32 towns,cities to be developed in TN with Central funds: Venkaiah.

The Union government will develop 32 towns and cities under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (Amrut) in Tamil Nadu, Union Minister for Urban Development M. Venkaiah Naidu said recently.

Declaring open a Holiday Home for Central government employees constructed at a cost of Rs. 6.92 crore here, Mr. Naidu said that this was in addition to the 12 Smart Cities to come up in the State. The places chosen for the Amrut scheme included Madurai, Coimbatore, Tiruchi, Salem, Tirunelveli, Nagercoil, Nagapattinam, Velankanni, Vellore, Erode, Cuddalore, Tiruvannamalai, Rajapalayam, Pudukottai, Hosur, Avadi and Tiruvottriyur. The purpose of Amrut is to ensure access to drinking water and sewerage for every household; increase amenity value of cities by developing greenery and well-maintained open spaces and reduce pollution by switching to public transport or constructing facilities for non-motorised transport with 50 per cent funding from the Union government.

Explaining the rationale behind identification of cities for upgrading as Smart Cities, Mr. Naidu said that the cities recommended by the State governments would be chosen on their performance and by grading their credit worthiness.

Naming the facility as K. Kamaraj Nadar Holiday Home, Mr. Naidu said that the government was keen constructing such a facility in Rameswaram and Kodaikanal. While the Rameswaram project was in the pipeline, the State government had been approached to identify suitable land in Kodaikanal. The Central Public Works Department, which was involved in the construction of several buildings across the State, should gear up to compete with private players, he said.

On the e-initiatives of the government, Mr. Naidu said that students would soon get their scholarships deposited in their bank accounts like the subsidy for cooking gas. This would be followed by fertilizer subsidy for farmers. The linking of Aadhaar card with one’s mobile number under the Jan Dhan Yojana would prevent leakage. It was estimated that the country could save thousands of crores of rupees in the form of fertilizer, LPG and PDS subsidies once the linkage with beneficiaries was established, he said.


THE HINDU