INDIAN INTERNATIONAL MODEL

UNITED NATIONS PATNA

2015
 LOKSABHA

AGENDA:
Possibility of 100
smart cities by
2050
What is a smart city?
A smart city, has a variety of definitions and interpretations. A succinct introduction to it, however
is, A 'smart city' is an urban region that is highly advanced in terms of overall infrastructure,
sustainable real estate, communications and market viability. It is a city where information
technology is the principal infrastructure and the basis for providing essential services to residents.
There are many technological platforms involved, including but not limited to automated sensor
networks and data centres. In a smart city, economic development and activity is sustainable and
rationally incremental by virtue of being based on success-oriented market drivers such as supply and
demand. They benefit everybody, including citizens, businesses, the government and the
environment. The history of smart cities and its origins which are, in fact quite recent. Interestingly,
the concept was started by the IBM group during the 2008 financial crisis, when they coined the
term and concept in their smarter Planet initiative. All in all, as of today, the basic features of a
smart city are. While all the features may not be completed a conservative estimate pegs 7 out of 10
being enough for a city being called a smart city.
Information, communication, and technology (ICT)-enabled governance: The international and
domestic big daddies of the information technology (IT) world have, with their aggressive
presentations, virtually hijacked the smart city definition to only mean IT-enabled administration
and governance. While such a restrictive definition is quite obviously undesirable and incorrect, one
cannot argue with the fact that Information technology is in fact the basis of a smart city. The
concept of smart governance too is linked to this as it has been oneFor example, on December 10,
2014, the President launched the Karnataka Mobile One app in Bengaluru that would provide
citizens a range of e-governance services over mobile phones.

Efficient utilities - energy, water, solid waste and effluents: This area is often the most talked
about after IT. Smart meters, renewable energy, energy conservation, water harvesting, effluent
recycling, scientific solid waste disposal methods et al are all clearly the hallmark of a smart city. The
basic issue with this however is the fact that even basic sanitation has not been applied to the
country and this move has found opposition in the fact that it is an overtly ambitious and impractical
step.

Meaningful PPPs: The creative use of public-private partnerships (PPPs) is a key attribute of the
smart city concept. PPPs are to be used not only as a source of much-needed capital but also for the
efficient delivery of utilities with agreed service-level standards. PPPs could range from health care
to street lighting; and be used wherever there is a clear connection between the provision of a
service and the ability to charge for the same - directly or even indirectly. This is again extremely
pertinent to Narendra Modis dream for more PPPs and opposition may find a treasure chest in
showing favouritism to certain corporate houses(case in point- Adani Enterprises)

Safety and security: This aspect is high in public consciousness, especially with disconcerting news
on the safety of women, road rage, robbery attacks on the elderly and juvenile delinquency. Clearly,
networks of video-cameras, brightly lit public areas, intensive patrolling and surveillance,
identityverified access, and rapid response to emergency calls are all on the expectations list.

Financial sustainability: The 74th Amendment to the Constitution (1992) enjoins towns and cities to
"take charge of their own destinies". Nowhere is this more important than financial independence.
This is only possible with elaborate and extensive tapping of all sources of revenue - property taxes,
advertisements et al; coupled with astute collection of user-pay charges across the full range of
utilities. It also has to do with the elements of fiscal discipline that would enable the raising of
longterm debt like municipal bonds.

Citizen-participative local government: The enthusiastic participation of citizens in local issues

needs careful designing of electoral and participative fora. The current apathy towards civic
elections needs comprehensive reversal.

Sufficient social capital: Smart cities cannot be devoid of the appropriate levels of social
infrastructure - like schools, hospitals, public spaces, sporting and recreational grounds and retail
and entertainment venues. Along with a brain that works, and hands and legs that move, it must
also have a heart that beats to the joys of daily living.
Transit-oriented habitats: "Walk-to-work" is the dream solution here. Nevertheless, conveniently
networked public transportation with first- and last-mile connectivities in place, reduced motivation
to use personal vehicles, use of electric cars, and bicycle paths are all in the expectation matrix.

Green features: Minimising the carbon footprint and eco-friendliness are de rigueur. Parks and
verdant open spaces, absence of pollution, use of renewables, conservation and recycling are
mandatory.

