Team Herald
PANJIM: In a bid to encourage people’s participation in the development of the city, the government is contemplating to constitute Citizen Consultative Committees in each municipal council, post ensuring October 25 polls.
Deputy Chief Minister Francis D’Souza announced to make it a compulsion to have citizen contribution towards development of the city and State as whole.
“In the present scenario, the inputs of citizens concerned are very important. We are planning to constitute citizen consultative committees at each municipal council after elections. This will be like compulsion,” D’Souza said while participating in the daylong consultative workshop on Smart City Mission for Panjim, on Wednesday.
The workshop is part of several initiatives undertaken by the Corporation of the City of Panaji to have larger people participation in seeking suggestions and proposals to make Panjim a smart city.
Minister said that the citizens’ contribution towards development is very important, irrespective of the fact that the elected representatives have the final powers to decide, as governed by the Constitution.
D’Souza stressed on maintaining a balance between nature and development, considering the scarce land resource available in the State. “Land is a major issue in Goa. It has proved as major hindrance in development. Unlike other parts of the country, in Goa, government does not have much land with itself. Most of the land is either under comunidade or private land,” he said.
CCP has launched social media campaign to invite suggestions for inclusion in its Smart City Proposal (SCP) for Panjim. The SCP would be based on strategic components like retrofitting, redevelopment, greenfield and pan-city initiative.
A dedicated Facebook page (Imagine Panaji: Build your Smart City), Twitter handle (@smartcitypanaji) and gmail account ([email protected]) is been launched inviting suggestions from people on city planning, waste management, sanitation, transport, facilities for pedestrian, social infrastructure, safety and security.
The Consultancy firm- ICLEI South Asia is been shortlisted as the consultant for drafting SCP, to be submitted to the Union Ministry for Urban Development by December 15.
