smart city project what is it

Recd from Rahul Agnihotri

Dear Richard,

Since we are developing the ambitious smart city project, we must start the planning from ground level without replicating the experience of implementation of such projects in other develop countries. We/India has a long way to travel before we could reach to the benchmark levels of other cities across the world.

I have now worked with more than 10 urban local bodies in different states in India. Based on my experience of working with urban local bodies (ULB’s), I think following requirements must be fulfilled to improve the municipal services for any city/town –

1.       All the urban local bodies has a self-government. They have their own policies, regulations, rules and functioning. They donot expect any interference of state/central government in their functioning. If state government or central government develop new policies/regulations/projects/rules etc. it is a must that the city local government approves it before it come in to enforcement in any city. Also, required amendments and institutional frameworks has to be in place to enforce such projects and policies

2.       Except very few municipal corporations, all others ULB’s donot have revenue streams to manage their yearly budgets/expenses. They only expects central/state government to provide them constants funding/Grants for implementation of any projects related to city improvement/development.

3.       The inadequate man-power and lack of skilled/trained man-power is one of the major concern. There are no proper HR policies, trainings and system for hiring of resources. The incentives/salary structures, timely payment of salaries to employees is a major concern

4.       There is no centralized procurement system and hence lack of inventory, no record keeping of purchases, no idea of yearly expenses under different heads. It is very important to develop the procurement guidelines at city level and train the respective staff for establishing a centralized procurement system

5.       Lack of co-ordination, integration and implementation between different department is always a big issue.

6.       There is no dedicated energy planning department in the city local government (like town planning, urban transport planning, water and sewerage, solid waste etc.)  The energy planning department must be establish in each city and it must look at existing and future energy needs, energy costs and develop innovative approaches to optimize such investments/energy  costs to meet city energy requirement in municipal services

7.       There is huge influence of local corporators in day to day operations and administration of city local government which leads to sub standards quality of work. How such involvement could be stopped is a major concern.

8.       There is no guide book or defined procedures to be followed for execution of various municipal services by the respective staffs. There is a need to develop such manuals and train the employees on following such guidebooks/manuals

If smart cities are to be planned, the involvement of local cooperators and individual local city government has to play a major role in the planning and execution. If such planning is done at central level or state level nothing can be realized on the ground level and Smart City will only remain on paper.