Minimum population criteria: Towards the end of November 2014, Panasonic Corporation
announced the opening of its new business vector - the sustainable smart town (SST) at Fujisawa in
Japan. It has rooftop solar energy, electric cars and electric-powered bicycles. However, it comprises
only 1,000 homes over 47 acres that will have a population of 3,000 people. This kind of project is at
best a smart enclave, and clearly, in the Indian context, cannot be included in the definition of a city.
India has 5,545 urban agglomerations. Class 1 towns (called cities) are those with a population of
100,000 and above. This should be the minimum population cut-off for a smart city.

SMART CITIES AS AN ELECTORAL PROMISE AND ITS POLITICAL

RAMIFICATIONS.
The Bharatiya Janata Party, in its pre poll manifesto, laid great stress to the development of urban
area and a vast increase in jobs owing to its development aimed marketing strategy. The BJP
manifesto, lays out its urban development plan albeit in a slightly vague manner in the following
way-

Urban Areas - High Growth Centres

More than one-third of our population is already living in our cities and towns. Soon, the urban areas
will cover half our people. Moreover, our cities should no longer remain a reflection of poverty and
bottlenecks. Rather they should become symbols of efficiency, speed and scale.

We will look at urbanisation as an Opportunity rather than a Threat. Major steps will be undertaken
in Transport and Housing for 'Urban Upliftment' in India.

We will initiate building 100 new cities; enabled with the latest in technology and infrastructure
adhering to concepts like sustainability, walk to work etc, and focused on specialized domains.

The approach to urban development will be based on integrated habitat development - building on
concepts like Twin cities and Satellite towns.

Upgrade existing urban centres, transitioning focus from basic infrastructure to public utility services
like Waste and Water Management - for a clean and healthy city life.

Cleanliness and Sanitation will be given priority - efficient Waste and Water management systems
will be set up. Model towns will be identified for rolling out integrated waste management
infrastructure.

Wi-Fi facilities will be made available in public places and commercial centres. Urban poverty
alleviation scheme would be a key thrust area.
Use technology for scientific, strategic and long term town planning - including GIS based mapping.

Build quality integrated Public Transport systems, discouraging usage of private vehicles

In the year 2014, finance minister Arun Jaitley set aside 7600 crores for this project, saying As the
fruits of development reach an increasingly large number of people, the pace of migration from the
rural areas to the cities is increasing. Unless new cities are developed to accommodate the
burgeoning number of people, the existing cities would soon become unliveable, Hours after
taking oath, Urban development minister Venkaiah Naidu made the following
statement. Our PM has a vision and we will give top priority to 100 smart new cities - smart, safe
and better environment, better facilities better connectivity and better living condition for people.
That is the concept we are finalising. However, not much fruit has been borne of this concept.

A very important way of clearly seeing the difference in methods and ideologies between the
congress and the BJP ran their respective general election campaigns in terms of their focus on
development. The BJP showed aims of of creating 250 million jobs over the next 10 years as part of
an economic development programme that could create 100 new 'smart' cities. To quote a source
within the BJp, "The manifesto's priorities, in this order, are jobs, investment, manufacturing and
infrastructure,"
(further reading suggested http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/politics/bjps-manifesto-
tofocusnew-jobs-cities-sources_1058300.html?utm_source=ref_article )

In contrast, the Congress ran campaign ads that depicted smiling artisans making bricks or weaving
by hand - an appeal to its core constituency of the poor voter
This is one the primary clashes with the two major political parties owing to the fact that the
opposing parties wish to bring down BJP support by showing this move to be purely votebank
politics and not actually beneficial to the poor. The next pages display in short, the basic structure of
the NDAs policy on smart cities and the list of proposed cities. (suggested
readinghttp://www.bjp.org/core-issues/development-plan )

