Former MLA and state vice-president of the Congress party Mohan Joshi stated that The Smart City scheme, which was much hyped by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has been shut down and the BJP has deceived the people of Pune by luring them with this scheme. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that 100 cities in the country will be made smart. Baner and Balewadi areas of Pune were selected for the first phase. However, the Smart City scheme failed even in this developed area.
Making the entire city smart was far from it. BJP leaders kept making promises in the Lok Sabha, Assembly and Municipal elections and Pune people voted for the BJP. The objectives of the Smart City scheme were transparent administration, state-of-the-art communication system, educational facilities, modern health centres, efficient water supply, waste management, and well-planned housing projects. However, not even 10 percent of the improvements have been made.
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The Congress alliance government, led by Manmohan Singh, undertook the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Redevelopment Mission (JNURM) for the development of cities. Development works worth about Rs 4,000 crore were done in Pune through this scheme. As soon as he came to power, Prime Minister Modi, keeping political motives in mind, cancelled the JNURM scheme and showed the 'carrot' of Smart City. Under Smart City, Rs 1100 crore was spent in Pune. There is corruption in this. Joshi has demanded that the central government should give its account and details and present the facts before the people of Pune.