Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (DV)

Updated

Mangaluru, Feb 14: "Developing a Smart City is a very tough job, but it is not impossible. A Smart City requires smart leaders, smart not in physical appearance but in their sense of having vision and clarity about the future of the city, and the ability to take tough decisions and provide basic amenities like solid waste management, housing system, 24-hour electricity and water, sanitation facilities and training for employees," said union minister for urban development Venkaiah Naidu.

He was delivering a talk on 'Sustainable urban development' organized by Citizens' Council Mangalore Chapter and Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industries (KCCI) at Sanghaniketan here on Sunday February 14.

"Smart people are required for Smart City. People should actively participate in the city's development, cooperate and be willing to pay taxes. Without paying tax, you cannot add revenue for development. Representatives and officers look inward into the city to provide necessities," he said.

On Mangaluru not making it to the first list of 20 Smart Cities, he said, "Your city has not been removed from the list. In the last budget the finance minister (Arun Jaitley) had said that in the first phase, 20 cities will be chosen and in second and third phases, 40 cities each will be given opportunity. There is also a problem with finance. The previous government (UPA) left everything in deficit.

"But things have improved very fast. The entire world economy has slowed down, and China's growth is in the negative. Only India is on the bright spot in the world - this is not said by me or Modi, but by World Bank, International Monetary Fund and Asian Development Bank in their reports. As many as 36 countries and hundreds of their companies have come forward to invest in India. This is the contribution of the Modi-led government in 18 months. FDI has increased by 48 percent in 18 months. The world over, GDP growth is 2.5 to 3 percent, but India's GDP is at 7.3 percent," Naidu said.

Dismissing claims that political influence was behind the selection of 20 Smart Cities in the first phase, he said, "Six cities were reccommended for the Smart City project by the Karnataka government, and similar process was also undertaken by other states. Three international companies and three premier institutions selected the 20 cities and there was no political interference. Neither my own constituency nor PM's constituency Varanasi, the home minister's constituency nor Panaji constituency of the defense minister make it to the list. So there is no question of political interference at all," he asserted.

"It is the duty of the city to improve the parameters and performance. As many as 23 states are not in the first list. I am confident that if this city improves on the parameters, it will be in the next list. Change your mindset and actively participate in the city's development," he added.

"Over the years, there has been haphazard, unplanned development in our country. There is lack of integrated and inclusive development. Basic civic amenities are lacking. A large section of the poor feel they are deprived, hence keeping this in mind, the Prime Minister decided to focus more on sustainable urban development, as urban areas are engines of growth.

"About 65 percent of the Indian GDP is coming from the cities, and 35 percent of the population is living in cities. In future, this may grow to 40-50 percent and the estimated GDP may grow to 85 percent. Education, entertainment and healthcare institutions are all focussed on cities and this is why people go to cities. This cannot be reversed now. We have to take care of people's welfare.

"Maintaining the ratio between the income of the corporation and the salaries of the employees is very important. In most of the cities, 80 to 90 percent of the income is going on salaries. Then where is the question of development there?

"The PM says urbanization cannot be stopped, and that we have to plan integrated development of cities. Hence programmes like Smart City, AMRUT, HRIDAY cities, housing for all, Swachh Bharat, National Urban Livelihood MIssion, Deen Dayal Anthyodaya Yojana and others were introduced by the PM," he added.

In a veiled reference to Congress, he said, "Some of our friends are not willing to cooperate with the government and unwilling to pass bills like GST and land acquisition. Without land acquisition, how can development be possible? When Congress was in power, it acquired 20 lac acres of land in 10 years.

"The GST bill is a transformative and revolutionary. It will increase our GDP by 1.5 to 2 percent. Totally, 116 countries have GST, and moreover, the reccommendation was first done by the Congress government. Though it has been passed in the Lok Sabha, it has been held back in Rajya Sabha. You (Congress) are not stopping Modi - you are stopping the growth of the country and the people. In spite of all the difficulties, I assure you that we will overcome all hurdles during the Rajya Sabha session in the coming days and we will work to pass all the bills.

