Lucknow lags behind in online participation

LMC CONCERN Additional municipal commissioner assigned the task of increasing citizens’ participation

LUCKNOW: In true nawabi style, residents of the city seem to have been laidback and slow paced in voting and forwarding proposals for the smart city.

This is evident from the fact that from October 1, when proposals were sought from citizens online , till date, only 1,100 netizens have participated in the process online, while in the same time period Bhopal has seen over one lakh netizens and Indore over 1.5 lakh registering their views for smart city.

Even a small city like Saharanpur in the state has recorded more than 30,000 votes and suggestions while Allahabad, which is much smaller than Lucknow, has seen more than 17,000 people voting for smart city.

The citizens can register and vote for smart city in the site mygov.in. There is a section of discussion where they can give their suggestions.

From one id, a citizen can submit 30 suggestions while one person is allowed to vote only once in the smart city development plan.

Concerned with the slow voting pattern, the district magistrate, during the review meeting of smart city on Thursday, directed the municipal commissioner to appoint a special officer to increase voting because citizen participation is necessary for the smart city proposals which are being made by every city.

Municipal commissioner Udairaj Singh has appointed additional municipal commissioner Avanish Saxena as special officer to increase voting and suggestions for smart city.

“For development of a clean and green Lucknow as a citizen-centric city with modern economic outlook, anchored in tradition, heritage and culture, with quality life, the online voting is necessary. Today I got the responsibility of increasing online participation of Lucknow and got 200 people to register themselves,” said Avanish Saxena.

“The LMC has decided to visit a number of schools, engineering colleges and offices to urge people to cast their vote and prioritise the development work needed to make Lucknow a smart city.

With a dedicated website for the Smart Cities Mission, the option to take the survey online is available for everyone who loves the city,” he said.

The online voting would remain open till November 30 but the detailed proposals would be made till November 25, so those who want to have their proposals included in the report will have to vote before November 25.

The LMC had also decided to use FM radio and other community radio services to promote online voting for smart city, said additional municipal commissioner PK Srivastava.

Every FM radio channel will appeal to citizens to vote online for smart city and share their views for further development.