Ministry of Urban Development will launch measuring of Liveability Index of cities next month based on indigenously evolved Index. This was announced by Shri Rajiv Gauba, Secretary (Urban Development) here today while addressing a World Bank organized knowledge sharing workshop on improving accountability for local governments. 

To start with, Liveability Standards of 140 cities including 53 cities with population of one million and above and Smart Cities will be assessed. The Ministry has already invited bids for selecting the agency for carrying out the assessment based on the parameters evolved by the Ministry. The Ministry of Urban Development has come out with a detailed document on “Methodology for Collection and Computation of Liveability Standards in Cities” for the benefit of States and Cities. 

Cities will be assessed on 15 core parameters relating to Governance, social infrastructure pertaining to education, health and safety and security, economic aspects and physical infrastructure like housing, open spaces, land use, energy and water availability, solid waste management, pollution etc. Cities will be ranked based on Liveability Index that would cover a total of 79 aspects. 

Shri Rajiv Gauba said that a sense of healthy competition is being promoted among cities and towns in the country to focus their attention on improving governance and infrastructure availability. He further said that more than providing funds to State and City Governments, Ministry of Urban Development is according priority for incentivizing implementation of reforms that have a far reaching impact on governance and service delivery. 

Stressing on the need for decentralization and empowering of city governments, Shri Gauba stressed that “Cities can’t be run and managed from state capitals and secretariats. They should be made to stand on their own for improving performance, responsibility and accountability”. 

Government officials and experts from India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are participating in the workshop for sharing respective experiences on decentralization and empowerment of local bodies. 

AAR 

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