SMART VILLAGES AND SMART CITIES: A SUSTAINABLE NEED

IJCRT2105398

International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts (IJCRT) www.ijcrt.org

d530

SMART VILLAGES AND SMART CITIES: A

SUSTAINABLE NEED OF EMERGING INDIA:

CASE STUDY ANALYSIS

Niharika Khurana,

Dr. Manisha Raj

B.A.(Hons.) Economics 3

year student,

Assistant Professor

Amity School of Economics

Amity University, Noida, U.P., India.

ABSTRACT

In every developing country there are a lot of problems that are faced specially by the rural areas in terms of

poverty, lack of availability of technology, scarce resources and standard of living. So, therefore government

has tried its ways and means to bring in the concept of smart villages that can be a new beginning. Smart

villages are a concept through which possible sustainable solutions are taken up to improve the quality life of

people. This concept of Smart villages was launched on 11

October 2014 as Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana

(SAGY) under the leadership of Mr. Narendra Modi on the mark of Mahatma Gandhi’s concept of Ideal

villages. In the year 2014 SAGY was launched with the motive to develop rural areas with the same pace of

urban areas. So, therefore under this concept every member of parliament had to choose their own

representative to fix parameters with the motive to make “Model Village” or “Adarsh Gram” by 2016. With

the help of SAGY guidelines every member of parliament should work in such a way that the institutional

infrastructure is converted into “Model Villages” or “Adarsh Grams”. This was the concept for the

development of rural areas, but as time passed by. SDG’s guidelines came into existence. This concept

Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) agenda 2030 was eventually launched in 2015. There is total 17

SDG’s goals, one of them mainly focuses on Sustainable Cities and Communities that is SDG 11. So, with this

concept under the leadership of MR. Narendra Modi the government of India launched the smart city project

on 25 June 2015, With the ambition of creating sustainable environment with smarter solutions, smart cities

become the most heated and talked about concept in India. On one hand it has a lot of consequences and is

challenging to citizens and on other hand the government of India is trying its efforts best to make people

aware and acceptable to this concept. This paper mainly focuses on needs of smart cities and smart villages for

sustainable future with the help of case study analysis. Also, to understand how Information Communication

Technology (ICT) has played a major factor moving towards green environment making India Sustainable.

KEY WORDS: Sustainability, Smart city, smart villages, Green Environment, Information Communication

Technology (ICT)

IJCRT2105398

International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts (IJCRT) www.ijcrt.org

d531

INTRODUCTION

Rapid urbanization due to expansion of markets and influx of FDI contributes to premature expansion of cities.

The problems associated with such expansions requires proper analysis and practical solutions and to deal with

its researcher’s introduces the concept of “walk to work” which solely focuses on understanding and

acknowledging the role such townships in development of sustainable cities. Not only smart cities, the focus

on making a village smart and equipped with all basic amenities plays a vital role in development of sustainable

townships. The advancement in technologies is tripling with time and technologies such as Geo spatial

dashboards which basically works on remote sensors helps in sensing or identifying basic infrastructure,

therefore ensuring all round development at micro level. The design includes dozens of services which includes

farming, health care, retail, construction, manufacturing, water and logistics which are delivered to village

residents and business man in an effective and organised manner. The focus in on integrating technology with

design in such a way that will not only make a village smart however works on basic sanitation infrastructure

to make it healthy for living.

JOURNEY TOWARDS SUSTAINABILITY

Villages are considered as the backbone of India and plays a vital role in the Indian Economy. Recently, we

have been observing that the concept of Smart Village is adapted by many villages in order to prove their

livelihoods. This concept aims to support self-reliant and thriving villages for future generation. Smart Village

is the combination of Ideal Village and Digital Village. Therefore, a village comprising basic facilities such as

roads, hospitals, electricity, water and schools is considered as ideal Village and transforming such village

digitally with better IT infrastructure turns out to be a smart village. We are indeed thankful to the government

of India for launching the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAANJHI) on 11

October 2014, this Adarsh Gram

yojana takes the vision of smart village once step ahead.

As we know world’s half of humanity -3.5 billion people-lives in cities today and by 2030 it is estimated that

six out of 10 people will be city dwellers. The world’s cities occupy just 3% of the planets land, but account

for 60-80% of all energy consumption and 75% of planets carbon emissions. Close to 95% of urban expansion

in coming decades will take place in developing world. The rapid urbanisation is exerting pressure on fresh

water supplies, sewage, the living environment and public health. Our rapidly growing urban world is

experiencing congestion, a lack of basic services, a shortage of adequate housing and declining infrastructure.

