Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Friday announced the commencement of the country's first-ever 'liveability Index' to rank 116 cities. "The Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry has decided to assess the livability standard of 116 Indian cities, which include the identified Smart Cities and few more cities with a population of over 1 million," Puri said while commencing the liveability Index. The result of the exercise will be announced in June.
Among the cities to be assessed for the 'liveability Index', include Delhi's three municipal corporations, Bangalore (Karnataka), Kochi (Kerala), Ghaziabad, Meerut, Varanasi, Allahabad and lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) and Faridabad in Haryana.
The cities will be assessed on 15 core parameters like governance, social infrastructure, education, employment, health and safety and security. The 'livability Index' will also take into account physical infrastructure like housing, open spaces, land use, energy and water availability, solid waste management and pollution, among others.