America
Modi, Bloomberg meet on smart cities
New Delhi, Feb 16
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi, and New York City's former mayor Michael Bloomberg Monday
announced a partnership between Bloomberg Philanthropies and India's
urban development ministry to advance the "Smart Cities Initiative".
The
Smart Cities Initiative is aimed to promote economic growth, improve
governance, and deliver more effective and efficient public services to
India's urban residents.
Under the partnership, Bloomberg
Philanthropies will provide assistance to the ministry to select cities
for Smart Cities Mission funding on a continuous basis, said an official
statement.
This approach is different from the conventional
approach, which involved preparation of detailed project reports, and
their appraisal and approval by the central government. It will ensure
that real citizen engagement happens, as people get involved both in
design and execution of city development plans.
This will actualize the idea of cooperative and competitive federalism, it said.