The BJP State-spokesperson for Jammu and Kashmir, Arun Gupta, Friday expressed his displeasure with the machinations of the out of power local political parties. He remarked, “The previous governments in Jammu and Kashmir were incompetent and without a vision. These self-professed saviours of J&K did not do anything for development of the state. First they failed to do anything for J&K. Now, they are angering people by spreading lies.”According to a statement issued to KNS, on the gross misinformation being spread over the topic of Smart-cities, Gupta said, “It is dispiriting to see that some ex-politicos in Jammu have never shown any intent of the betterment of state when they were in power. Now, when they have nothing useful to do, they are spreading misinformation without guilt just to incite anger of the public. ”
Throwing light on the basic requirements to win a smart city, Gupta elaborated, “It is imperative that the citizens of Jammu and Kashmir understand the concept of Smart cities. There are various parameters that should originally exist at baseline in the least.”Elaborating further he added, “ Some of these basic requirements are adequate water supply, assured electricity supply, sanitation including solid waste management, efficient urban mobility and public transport, v. affordable housing, especially for the poor, robust IT connectivity and digitalization, good governance, sustainable environment, safety and security of citizens, particularly women, children and the elderly, and last health and education.”
“The citizens of Jammu and Kashmir must understand that smart city development by the centre will be done in phases. In the first phase, only twenty chosen cities would be made a model for the cities that fall in the next two phases. Gaining knowledge from these model leader cities, there will further be a chance for Jammu and Srinagar to compete,” the state-spokesperson clarified.“What these ex-politicians are doing is detestable. They are spreading lies flatly by saying that Jammu and Kashmir did not even get one smart city when this is a phased process. By spreading lies they are doing a disservice to both the public and the nation. They do not realise that they lose credibility every time there lies are caught. They should work for development and not against it,” Gupta concluded. (KNS)