Dr PB Anand, a faculty member from Bradford University in England, was on a visit to Bhubaneswar to meet and discuss with officials of the Bhubaneswar Smart City limited (BSCl) on aspects of inclusiveness in the Smart City Project.
He had meetings with senior officials to discuss various dimensions of the Smart City Project. He went on to visit Masjid Colony within the Bhubaneswar Town Centre District (BTCD) area and had discussion with Accreditated Social Health Activist (ASHA) and Auxiliary Nursing Midwifery (ANM), besides community members.
He tried to know the issues and challenges of working in the slums from the health workers. With regard to his interaction with community members, he was keen to know about their livelihood and the challenges they are facing in their day- to- day life.
It can be mentioned here that on November 18 last year, the BSCl signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to make Bhubaneswar a Socially Smart City. This is part of the initiative under the Bhubaneswar Smart City plan to achieve social equity.
The BSCl-UNFPA project will aim to promote people-centric interventions through engagement of youths, especially women and girls, with focus on the most marginalised, in order to build Bhubaneswar as a socially Smart City.
Dr Anand was made aware of the various initiatives being undertaken as part of the Socially Smart City Project being implemented by BSCl in collaboration with UNFPA.
Dr Anand is a Reader with the Faculty of Social Sciences in the field of Environmental Economics and Public Policy. He is also the divisional research leader with British Academy Project on Sustainable Cities under Division of Peace Studies and International Development.