New Delhi: Responding to questions during the Question Hour in parliament on Thursday, Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that command and control centres of all 100 smart cities will be operational by August 15 this year. He also commented that the command and control centres in 75 smart cities are already up and running.
During the session, many members complained about not being invited to meetings of the Smart City Director Board chaired by chief secretaries of the respective states. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla expressed his concern over the absence of invitations to the members for meetings related to the development of smart cities.
“You give directions to the state governments to invite members of parliament for the meetings,” he said addressing the urban affairs minister. Congress member Hibi Eden said that he received the invitations and attended meetings of the city-level advisory committee where proposals for smart cities are proposed. He also demanded that members should be invited to the Smart City Director Board.
After the whole fiasco, Puri said the demand of the members could be discussed and informed that the implementation of the smart cities mission has been extended up to June 2023 and all projects, including Thiruvananthapuram, will be completed within the specified time.