30% of the world’s urban population lives in slums. The world introduces the concept of SDG 11 which refers

to human settlements, increased urbanisation and importance of cities. Cities are important as they provide

Density, interaction and networks that makes us more productive and creative. They are the key of bringing

together people, jobs and all the inputs required for economic growth. Therefore, the concept is divided into

two key areas:

First, the growth and roll out of smart city concept and Second, the importance of systems in achieving SDG

11. SDG 11 comprises of stakeholders such as urban planners, architects, property developers, construction

industry, all levels of governments, citizens and other identified groups by UN.

The target is to provide safe and affordable housing, sustainable transport systems, human settlement planning,

safeguarding cultural heritage, preparedness for natural disaster and to monitor the environment in terms of air

quality and waste management. These stated targets strengthen the institutions and structure for effective

outcomes. With the rise in technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT) we have observed massive trends in

sustainable cities. Without any doubt it can be stated that the upcoming future everything in a city will be

interconnected to everything from an electricity grid to the sewer pipes to roads, buildings and vehicles. This

interconnected network uses electronic data collection sensors to supply information which can be effectively

used further to manage assets and resources efficiently. We can consider cities like Barcelona where a new bus

network based on data analytics allows buses to run routes with most green lights. So, In Stockholm the green

IT programs seek to reduce environmental impact through IT function such as energy efficient buildings (thus

minimising health costs), traffic monitoring (thus minimising the time spent on road) and development of e-

services, which minimize paper usages.

IJCRT2105398

International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts (IJCRT) www.ijcrt.org

d532

An alternative use of smart city technology can be found in Santa Cruz, California where local authority

analyses historical crime data in order to predict police requirements and maximise police presence where it is

required. So, it’s important to remember the challenge of sustainable cities is not simply about developing new

technological solutions to long standing problems. Rather the success in the sphere will be achieved only by

balancing the demands of social and economic development, withy careful environmental management and

innovative urban governance. As concluded SDG 11 has a potential for interlinkages and real system approach.

For Example; the natural disasters and other climate impacts are endogenous to development, they are not a

separate issue to be considered independently, thus bringing together SDG 11 and SDG 13 or effective

inclusive development in cities will need to take into account the needs of people with disabilities and another

vulnerable groups.

WHAT IS SMART CITY?

The government launched the concept of smart city in India on 25 June 2015. It is one of the most ambitious

plans by our prime minister for revalorising India. The aim of this smart city project is to upgrade 100 cities

and to make India a better place in terms of economic growth and development. It was predicted that due to

this project there might be an increase of 10-15% in job openings. The project comes with the tagline “smarter

solutions for a better tomorrow” depicting the concept of smart city. A smart city is also known as an efficient

city with advanced technology which is developed in order to solve various socio- economic problems. It is a

city that provides a decent quality of life with clean and sustainable environment, through application of smart

solutions. For example, traffic management system, smart parking, green building, efficient energy, upgrade

technology, smart connectivity etc.

The below mentioned are the requirements for being smart:

 Population Stability

 Environmental Conditions

 Green space

 Stable air and water quality/pollution

 Cleanliness

 Smart governance

 Smart transportation/connectivity

 Advanced technology

 Standard living of people

 Education

 Health care

 Perception of people

Now, let’s try to understand how the above requirements if clubbed together produces an end result by taking

Singapore, existing Smart city as an ideal model.

SINGAPORE

Singapore poised to continue the most developed smart city within the Southeast Asian region with 90%

population well connected through smart devices supporting innovating development in the country. Firstly,

in 1998 by the introduction of ERP (ELECTRIC ROAD PRICING) System, which used to scan cars and used

to charge fees to the drivers based on time. Singapore has reached its first phase of development and now is

working on the use of driverless cars which will totally transform the environment, making transportation more

efficient and sociable. It shows how innovative Singapore is in the field of transportation. By having efficient

traffic management system, moderate level of pollution and stable population level, high literacy rate and so

on. It depicts how Singapore has taken steps towards becoming a smart city with advanced technology. But

this doesn’t stop the research further, government is still conducting various experiments in several innovation

labs to attract investors and founders alike to Singapore’s vibrant ecosystem, thus bridging the gap between

innovation and enterprise. Singapore has set an excellent within the smart city network. The most important

three pillars that are followed by Singapore are as follows:

IJCRT2105398

International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts (IJCRT) www.ijcrt.org

d533

Digital economy: In order to make Singapore vibrant and competitive in nature, digitalisation plays an

important role by attracting more talents and businesses by making the country to be in the position of strength.

