The ongoing pan-India Citizen Perception Survey which is being administered both online and offline by Union MoHUA is a very important feedback exchange exercise on the part of citizens in all the 100 Smart Cities along with million-plus population ones since it will form an essential component of the Ease of Living (EoL) and  Municipal Performance Index 2019 to be published coming June. Itanagar being an aspiring Smart City is also a part of the process and the denizens have been requested to participate by sharing valuable feedback. This time, citizenry’s responsibilities will be manifold since the upcoming Index will actually show how far there has been improvement, or any further slip for the state capital compared to its 2018 EoL Index ranking.
In this context it will be relevant to recall that Itanagar’s ranking in the 2018 edition among 111 cities had been a pathetic 106 with an overall score of 20.81. The report was released in August 2018 and it will now be an interesting wait for the 2019 edition which will come after a gap of nearly two years to convey the message, how far as a Smart City, the state capital has become ‘smarter’. It’s a fact that there is no stop to rapid urbanisation in the backdrop of an ever expanding population and also the longing to live in cities for better amenities is an ever-existing phenomenon which can be observed here too. This has posed a huge challenge primarily relating to infrastructure and to meet this, the central flagship initiatives of Smart Cities Mission, AMRUT Mission, PMAY(U), SBM(U) and NULM  have come into being and the above Index will be a mirror of the actualities i.e to what extent a citizen is satisfied with the extra facilities the Smart City concept promises. Annual budget has also announced that there will be further addition of 5 more Smart Cities with more private participation in the process.
The above  intention which is to expedite the process of development which the cities badly need is appreciable. In Itanagar’s case, it can be said without any dither that there are urgent needs for development on every front and that should take place in a much faster pace. And the feedback exercise comes as a golden chance for the Capital dwellers to convey their feelings directly to the central government about the current way of things regarding a host of parameters and sub-parameters they are currently experiencing, ranging from quality of life, economic ability, sustainability, education, health, housing, mobility, safety to name a few.
To make the capital of the largest state in the NE more shining and liveable, this is an opportunity which should never be missed by the denizens.

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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