In India still most of the cities are facing the dilemma of lack of proper means of sanitation, sewage, road infrastructure and unplanned construction. This in turn creates lot of problems for the people who are living in the urban part of India. With increasing population in the cities, it is quite necessary to adapt and renovate the existing infrastructure in order to meet the demands raised by the ever increasing population.
Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation also called as ‘AMRUT’ is such a step in the direction of making our exiting urban infrastructure in to a better shape. An estimated 500 cities will be chosen under this scheme and government will spend around Rs 50000 crore for a tenure of 5 years with an aim to improve the basic infrastructure in our cities which is already on the verge of collapse like improper sewage system of Mumbai city.
Development of proper sewage system, better roads, making play grounds and parks, community halls and some of the unique provisions solely aimed at the development of the children of this country. But will not be limited to this only; to keep these things in order, special regulations for the governance of local civic bodies, e-governance systems for the citizen and many other such initiatives will be taken by the government.
As per the planning, the government is scheduling to invest around 10% of the budget towards the development of the states and union territories. Government is eyeing to implement it in 500 cities and those town who are having population more than 1 lacs. Cities with river nearby, tourist destinations, and hilly stations will be given the preference.
As far as expenditure are concerned government will give 50% of the cost of developing the town and cities with population of 10 lacs and 1/3 of the total expenditure when the population is more than 10 lacs. On the other hand, the government will release payment in three installments in the ratio of 20:40:20.
AMRUT is the founding stones for these cities to convert themselves in to the smarter cities and contribution of state government is largely appreciated. Under this scheme state government will have the freedom of designing the plan as per their needs and as per the performance further arrangement will be made and funding will be done. This scheme is similar to JNNURM, but with slight changes in terms of investments and decisions making bodies.
Smart City Mission and AMRUT will go side by side. AMRUT scheme is the predecessor of SMART CITY MISSION. Apart from the government involvement in this project, local society and committee’s opinion and role will also be taken in to account. This will help to come out with better arrangement and proper utilization of resources for this scheme. After all this is done for the people and they should take part in it at larger scale to make a better place to live in.