Work on Smart City plan in six cities to begin soon: Gujarat CM Anandiben Patel

Gujarat Government will soon start the process of implementation of Smart City project in six cities of the state, Chief Minister Anandiben Patel said.

Addressing a civic body polls meeting here last night, Patel said, "Tendering and other processes for the Smart City project will begin soon."

The six cities are Vadodara, Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad, Surat, Rajkot and Dahod.

The Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) election is scheduled to be held on November 22.

Appealing to voters to ensure BJP's victory in the polls to be contested on 76 seats here, the chief minister said people should once again choose BJP to move ahead with the development it has brought to the state in the the last two decades.

Currently, there are 62 corporators of the ruling party in the city.

"(Narendra) Modi-led government at the Centre has announced a list of 98 cities (for Smart City project), which includes six cites of Gujarat. With an aim to achieve targets of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation, the Smart City plan will promote integrated city planning, thereby contributing in the two flagship programmes of the NDA government," she said.

The Urban Development Ministry will provide Rs 100 crore to each city over the next five years for the Smart City mission, she said.

"State government is committed to construct toilets in all 18,000 villages of the state in time-bound manner and the work of construction of two lakhs toilets in 3,000 villages is already completed," she added.

She also announced that soon free Wifi service will be made available in Vadodara and endeavours are on to make the city as an educational hub.

Attacking opposition Congress, Patel said the party for 40 years since its inception in the state, it neglected basic development like sanitation, health, education.

"Till 2001, female literacy rate in Gujarat was only 58 per cent and it was under the leadership of BJP and former chief minister Narendra Modi and the work he has done, today every girl of Gujarat goes to school," she said.