Mangaluru: MLC Ivan D’Souza held a press meet at his chamber in MCC, Lalbagh here on September 26.
Prior to the meeting, a suggestion box on Smart City project was inaugurated by the Mayor of MCC, Jacintha Alfred.
Addressing the mediapersons, MLC Ivan D’Souza said that the Indian government has taken the decision to make 100 cities as smart cities and already the process of selecting the 100 cities has been done. “Out of the 100, Mangaluru is one of the cities selected for the project. Out of the 100 cities, 20 cities will be finalized in the first phase so we need to work hard to bring Mangaluru in the list of the top 20 cities.”
Ivan also said that the process of collecting feedback from the people has been initiated. “Mayor Jacintha has already inaugurated the suggestion box in my chamber and the people who come to the office are requested to drop their suggestions in the box. All the suggestions will be collected and submitted to the concerned authorities by December 10. Already 24 points have been mentioned in the website for a smart city. In this regard, all the elected members, keeping aside party differences, should work for the betterment of the district.”
“In the state, Mangaluru has all the basic facilities in addition to upper class facilities such as the railway, seaport, airport, quality of education, medical facilities and other facilities. For a smart city, we need proper power supply. There is less production of power and more demand of electricity. In this situation, we need to install solar power systems in every house. We need to bring awareness among the people about the power system. Even the railway department should be made world class. The MP should take the initiative to improve the railway system. Discussions are also going on to make an international cricket stadium in Mangaluru.”
When asked about the scarcity of water if the Yettinahole project comes up, Ivan replied that discussions in this regard are going on. “If the DPR is wrong, the people who are responsible will be questioned.” When asked whether he will resign to stop the project, Ivan said that there is no need of any resignation as discussions are going on about the project. Ivan also said that discussions on the smart city project will be held on October 16.
Mayor Jacintha Alfred, Deputy Mayor Purushotham, Sashidhar Hegde and others were also present.
another natak from MLC
Our politicians are way too funny!! Straight out of comedy skit!! LOL Yes – they just can’t figure out what needs to be done in order to improve conditions in mangalooru!! They need suggestions and ideas from public!!!! May be, we need a metro in the next 2 months. Or, The Walt Disney World to compete with one in Florida. How about a ski resort so our folks can ski from St Aloysius grounds all the way to Bunt’s hostel!! May be, extend ski trail all the way to Panamburu?
On a serious note, I applaud how seriously mangalore based, congress politicians are participating in this ‘smart city’ initiative which is purely a brainchild of Shree Narendrabhai Modiji. India’s progress is possible only when all parties come together to make it happen.
Hello guys, forget about political differences. Participatory governance is one of the norms followed world over. Ministry of Urban Development has made participatory governance mandatory. Governance means give people what they need. People have to tell government what they need through suggestions.
I think only one city in Karnataka will be selected for Smart City project in first round of finalizing 20 cities. Hope for Mangalore being selected in other rounds are doubtful as other rounds itself are doubtful. Currently Mangalore lags behind Hubli-Dharwad in number of suggestions submitted in MyGov a crowd sourcing web portal of Government of India. If you want Mangalore to be smart city please submit your suggestions at the earliest.
Governance means give people what they need. – Lord Krishna
Sir’ji, “governance” ALSO means, deliver on what you promise people!
Just to jiggle your memory – the 15 lakhs to every Indian (our dearest Sir rampa’ji excluded for obvious reasons) promised by our Pradhana Sevaka’s Jokers Party! AND in retrospect – to think that those Jokers even gave a 150 days time-frame to accomplish that! 🙂
And those Jokers want free internet in remote villages where no power exists! Where people are worried ONLY about food and a roof over their heads! And just FORGET Arnab Goswami’s fav dialogue – the country wants to know! Lol. So, who will deliver? AND on what front?
As a columnist on NDTV wrote:
“For the success of Make-in-India, foreign investment is a must and to become an investment destination, five components are needed – education, health, infrastructure, safety and justice. But here the order has been reversed. The budgetary allocation in education was reduced – the budget of the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan was cut from Rs. 27,758 crore to Rs. 22,000 crores and the outlay for the Mid Day Meal scheme went down from Rs. 13,214 crore to Rs. 9,236 crore.
As per data available, the budget for health care and family welfare has been reduced from Rs. 39,000 crore to Rs. 33,000 crore. No attempt has been made to improve the law and order situation across the nation. Huge vacancies are left unfilled in the police and paramilitary forces. Despite a Supreme Court ruling, police reforms are still a distant dream.”
“Judicial reforms should have been of top priority on Modi’s agenda for development. But industrial litigations are taking years to reach any conclusion. Infrastructure development is moving at a snail’s pace. On ease-of-doing-business, India is ranked 142 among 189 countries.”
Well, so MACK a trip to India, if nothing!