Every city needs Modi to be part of MODI: Venkaiah Naidu

The country needs mayors and municipal chairpersons who can take tough decisions like our Prime Minister and be accountable for performance , Naidu said.

New Delhi, Jan 25: Expressing concern over problems of urban areas, Union Minister Urban Development minister Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday said every city needs Modi to address its challenges and be part of MODI -- Making of Developed India. India's urban population is even less than Pakistan, Bangladesh and Bhutan, he said, adding that by international standards it is low.

Emphasising on the need of effective leadership at the local level, Naidu said,"...every city and town got to be a part of Making of Developed India (MODI) and for that to happen, every city needs a leader like Shri Modi." The country needs mayors and municipal chairpersons who can take tough decisions like our Prime Minister and be accountable for performance, Naidu said while speaking on the topic of Urbanisation at the National Defence College here.

At the same time, he also mentioned that citizens should be willing to pay for delivery of quality and improved services. Cautioning that urban India is sitting over a volcano that can erupt any time if not handled properly, the Minister exuberated confidence that measures are being now taken that can convert it into a volcano of opportunities.

Stating that urbanisation is a natural corollary of development, Naidu said, "Development has no meaning if it is not inclusive. We cannot afford urbanisation which proves to be a web of inequalities and powerless local authorities. We need to address marginalization and ghettoisation in urban areas." The way forward is to enable the city governments to go for a complete makeover by undoing the legacies inherited over the years, Naidu said.

The current dispensation is adopting the approach of decentralisation. The states and urban local bodies have been empowered to formulate, evaluate and approve projects, he added. An investment of Rs 2.78 lakh crore has already been approved under various new urban missions so far, he said.

As a result of the paradigm shift introduced over the last two and a half years in urban development strategies, there is a new churning among the city governments and all other stakeholders, Naidu added.

PTI