With the Union cabinet clearing the 100 Smart Cities programme on Wednesday, five cities of Kerala including Kochi Corporation are vying to get a pie of the Central support.
Kochi Corporation has completed the preliminary preparations including vision document updating and development plan as suggested by the Local Self Government Department.
The e-newsletter of the local body is also ready, said V.R. Raju.
The Central Ministry is also pushing Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) for 500 cities, a new mission which would replace the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.
James Varghese, the Principal Secretary, Local Self Government Department, observed that the Smart City programme was set in motion with the Cabinet nod. The Ministry is expected to come up with a guideline for the project.
The finer details of the project will be known only when the guidelines are issued, said Mr. Varghese.
The Department had asked the five corporations and two municipalities of the State, which can qualify to become smart cities, to meet a six-point criteria to become eligible for selection, said Mr. Varghese.
The criteria were evolved based on the information gathered during the personal interactions and discussions of the Smart City project.
If not alerted earlier, the cities might be caught off-guard. A meeting of the select local bodies would be convened after the guidelines are published, he said.
Incidentally, the Smart City project comes at the fag end of the tenure of the local bodies of the State.
The selected cities may get Central assistance to the tune of Rs. 100 crore a year for five years. Fresh elections for the local bodies will take place within six months.
Election notification and model code of conduct may come within three or four months.
Thus, it would be one of the major responsibilities of the newly-elected local bodies to vie for a share of the Central allocation.
Kochi Corporation is all set to compete for the selection process.
A meeting of the Steering committee of the local body may discuss a proposal for enriching the contents of the e-newsletter before it is made accessible to general public, Mr. Raju said.
The cities delected to be Smart Cities may get Central assistance to the tune of Rs. 100 crore a year for five years.
