Smart cities: Doon's non-inclusion reflects Centre's attitude of neglect, alleges Cong

Dehradun, Jan 28: The non-inclusion of Dehradun in the Centre's list of top 20 smart cities today drew a sharp reaction from the Congress which termed it as a decision which reflects the Centre's "attitude of neglect" towards the party ruled state.

"It is unfortunate that Dehradun has not been included in the list of top 20 smart cities despite fulfilling all the criteria laid down by the Centre in this regard.

"It is a decision inspired by political considerations which reflect the Centre's malice towards the Congress- governed state," senior party leader and Chief Minister Harish Rawat's Media Incharge Surendra Kumar said in a statement.

He also asked BJP leaders including its five Lok Sabha MPs from the state to apologise to the people of the state for letting them down.

"BJP leaders who had put up hoardings in the city to cash in on the Centre's dream project politically failed in their duty to represent the state's case before their central leaders. They owe an apology to the people of the state for disappointing them," Kumar said.

"The Centre first displayed its attitude of neglect towards Uttarakhand by not giving a cabinet berth to any of the five MPs from here. It has displayed the same attitude once again by not naming any of the cities of Uttarakhand in the first list of smart cities," he said.

However, the state government will continue to work on its agenda to provide better civic amenities to people, the CM's media in charge said.

Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu today announced the first list of 20 cities that will be developed to have basic infrastructure.

Bhubaneswar emerged on top among 20 cities, including Pune, Ahmedabad, Chennai and Bhopal, that have been selected as part of the first batch of the Smart City initiative for which the NDMC area of Delhi has also made the grade.

PTI