Chief Minister Kamal Nath said to provide better services to citizens with effective system, they should make innovations without fear and hesitation. He said services should show new thinking, attitude and viewpoint.

Nath was inaugurating the basic and professional training of newly appointed Chief Municipal Officers at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Good Governance and Policy Analysis on Thursday.

The Chief Minister said that changes are taking place in every region of the country and the whole world. Villages have changed in the last 30 years, and there has been a difference in the thinking of the villagers too. He added we have to keep in mind that in changed circumstances what will be the nature of better services for general citizens. There is a need to change the system for this.

The Chief Minister said that urbanisation is increasing throughout Asia. The capacity of the cities to bear the burden of population is decreasing. Therefore, we have to think about the development of suburban areas. When we move in this direction, we must keep in mind that the villages must connect to cities by design and not by default. He said that sub-urban areas should be fully equipped with basic facilities so that people would prefer to stay there. Keeping in mind the future needs, we have to plan urban areas.

The Chief Minister said to the newly appointed chief municipal officers that they should work without fear to provide better services to the citizens as per new techniques, innovations and their current requirements, only then they can give better results. He said that I wish to give an hour’s lecture on urban development in the training session. The Chief Minister said that the basic concept of smart city is that we should give cities a state-of-the-art appearance, but at the same time try to change the working process of daily life of citizens.

Urban Development and Housing Minister Jaivardhan Singh said that the cities should be developed in such a manner that our city becomes a model of urban development in the whole country. He said that the urban bodies must make use of their assets to increase additional income so that the cities become self-reliant.

Singh said that the Chhindwara Development Model is known in the whole country. It must be studied. He told not to fear to make innovations for the development of cities. We will have to work with long-term thinking in the development of urban areas. He said that we have a Chief Minister with us today who launched schemes according to the needs of today’s phase of development, when he was Urban Minister, which includes National Urban Livelihood Mission and Metro Projects. He has a global bent of mind which we must utilise.