NOTE- The very first deadline for smart cities, which was to prepare the first concept paper for
smart cities by novemmber 15th was missed(http://www.dnaindia.com/delhi/report-
smartcity-project-to-miss-first-deadline-2029166 ) This has been a great source for ammo for
the opposition. Further, the first smart city project worth 78000 crores as envisioned by the
gujurat government and the then Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, has been caught in great red
tape.( http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-10-11/news/54899725_1_gift-
citygujarat-international-finance-tec-gujarat-government )
LIST OF 100 PROPOSED SMART CITIES
1.Pune Maharashtra 2.Mumbai Maharashtra
3.Nagpur Maharashtra 4.Nashik Maharashtra
5.Aurangabad Maharashtra 6.Bhivandi Maharashtra
7.Calcutta - West Bengal 8.Durgapur West Bengal
9.Haldia West Bengal 10.Habra West Bengal
11.Jangipur West Bengal 12.Ahmedabad Gujarat
13.Surat Gujarat 14.Vadodara Gujarat
15.Rajkot Gujarat 16.Bhavnagar Gujarat
17.Junagadh Gujarat 18.Gandhi Nagar Gujarat
19.Bhopal - Madhya Pradesh 20.Indore - Madhya Pradesh
21.Gwalior - Madhya Pradesh 22.Burhanpur - Madhya Pradesh
23.Jabalpur - Madhya Pradesh 24.Chennai - Tamil Nadu
25.Coimbatore - Tamil Nadu 26.Madurai - Tamil Nadu
27.Tiruchirappalli - Tamil Nadu 28.Salem - Tamil Nadu
29.Tirunelveli - Tamil Nadu 30.Bangalore Karnataka
31.Gulbarga Karnataka 32.Bidar Karnataka
33.Bijapur Karnataka 34.Badami Karnataka
35.Pattadakal Karnataka 36.Mahakuta Karnataka
37.Thiruvananthapuram Kerala 38.Kollam Kerala
39.Kottayam Kerala 40.Tiruvalla Kerala
41.Ernakulam Kerala 42.Cochin Kerala
43.Thrissur Kerala 44.Hyderabad Telangana
45.Warangal Telangana 46.Karimnagar Telangana
47.Nizamabad Telaganana 48.Nalgonda Telangana
49.Guntur - Andhra Pradesh 50.Vijayawada - Andhra Pradesh
51.Kurnool - Andhra Pradesh 52.Chittoor Andhra Pradesh
53.Kanpur - Uttar Pradesh 54.Allahabad - Uttar Pradesh
55.Lucknow - Uttar Pradesh 56.Jhansi - Uttar Pradesh
57.Faizabad - Uttar Pradesh 58.Varanasi - Uttar Pradesh
59.Jaipur Rajasthan 60.Ajmer Rajasthan
61.Bharatpur Rajasthan 62.Bikaner Rajasthan
63.Jodhapur Rajasthan 64.Kota Rajasthan
65.Udipur Rajasthan 66.Ludhiana Punjab
67.Amritsir Punjab 68.Jalandhar Punjab
69.Patiala Punjab 70.Muzaffarapur Bihar
71.Patna Bihar 72.Gaya Bihar
73.Bhagalpur Bihar 74.Bihar Sharif Bihar
75.Faridabad Haryana 76.Gurgaon Haryana
77.Panipat Haryana 78.Ambala Haryana
79.Guwahati Assam 80.Tinsukia Assam
81.Obalguri Assam 82.Tangla Assam
83.Goalpara Assam 84.Bhubaneswar Odisha
85.Cuttack Odisha 86.Rourkela Odisha
87.Sambalpur Odisha 88.Balasore Odisha
89.Shimla Himachal Pradesh 90.Dehradoon Uttarakhand
91.Haridwar Uttarakhand 92.Roorkee Uttarakhand
93.Jamshedpur Jharkhand 94.Dhanbad Jharkhand
95.Ranchi Jharkhand 96.Gangtok Sikkim
97.Pelling Sikkim 98.Yuksam Sikkim
99.Bishnupur Manipur 100.Chandel Manipur
ECONOMIC ASPECT OF SMART CITIES
The concept of smart cities is one which leans very heavily on economics and the policy of
the government in power seems to have displayed a shift in concentration from rural to
urban areas, true to the BJPs pro development and urbanization stance. This however, has
not been entirely welcomed and effective, with some even stating that the move has led to
consternation for farmer and population in rural areas.

The primary reason for this has been the fact that there has been a shift in spending as
ordered by narendra modi. One must make a note of this in the Union Budget of 2014 which
showed a clear move of the NDA towards urbanisation, rather than for rural areas.
Parlementarians are requested to take note of the various reactions to the budget and
base their policy in committee on the same.

