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Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a political pitch at the inauguration of the Smart City Mission here on Thursday, with ample references to the Emergency imposed under the Congress rule 40 years ago and that the current NDA government wants to make India the finest democracy. BJP leader LK Advani had recently said in an interview that Emergency-like situation could emerge again and forces that can crush democracy are stronger now, triggering a debate on whether he was referring to the present government.
‘’Nobody can forget what happened on June 25, 40 years ago…. India was converted into a jail when Emergency was imposed,’’ Modi told the audience gathered to listen to his vision on smart cities. ‘’Newspapers were shut and radio aired only what the government wanted.’’ He added, ‘’India is the biggest democracy, today we want to make it the finest too.’’
As for the smart city scheme he was inaugurating, the PM defined ‘’smart’’ as something that’s two steps ahead of what is required. Mentioning that many people have been wondering what smart cities are all about, he indicated there’s no rocket science to it. ‘’A city should be able to deliver much more than what the expectation of its residents are. That’s smart.’’
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On providing house to all by 2022, another ambitious project that this government has approved, the PM said, ‘’our effort is not just to give a house to all, but help him aspire for a better life too.’’. He made a dig at Congress, saying that people would ask this government if the 20 million housing shortfall is not met by the promised timeframe of 2022, but they wont ask them (referring to Congress) why there’s such a huge shortfall. ‘’But that will not make us sit quiet.’’
On the vision to have better cities, he said the onus will now be on the local bodies to build better cities and cities within cities. ‘’So far, property dealers and builders have stretched cities…That should change.’’ The Smart City project will also be led by local bodies, with support from the Centre and state governments. Referring to hardships faced by home buyers at the hands of builders, the PM promised a regulator soon through the Real Estate Bill which is in Parliament.
Modi had good words for the media on the Swachch Bharat scheme. ‘’Media will be remembered for its good work in transforming India through Swachch Bharat.’’
Besides Union urban development minister Venkaiah Naidu and minister of state Babul Supriyo, two chief ministers—of Maharashtra and Haryana—were on the dais with the PM.