Digital Government: On 5 June 2018, strategies were made to launch the digital government blue prints in

order to have an access of progression towards digitalisation. New initiatives were taken up for capacity

building, and usage of technology and digital tools the country safe.

Digital Society: Digital inclusion makes sure that the population is getting access to the technology been

developed for day to day lives by equipping them with skills necessary for bringing in usage of technology in

a safer environment

So, in order to do so they came up with digital readiness blueprint.

So, basically based on the real impact of sustainable development goals in rural area, smart village includes

technological development which enables in achieving the multiple sustainable goals. For instances SDGs goal

for health care, commerce, education and agriculture making it in a right way to reach to the common People.

Smart villages consist of a common integrated SDG platform that provides reusable ICT building blocks to

bring in different Integrated digital solutions emphasised mainly on highly prioritize areas addressing the user

and country's need. Digital services can be provided in health care, agriculture, finance, commerce, and

education.

Through a technology development and integrated development model, smart village which is also known as

multi stakeholder which uses cross sectional initiatives to bring in cost effective methods to implement these

sustainable goals especially in remote areas.

OBJECTIVES

1) To identify and analyze the importance of concept of Smart Villages and Cities by making India

Sustainable for future generation

2) To understand and comprehend the requirements of Smart villages and Smart Cities with the help of

case study analysis

3) To understand how Information Communication Technology (ICT) has played a major factor moving

towards green environment making India Sustainable with the help of case study analysis.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:

This paper is fully based on Secondary data analysis by focusing on 3 main broad case studies: Case study of

Punsari village, case study of Dholera (green field smart city), case study of Varanasi (brown field smart city).

So, these case studies show how India makes a transition from the concept ideal Smart village to Smart cities,

moving towards sustainable development goals for Smart future.

CASE STUDY ANALYSIS

CASE STUDY: PUNSARI VILLAGE GUJARAT: INDIA’S FIRST SMART VILLAGE

Villages are considered as the backbone of India and plays a vital role in the Indian Economy. Recently, we

have been observing that the concept of Smart Village is adapted by many villages in order to prove their

livelihoods. This concept aims to support self-reliant and thriving villages for future generation. Smart Village

is the combination of Ideal Village and Digital Village. Therefore, a village comprising basic facilities such as

roads, hospitals, electricity, water and schools is considered as ideal Village and transforming such village

digitally with better IT infrastructure turns out to be a smart village. We are indeed thankful to the government

of India for launching the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAANJHI) on 11

October 2014, this Adarsh Gram

yojana takes the vision of smart village once step a ahead and present us with village like Punsari in Gujarat

as India’s first Smart Village. This village comprises of facility like Wi-fi, 24x7 power, security cameras etc.

IJCRT2105398

International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts (IJCRT) www.ijcrt.org

d534

Punsari Village Gate

District: SabarKantha

State: Gujarat

Language: Gujarati and Hindi

Pin Code: 383335

Post Office Name: Gabat

Punsari is in the Saba kantha District of Gujarat with population nearly to 6000. The village follows the

Panchayati Raj System and has left many town and cities behind for facilities like purified drinking water,

drainage systems, electricity, waste management and Wi-Fi in every household.

This all started in 2006 when Himanshu Patel, a 23-year-old was elected as the Sarpanch of the village and put

all his efforts and dedication towards transforming this village into a modern model within his tenure 2006-

2014. Himanshu started off with tackling the necessities of the villagers and started with a Mineral water plant

within the village. When the plant got started, each household was supplied with water through small vehicles.

Himanshu even started supplying water to the nearby villages to earn revenue. With extra revenue in hand, he

recruited more people working towards the modernization. Several new technologies were introduced in the

village with time. CCTV cameras were installed all over the village and inside the schools for safety

perspective. The village panchayat was fully computerized. Air-conditioned classrooms and computer labs

became common in every government institution. Punsari has totally 5 well equipped schools including 2

Primary with all the facilities and amenities. As a result, more and more admissions were reported. Apart from

education, facilities such as setting up LED streetlights across the village has not only added to the beauty of

the village but has also helped in reducing the electricity bill from Rs. 55k to Rs. 22k.

As per the reports, Punsari has its own developed transportation services named Atal Seva to connect every

part inside and to the nearby areas of Punsari. Th next step was towards the cleanliness and drainage system.

Before 2006, the village had no drainage and waste management system but with Himanshu’s (Sarpanch of

the village) efforts and funds from the government, a proper drainage system was built throughout the village

which includes toilets in every household. Under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, waste management facilities

were upgraded, and workers go from house to house in order to collect garbage and disposing the same in

proper disposal grounds outside the village.

