Symposium on Smart Cities Revolution held in Gangtok

GANGTOK, Sikkim: Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India, stressed the importance of the South Asian Sub-Regional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) road connectivity project for the connectivity of the northeastern region at a Symposium on Smart Cities Revolution, held in Gangtok, on April 30.

The symposium namely, Urban Development in North Eastern States: Smart City Revolution, was organised by the Ministry for the Development of The North East Region in collaboration with the North Eastern Council (NEC) and held under the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav festival, being celebrated in the northeastern states. 

On this occasion, Hardeep Singh Puri highlighted that currently, at least 523 projects worth Rs 13563 crore are in the various stages of development, while the 121 projects of Rs 1553 crore have been completed while 268 projects worth Rs 8507 crore are yet to be implemented. The union minister also congratulated the state for being the first state to implement the Online Building Permission System (OBPS). The union minister also praised the seven urban local bodies of Sikkim for achieving the open defecation free (ODF) status under the Swachh Bharat Mission – Urban.

In the budget announcement of 2022, Nirmala Sitaraman, Minister for Finance, Government of India, announced a new scheme called Prime Minister’s Development Initiative for North-East (PM-DevINE), another infra development scheme for the northeastern states under the umbrella scheme named by PM Gati Shakti Master Plan.

Ministry for the DoNER, the Government of Arunachal Pradesh, along with NEC organised a discussion on the issue of the “Welfare of the tribals and border management” on the same day. Chowna Mein, Deputy Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, also emphasised the welfare of the tribals and the growth of border areas focusing on ‘our culture, our pride’ and research and documentation of the unique cultural heritage of the state.