This refers to the editorial "Smart city pitfalls" (May 8). The current government's ambition to upgrade small towns and cities across the country to smart cities is a welcome and novel step that would change the perspective of the world towards India, if implemented in letter and spirit.
But the effectiveness of the implementation relies on some major local issues and governance, which surely can't be dictated by the ministers in Delhi. The municipalities of major cities, which are run by aristocratic civil servants and not popularly elected members, have to be taken on board and their co-operation must be sought.
Moreover, the central government has relied heavily on the state governments to prepare the plans for projects, which no doubt is a novel step, but non-implementable due to the lack of interest and efficiency of the states. The lack of delegation of authority to the lower levels of governments makes this a useless effort on the part of the Centre.
The Central government's plans must be applauded but the pragmatic approach is still missing. In my opinion, the system of the lower level of government must be reformed first to ensure the better delivery of such services.
Abinash Dash Choudhury Bhubaneswar
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