To measure the “quality” and “impact” of various ongoing smart city projects, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (HUA) will hold a contest carrying total prize money of Rs 50 lakh. The Ministry has circulated a concept note and guidelines on ‘India Smart Cities Awards Contest, 2017’ to all States and Union Territories.
All projects that will be completed by April 1, 2018 will be eligible for participating in the contest. Awards will be presented on June 25 next year, marking the third anniversary of the launch of the Smart City Mission. Under the Smart City Mission, 90 cities have so far been identified through three rounds of competition for implementing various projects.
A total investment of Rs 1.91 lakh crore has been proposed by these 90 cities. Best performers in each of the categories will be awarded with Rs 5 lakh each and a scroll.
Sources said that the contest and prize money will help cities to perform better and ensure quality works in the ongoing projects.
“The contest is aimed at recognising and rewarding cities, projects and innovative ideas that promote the goals of the Smart City Mission, including enhancement in quality of life of citizens,” the official said. Evaluation criteria include “impact, innovation and scalability/replicability” in other areas of the city, he added.
Under the ‘Project Awards’ category, excellence will be awarded in various categories such as ‘Improving Governance’, ‘Social Aspects’, ‘Culture and Economy’, ‘Environment impact’, ‘Transportation and Mobility’ and ‘Water and Sanitation’.
The HUA ministry is closely monitoring progress of 261 impactful projects with an investment of Rs 31,000 crore and another 370 Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects with an investment of about Rs 32,000 crore.
In essence, the Smart Cities Contest seeks to capture the extent of improvements in governance eliminating delays and frustrations in interactions with city governments through ICT enabled services, citizen participation, nature of built environment with focus on mixed use, compact and dense development and open spaces, social infrastructure relating to health and education, promotion of unique identity and culture of cities and employment opportunities, reduced pollution and energy management, efficiency of transportation and mobility, power and water supply and sanitation, demonstrated
levels of innovation and number of people impacted by each of the projects.