One of the underlying principles behind the concept of Smart City is to consult the residents of a city to ascertain which schemes will be best suited to the city’s needs.
Adhering to this notion, State Government and Ranchi Municipal Corporation have launched a chain of interactive sessions with denizens of the city. The first of these sessions was conducted at Delhi Public School on Monday, where students shared their vision of a smarter Ranchi with State Urban Development Authority Director Rajesh Kumar Sharma, Mayor Asha lakra and Municipal Commissioner Prashant Kumar.
"Following the two-day Ideas Camp in Delhi, we are conducting brainstorming camps in Ranchi to understand the perception of Smart City people have here. We plan to conduct these sessions in schools, colleges and among other residents of Ranchi," said the Mayor.
She further added, "During these sessions, we displayed a presentation on how we can make a better Ranchi considering its past, present and probable future. The presentation focused on Ranchi's strengths that can be helpful in making it a smarter city and weaknesses which can hinder its growth."
Following the presentation, students voiced their opinions on which aspects of Ranchi already favour its standing as a Smart City and which issues demand immediate attention. "During the first session in the series, we gathered that the climate of Ranchi is quite liked by residents of other cities, so we need to preserve and utilise it. Also, many thought that Ranchi can be developed as a tourism hub. And with some work, we can do well in industrial and research sectors too, making Ranchi an education hub. Wi-Fi connectivity, drainage systems were some aspects we need to work on, as we were told here," lakra said. Even the digital forum is being used to invite ideas. Webpage, Facebook page and a Twitter handle have been floated to enquire 'what should be the vision of Smart Ranchi'.
She further added, "We will be going to our Ward Councillors on Friday, who in turn will talk to people of their respective wards to understand the fields we need to work on in order to become a Smart City. This idea-gathering campaign will go on till October 22, after which we will send the list of gathered ideas to Indian Govt. Based on this list, we will receive dev projects for the city."