US delegation meets Venkaiah over smart cities

A delegation led by the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) Director Leocadia I Zak today called on Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu and discussed about the smart cities for which Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) have been inked.
"The discussion was centred on the three smart cities - Visakhapatnam, Ajmer and Allahabad - for which MoUs has been signed between the respective state governments and USTDA," an official release said.
The process of smart city challenge (a competition among cities for inclusion in the project) is "very scientific, transparent and participative" and has become a "role model" for other schemes, Naidu said.

The government has adopted a proactive approach to move forward on the Smart Cities Mission, he said, and informed that the training of mayors and CEOs of smart cities in the US has to be finalised.
Resources must not be a constraint for the Smart Cities Mission, Naidu said, and emphasised on the participation of people in development of smart cities.