Commenting on the row in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) over protest against hanging of terrorist Afzal Guru, Naidu said, "The country should focus on development, but in academic institutions, unfortunately a small number of fringe elements are spoiling it. Even after 68 years of independence, still there is caste discrimination and fights in the name of religion. This is a shame. We should introspect on such things and condemn and avoid them. People who are responsible for such things should be isolated.

"How can any country tolerate protesting the hanging of terrorist Afzal Guru? It is nothing but anti-national. It cannot be tolerated. These forces are challenging the country's Constitution, unity, sovereignity and integrity. Afzal Guru was a Pakistan-inspired terrorist and planned to blow up the Parliament. After exhausting all judicial proceedings, he was sentenced to death. How can anyone say injustice has been done? It is nothing but anti-national mindset. We cannot compromise on the sovereignity of the country. We should not allow these fringe elements to use schools and colleges to spoil our Constitution. In order to see Modi fail, such people want to send a wrong message to the world. The entire world wants to invest in India but these people are shouting 'intolerance'/ Show me a country that is more tolerant than India," he said.

Anant G Pai, executive director of Bharat Group, Ganesh M P of Guardian Infrastructure, Sunil Achar, president of Citizens' Council Mangaluru, Maroor Rammohan Rai, KCCI president and others were present.

Earlier Report

Mangaluru cleaner than other cities, says Venkaiah Naidu, lauds Ramakrishna Mission

Pics: Spoorthi Ullal
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (JS)

Mangaluru, Feb 14: "Mangaluru is one of the importance cities of Karnataka. It is cleaner and greener than most other cities of India. There is a need to develop the city. I appreciate the efforts made by Ramakrishna Mission towards implementing Swachh Bharat Mission in Mangaluru," said union urban development minister Venkaiah Naidu.

He was speaking at a programme at a thanksgiving programme at Ramakrishna Math here on Sunday February 14 to mark the 40 successful cleaning drives undertaken by the Ramakrishna Mission in the city.

"Ramakrishna Mission has taken Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for clean India seriously and made efforts in implementing the Swachh Bharat Mission effectively. I have come here to compliment the people of Mangaluru and also the Ramakrishna Math. When launching Swachh Bharat Mission, the Prime Minister had told me not to make this a government programme or a political programme, and instead make it a people's movement. The dream of the Prime Minister is our dream. You are making the PM's dream Minister a reality through Ramakrishna Math and I appreciate it," he lauded.

In a veiled dig at the successive Congress-led governments and stressing on the need for people's participation, he said, "For the past 60 years we politicians have created a notion among the people that every work will be done by the government alone and that people need not worry. But this is not only wrong, it is impossible too. There is a need for public participation in every work, in each and every activity, be it social or administrative, everywhere people's participation is vital. No programme can be successful until and unless there is people's participation. We have learnt this over the years. The reason is, the country is very big and has a population of 125 crore. There are lots of problems in the nation, and to solve these problems, there should be people's participation in every step."

Elaborating on the Swachh Bharat Mission, he said, "The aim of Swachh Bharat is to make the country free of open defecation and implement scientific waste management. The Mission has covered all the cities and towns in the nation. This Mission has been taken up to fulfil the following objectives by 2019:

- Make the country 100 percent free of open defecation
- Scientific waste management
- Transportation of solid waste in all towns and mucicipal wards
- Eradication of manual scavenging
- To bring healthy behaviourial changes in sanitation
- To create awareness about santitation and public health

"I do not expect Ramakrishna Math's Swamiji to take up the broom everyday and clean the streets. The aim and purpose of this campaign is creating awareness among the people. The Math has created awareness and motivated the people and gathered stakeholders in this campaign. This programme has been successful because of the awareness created by Ramakrishna Mission," he said.

"The Swachh Bharat Mission has six components - household, construction of community toilets, public toilets, solid waste management, public awareness and capacity building. According to 2011 census, India's urban population is 377 million which is 30 percent of the total population. These numbers are expected to increase to 600 million by 2031. The 2011 census also showed that 4,441 towns do not have toilet facilities and close to 8 million households in rural areas do not have access to toilets, and in the urban areas 7.9 million defecate in open.

"Also, as per the 2011 census, 2.32 urban households are connected to pipe sewage, 38.2 percent dispose the waste through septic tanks, 16.7 percent of the urban households use other means to dispose the waste, while 18.6 percent do not have toilets and 6 percent use community toilets.