A clear indication of the same is the fact that India's last government raised grain purchase
prices, bailed out indebted farmers and promised 100 days paid labour a year to anyone
who wanted it. The measures boosted the spending power of rural consumers and
cushioned business from a fall in urban demand after the 2008 financial crisis. Eventually,
though, they stoked inflation and forced the Reserve Bank of India to hike interest rates.

However, to cap inflation and state borrowing, Modi has limited rises in farm support prices
to below the inflation rate and scaled back the jobs scheme. The PM instead wants to invest
savings in infrastructure and skills to boost India's long-term growth.

The government's ability to ramp up spending on roads, railways and irrigation projects that
would benefit rural India is, meanwhile, hobbled by budget constraints.

aides to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley have advised him to loosen fiscal deficit targets in next
month's budget to create room to invest. It's not clear, though, whether he will do so as that
could delay a growth-boosting interest rate cut by the central bank.

There has also been a great amount of international interest and parternship with relation to
smart cities. Some examples such countries are, Singapore, Japan, and possibly the USA.
Further Reading
http://www.dnaindia.com/money/report-rural-india-slowdown-threatens-narendra-modi-spromise-
of-better-days-2052670

http://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/standpoint-of-smart-cities-and-unsmart-decisions-a-tale-
ofmisplaced-priorities-1998212

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-01-20/news/58267862_1_smart-
citiesconsortium-prime-minister-narendra-modi

THE LAND AQUISITION BILL AND ITS RELATION TO SMART CITIES

The concept of land acquisition and the changes required to ensure implementation of the smart city
proposal are what is expected to be the most important clash in committee and debate is expected
to be extensive on the same.

The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and
Resettlement Act, 2013 was passed under the UPA regime with full support of the BJP. However, the
act proved to be a severe hurdle in the process of urbanization and developmental projects. One such
example is when in 2013, ArcelorMittal, the worlds largest steelmaker, dropped its plan to build a
plant in the eastern Indian state of Orissa, citing delays in acquiring land as a main reason.

Some important feature of the acts are-

The Act forbids land acquisition when such acquisition would include multi-crop irrigated area.
However such acquisition may be permitted on demonstrable last resort, which will be subjected to
an aggregated upper limit for all the projects in a District or State as notified by the State
Government. In addition to the above condition, wherever multi-crop irrigated land is acquired an
equivalent area of cultivable wasteland shall be developed by the state for agricultural purposes. In
other type of agricultural land, the total acquisition shall not exceed the limit for all the projects in a
District or State as notified by the Appropriate Authority. These limits shall not apply to linear
projects which includes projects for railways, highways, major district roads, power lines, and
irrigation canals

Under the Act, prior consent is required from 70 per cent of the affected families if land is being
acquired for PPP projects and from 80 per cent in case of private companies. SIA is mandatory and
has to be completed within six months

Section 105 brings in certain exemptions for the same. This is particularly important and relevant as
it may remove hindrances to certain projects including smart cities.

The greatest contention lies in the fact that this act was amended by the NDA government through
the ordinance route. Not only did this draw flak from the opposition on the grounds of it being an
insult to democracy but also in terms of certain amendments being anti farmers and poor.

One of the most contentious amendments is the move tp waive the "consent clause" - the
requirement to secure specific consent of owners of 70% -80% of land owners if
acquisitions are meant for defence and defence production, rural infrastructure
including electrification, housing for poor and affordable housing, industrial corridors
and infrastructure projects including projects under Public-Private Partnership mode
where ownership the land continues to be vested with the government. Multi-crop land
can also be acquired for such purposes.

Such acquisitions will also be exempt from social impact assessment and the application
of Food Security Act, two other requirements laid down under the Land Acquisition Act
which have been widely identified as factors snagging projects and development. Nearly
80% of land acquired in the country is for such projects
The fact that they are to include public private partnerships is particularly important as
this means that the move o include PPPs in smart cities would be made far easier.
However, this has raised great concern from all opposition parties.

The PMO released the following statement- The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri
Narendra Modi, has approved certain amendments in the Right to Fair Compensation and
Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.

