Naidu rubbishes criticism over Smart City initiative

Claimed the cities were selected by a process of competition and not because of any political consideration

Union Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu on Monday rubbished the criticism over the list of 20 cities, selected as part of Centre's Smart City initiative, saying the cities were selected by a process of competition and not because of any political consideration.

"There are some unnecessary criticisms here and there about the selection of the cities. There was no selection, it was a competition. In competition, it depends on what grade you get, the city with top grades is number one and the last was number 20, and the rest followed," Naidu told ANI.

"If a city from a particular state is not there on the list then they have to explain. They have to work towards fulfilling those parameters. The problem lies with the civic body or the corporation, they have to improve their performance," he added.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had earlier expressed disappointment over the non-inclusion of any city of his state in the list released by the Centre, as part of the first batch of cities to receive funds under the initiative.

Communist Party of India (Marxist), on the other hand, lashed out at the Centre for considering only the "North Delhi Municipal Corporation area in Delhi" for the Smart City initiative, saying such a proposal showed "anti-democratic and anti-poor" character of the government.

Congress said the Centre insulted both Bihar and Uttar Pradesh after none of the cities in both the states could make it to the first list.

Populous states like UP, Bihar and Jharkhand have missed the spot. Bhubaneswar tops the list and will attract an investment of over Rs 50,000 crore to leap into a modern and dynamic landscape.