Arunachal : Union Minister Kiren Rijiju calls for smart cities to capture imagination of people

Union Minister of Law and Justice Kiren Rijiju on January 13 reviewed the progress of Smart City Projects in Itanagar and Pasighat through a virtual meeting.

While expressing his satisfaction over the progress of the smart city projects in the two cities on war-footing in the mission's penultimate year of the SCM, Rijiju called for smart cities to capture the imagination of people and focus on 'feel-good-inducing' interventions.

"A smart city must be smart in all sense. Having smart infrastructure is not enough, we need to onboard people to make them think and behave smartly. We should sensitize citizen to become responsible to their city," Kiren Rijiju said adding that impetus should be given to smart policing, tourist-centric projects and aesthetics of the city.

"The Smart City Mission was launched with a great fanfare in 2015. People had a high expectation about the outcome. Therefore, it is necessary that the projects are evaluated and completed as per the stipulated timeline," the Union Minister added.
The Union Law and Justice Minister suggested that Smart City Mission could be converged with other government resources, architects, city planners and designers to make Itanagar and Pasighat dream tourist destinations while offering any kind of his intervention at the Centre's level for smooth implementation and timely delivery of SCM projects.

Earlier, during his opening remark, Neeraj Semwal, IAS, Commissioner, Urban Development, Town Planning and Urban Local Bodies, Government of Arunachal Pradesh, highlighted the smart city projects being undertaken in two cities.

Earlier on January 12 , the Union Law and Justice Minister Kiren Rijiju asked Arunachal Olympic Association (AOA) to conduct Lok Sabha Sport Championship (Sansad Khel Spardha) 2023. The decision was taken after a virtual conference with Rijiju by AOA office bearers, Khelo India nodal officer, the state's sports secretary and director on Wednesday.

Rijiju, who represents Arunachal West Parliamentary constituency, has desired to launch 'Mission sports for all' and motivate the youth to take part in games and spots to make them fit and healthy. 

Badminton, Football and Kho-Kho are promoted with state's education department funding, but sports not promoted by the state government would be conducted during LSSC-2023, Tago said, adding, eight disciplines - Wrestling, Athletics, Karate, Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Tug of War, Weightlifting and Wushu have been identified.