Emphasising on environment-friendly sustainable development, vice president of India Venkaiah Naidu urged upon the need of making villages smart and cities fuel efficient. Addressing gathering at the inaugural session of an International Smart City Exposition in the city on Wednesday, the vice president held digitization as a solution to bureaucratic obstacles. 

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“No line but online should be the mantra to cut down red tape and provide citizen-centric services. This singular step will save the time and efforts of citizens and enhance the overall efficiency of the city,” said Naidu.

The three-day international summit is being hosted by Jaipur Development Authority in partnership with promoters of World Smart City Expo and is expected to be attended by experts and authorities from more than 20 countries.

Along with town planning experts, dignitaries present at the inaugural session included union minister of state housing and urban affairs Hardeep Singh Puri, urban development minister of Rajasthan Shrichand Kriplani and governor of South Australia Hieu Van Le.

The vice president asked the town planning experts to look up critically the issue of urban transport along with the development. He held pedestrian and non-motorized zone development as a need of the hour. He said that since all cities are made of citizens, social development should be at the core of all Smart City projects. He also insisted upon making the technology useful in tackling crime and making cities safe for women.

Defining the ‘Smart City’ vision of government, the union minister for urban affairs said that poverty alleviation, affordable housing and cleanliness remain on the first level of Smart City Mission. The government flagship scheme has water supply and ease of living on its second and third level respectively.