is reeling under shortage of drinking water. It is high time we connect rivers in a well-planned manner and see that the water problem is solved in a five-year plan developmental programme.
Fulfilling its poll promise, the government has launched a new unified ‘Jal Shakti’ ministry that is aimed at providing clean drinking water as well as fight India’s water woes. The new ministry has been formed by merging the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation and Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation. All water related works will be merged under one ministry. Both rail and surface transport are given an additional responsibility and we see the cities are connected with good quality roads all over the country. Thus, we see a new India and in the next five years, the renaissance of developments in this country with Sabka Vishwas going a long way in making Mann Ki Baat a spiritual journey.
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