"According to Kasturirangan data, India generates 1.76 metric tonnes of municipal solid waste, out of which 82 percent of the waste is collected, and out of that 26 percent is processed. The target which has to be achieved by 2019 is contruction of 1.04 crore individual toilets and 2.56 lac public toilets in urban areas, and also 100 percent door-to-door collection and management of municipal solid waste," Naidu said.

"The estimated per unit per capita cost of Swachh Bharat Missio is Rs 62,000 crore and the share of the union government Rs 14,627 crore. Minimum additional amount equal to 25 percent is funded by the union government. Rs 4,875 crore should be contributed by each state and the balance fund has to be collected through various other sources. The central government is giving Rs 4,000 for construction of each individual toilet in urban areas and Rs 5,000 for each individual toilet in rural areas. The remaining money has to be contributed by the local bodies and the state government, and in some cases by beneficiaries also," he added.

Appreciating Mangaluru for its cleanliness and development, he said, "Mangaluru is one of the important cities in Karnataka situated in the west coast. It is progressing in every field, be it education, inudustry or commerce. This is one of the most prestigious cities in the country, and I can tell you, Mangaluru is cleaner and greener as compared to other cities in the country. We have to improve it further. Solid waste management is handled by the health and sanitation units of the Mangaluru City Corporation.

"The major components of solid waste management, that is primary components, transportation, processing and disposal are managed well in Mangaluru and there is 100 percent door-to-door collection. The charges are included in the property tax. This is a good thing. Collection of waste here is privatized, and 85 percent of the waste is processed at the city level. The total waste generated in the city 300 metric tonne, out of which 277 metric tonne is processed and the rest 23 tonne needs to be processed.

"You have to keep your surroundings clean, be it your home, workplace, street or city. Thinking about the society is very important. Every establishment should adopt a certain area of its choice and take up cleaning work like Ramakrishna Mission. Some have told me that we need to impose fines and penalties, which is not possible as of now, but after completion of strategy implementation, that is creating awareness and creating infrastructure, fines will be implemented. Even Bill Gates' Foundation is joining hands in Swacch Bharat and he had said that more than money, it is the mindset that is important. The Prime Minister had asked me to create bank accounts for the poor and I told him I would be completing the task in five years, but he insisted that it has to be done in a year. Accordingly, in the past year, about 20 crore new bank accounts have been opened. The motto of our governement is to deliver the best. I am happy that Ramakrishna Mission has taken up this drive and I wish it was present in every city of the nation. I wish them all success," Naidu said.

The program was formally inaugurated by lightning the lamp.

Swami Jithakananda Swamiji, head of Ramakrishna Math, Mangaluru, welcome the gathering and said, "This drive was started a year ago on February 15 and it has successfully completed 40 cleanliness drives with the cooperation of like-minded people. The main aim was to bring a change in the mindset of the people. Now people have a feeling that this city is their own home. We went one step further to create a mindset that 'this is my street and my city'. Keeping our motherland clean is like a puja to us. This did not start now but in 1916 when there was plague in Kolkata. At that time, Swami Vivekananda had started this drive by cleaning the city. I am happy to say that I belong to a culture where we literally worship our motherland. This is the first phase of the drive and it will continue with many more phases."

Swami Srikantananda Swamiji, head of Ramakrishna Math of Pune said, "Cleanliness is next to godliness, they say. First we need external cleanliness and then internal purity in our minds. Change in attitude can change the world. Mother and motherland are greater than heaven. Other countries have problems, but no solution. But India has a solution, and that is spirituality. We worship our motherland with broomsticks in our hands. Ramakrishna Mission has completed 40 cleanliness drives and I wish many more are taken up."

MLC Ganesh Karnik said, "With cooperation of the people of Mangaluru, the Math will start its second phase of the drive. Under the Swamiji's guidance, four drives were taken up each month, and in the second phase, about 40 teams have come forward to assist the Mission. We have planned to take up 40 drives each month for 10 months and during the two months in rainy season. Awareness programmes will also be conducted in various schools and colleges."

MLA J R Lobo and others were present.