'Aspirational Cities' plan to begin with Rs 100 crores in Uttar Pradesh

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], April 6 : In a bid to further strengthen the urban bodies and expand their capacity, the Yogi government is going to start the Aspirational Cities Programme, the government said in a statement on Thursday.
A budget of Rs 100 crore has been set aside by the Urban Development Department for the implementation of this scheme.
In the next three months, using this budget, the Urban Development Department will select 100 aspirational bodies on the basis of prescribed parameters. Along with this, CM Fellows will also be posted in the respective districts.
The Urban Development Department has confirmed this through an action plan to spend the allocated budget in the next three months in the schemes operated under new demand in 2023-24. This action has been taken by the Yogi government to ensure the proper development of the municipal bodies.
It is expected that apart from ensuring the quality of work in the urban bodies through this scheme, the implementation of the schemes will also accelerate.
The Urban Development Department has stated that 16 parameters will be developed with assistance from NITI Aayog for the implementation of the thematic project in the action plan for the upcoming three months. By using these parameters, data will be gathered at the district level.
On the basis of data collection, 100 aspirational bodies will be selected from the state. The thematic plan will be launched with all these selected 100 aspirational bodies.
Along with this, CM Fellows will also be deployed for thematic planning in the respective districts. These CM fellows will work under CDOs and DMs and expedite implementation of schemes besides ensuring the quality of work.
Apart from this, the Urban Development Department will also develop basic infrastructure facilities in the urban bodies of religious and historical importance with Rs 50 crores.
The concerned DM will obtain the proposal in order to create SOP (guidelines) for the thematic project, upon which the action plan will be prepared. After getting the approval for the proposed action plan from the competent authority, administrative and financial approval will be given.
Not only this, the department will also construct an auditorium in the Municipal Council Mau in memory of freedom fighters and martyrs at a cost of Rs 15 crores. For this, approval will be taken from the Cabinet to make the land owned by the Revenue Department available to the Urban Development Department.
The amount payable as the first installment will be released after approval of the project's work plan from the competent level, and administrative and financial approval.