PANAJI
The Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) on Friday disbursed Rs 500 crore as an incentive to 16 States that performed well in implementing urban reforms during 2016-17.
While Andhra Pradesh topped the list scoring 96.06 per cent, Odisha (95.38 per cent) and Jharkhand (91.98per cent) secured second and third place respectively. These were followed by Chattisgarh (91.37 per cent), Madhya Pradesh (90.20 per cent), Telangana (86.92 per cent), Rajasthan (84.62 per cent), Punjab (77.02 per cent), Kerala (75.73 per cent), Goa (75.38 per cent), Mizoram (75 per cent), Gujarat (73.80 per cent), Chandigarh (72.73 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (70.67 per cent) and Maharashtra (70.52 per cent).
Progress in respect of reforms like e-governance, Audit of accounts, Tax revision policies and extent of tax revenue collection, Energy and Water Audit, Establishing State Level Financial Intermediaries for resource mobilization, Credit Rating etc., was taken into account while evaluating the performance.
Nonetheless, the MoUD also launched the ‘City Liveability Index’ for measuring the quality of life in 116 major cities including smart cities, capital cities and cities with a population of above one million each.
The Index, is a Common Minimum Reference Framework to enable the cities know where they stand in terms of quality of life and the interventions required to improve the same.
In a first of its kind Index to be introduced in the country, cities will be assessed on a comprehensive set of 79 parameters to capture the extent and quality of infrastructure including availability of roads, education and health care, mobility, employment opportunities, emergency response, grievance redressal, pollution, availability of open and green spaces, cultural and entertainment opportunities etc.
After selecting the agency for undertaking this assessment next month, data collection will be completed in the next about six months.