The Act came into effect from 01.01.2014 but it has been reported that many difficulties are being
faced in its implementation. In order to remove them, certain amendments have been made in the
Act to further strengthen the provisions to protect the interests of the affected families. In
addition, procedural difficulties in the acquisition of lands required for important national projects
required to be mitigated.

States, Ministries and stakeholders had been reporting many difficulties in the implementation of
this Act. Several suggestions came up in interactions with State Revenue Ministers and key
implementing Ministries. Proposed amendments meet the twin objectives of farmer welfare; along
with expeditiously meeting the strategic and developmental needs of the country.

Pro-farmer step: Excluded Acts brought under RFCTLARR Act for Compensation and R&R.

The existing Act vide Section 105 (read with Schedule IV) has kept 13 most frequently used Acts for
Land Acquisition for the Central Government Projects out of the purview. These acts are applicable
for national highways, metro rail, atomic energy projects, electricity related other projects etc. Thus
a large percentage of famers and affected families were denied the compensation and R&R
measures prescribed under the Act.

The present amendments bring all those exempted 13 Acts under the purview of this Act for the
purpose of compensation as well as rehabilitation and resettlement. Therefore, the amendment
benefits the farmers and the affected families.

Pro-development: Faster processing without compromising on compensation or R&R measures to

farmers.

The second important aspect of the amendment is to make developmental and security related
works much faster without compromising on the benefits/compensation to be given to the farmers.

In the process of prolonged procedure for land acquisition, neither the farmer is able to get benefit
nor is the project completed in time for the benefit of society at large.
Therefore the present changes allow a fast track process for defence and defence production, rural
infrastructure including electrification, housing for poor including affordable housing, industrial
corridors and infrastructure projects including projects taken up under Public Private Partnership
mode where ownership of the land continues to be vested with the government.

These projects are essential for bringing in better economic opportunities for the people living in
these areas and would also help in improving quality of life.

The congress in particular has deemed it to be a politically charged and petty move. At a
meeting of party general secretaries called by AICC General Secretary (Organisation)
Janardan Dwivedi, it was decided that all states will hold demonstrations and other forms of
agitations including 'Chetna Abhiyan' (awareness campaign) among farmers by February 15
informing them of the "dangers" of the Ordinance on the land bill.

Former Rural Development Minister and senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh briefed the
party leaders on salient features of the Ordinance and how to tell the farmers that doing
away with the consent clause will have adverse affect on them in the long run. AICC has
accused the government of bringing the ordinance to help "vested interests" and has pointed
out that the Land Acquisition bill was finalised by a Parliamentary Committee headed by BJP
leader Sumitra Mahajan, now the Lok Sabha Speaker. Further the governments penchant for
passing ordinances has been drawing a great amount of criticism. Here is a list of ordinances
already passed by the Modi governments-
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/cabinet-approvesordinanceto-amend-
landacquisition-act/article6735783.ece

FurtherReading
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/union-cabinet-allows-changes-in-
land-acquisition-act/ )

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/union-cabinet-allows-changes-in-
landacquisition-act/
http://www.prsindia.org/uploads/media/Ordinances/RTFCTLARR%20Ordinance%202014.pdf
http://indiacode.nic.in/acts-in-pdf/302013.pdf

http://www.firstpost.com/politics/land-acquisition-bill-congress-chalks-nationwide-
protestordinance-2031343.html

http://www.dnaindia.com/money/report-finance-minister-arun-jaitley-vows-to-amend-
landacquisition-act-promises-non-aggressive-tax-policy-2033457

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/YC-protests-against-land-
acquisitionordinance/articleshow/46002540.cms

ISSUES BEFORE PARLIAMENT

1)Feasabilty of the smart cities proposal
2)Delays in the deadlines set for smart city proposal

3)Economic Rammifications on rural India with relation to smart cities

4) Votebank Politics

5)Effect of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and
Resettlement Act, 2013 on smart cities.

Suggested topics for Moderated Caucuses ( not exhaustive)

1)Economic effects of the government policy of urbanization and smart cities

2) Votebank Politics and the smart city proposal

3) Time Frame for the smart city project

4) Amendment to the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition,

Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 and its effect on the rural population and land owners

5) The passing of ordinances and its effect on democracy.