The Panchayat also worked towards setting up the Bio-electric plants with an aid of 50 lakhs from the state

government of Gujarat. This plant works on the plan to collect cow dung (Gobar) from every house to generate

the electricity. The panchayat works to provide electricity to each of the 1200 households in Punsari through

this Bio-electric Plant. All the developments were made with an expense of Rs. 14 crores under the supervision

of Himanshu Patel with the help of State and Central Rural Development Schemes. With his efforts, Punsari

IJCRT2105398

International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts (IJCRT) www.ijcrt.org

d535

has received several Adarsh Gram awards and Prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Best Gram Panchayat National Award

for the year 2012. This village is a perfect example of Mahatma Gandhi’s saying that the “future of India

resides in its villages”.

Using Punsari as an example, the study intends to demonstrate how a smart village in India can be used as an

example to further improve the existing village situation through the use of various types of technological

innovations, approaches in which villages can lead to futuristic smart rural development

CASE STUDY: SMART CITIY: DHOLERA, GUJARAT: INDIA’S FIRST GREEN FIELD SMART

CITY

Imagine yourself in the place where everything is interconnected with internet, a city where homes are

connected to internet, gas, water, and electricity via smart grid. A city where its residents are linked to each

other and to civic facilities in real time. A city where Internet of things plays a major role in people’s life when

it comes to transportation, pollution, homes, electricity, water and even waste management. Just imagine a city

where everyone dreams to live in, the ideal city and that too in India.

And surprisingly it exists, Dholera, the first smart city of India. Dholera SIR (Special Investment Region) is

situated in the coastal regions of Gujarat just 100 Kms away from its capital Ahmedabad. This smart city

project aims to urbanize the city with the efficient hi-tech facilities and present it as a preferential and potential

business hub to the market.

With a motto of work, live, earn and play, Dholera SIR will be a role model for future cities in India.

District: Ahmedabad

State: Gujarat

Language: Gujarati and Hindi

One of the major key drivers of this development id Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DIMC) and there are

many ongoing projects such as construction of international airports, expressways, power projects etc .to make

it a complete smart city.

Some features of Dholera Smart City:

 Area 920 sq. km

 Developable 567.39 sq. km

 World class Infrastructure and transportation facility inside and outside the city

 Efficient Governance

 Expressways and metro rail to link Dholera SIR with nearby cities

 Airports and seaports

 Connectivity to mega cities such as Ahmedabad, Bhavnagar, Vadodara etc.

 Private sector Participation and Public Private Partnership

 Boosting employment by 2 times and industrial output by 3 times

The city would be the planet’s biggest urban town development venture worth $12 billion

So, as a part of Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor in mid-2009, the state government of Gujarat announced

plans for Dholera SIR a 2.7-billion-dollar smart city. Then 2209-10. Gujarat showed 13% economic growth

and was labelled as India’s growth engine and economic power house and it emerged as the only state in India

that was investment friendly during economic downturn because of active lobbying of investment, speed in

IJCRT2105398

International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts (IJCRT) www.ijcrt.org

d536

clearances of capital investments projects and reduced political interferences. Then in 2010 plans were

developed by Hale row for Dholera’s development and in 2012 they will become operational. In 2013,

Infrastructure giant AECOH was awarded a 30-billion-dollar contract to manage the project.

The next step is to move towards planning structure. City centre will have high tech industrial zone for

electronics, bio-technology, pharmaceuticals, heavy machines, etc. passing through them will be high access

corridor that will make the transportation easy and fast. Around the city centres there will be residential zone

with portions allocated for people of different income status. In the inland regions there will be agricultural

zone which will provide city with fresh products. Agricultural zones are set in the inland regions for better

supply of water throughout the year. Closer to the cost there will be an entertainment region which have

facilities such as sports stadium, outdoor theatres, malls etc. On the edge of the city there would be a line of

tourists resorts that would have latest architecture for attraction. These resorts are set on the land that are barren

for agriculture that is uncultivated. Throughout the city there would be a knowledge IT zones including

universities, a solar park and wind turbine (that will provide green energy) and central logistic hub.

Dholera been so technically advanced will serve as Gujarat’s trade canters with high access accessibility of

transportation

It will have:

1. SMART HOSPITALS: Dholera is planning to have helipods on hospitals, use of most advanced and

robotic technology.

2. SMART ROADS: It will have such type of roads which will glow in dark, interactive light that is

monitor sensors used to light up only that section of road on which car is moving, electric priority lane

that will have embedded magnetic field such that vehicle charges as it passes by it and so on.

3. SMART INFRASTRUCTURE: It will be intelligently connecting energy systems, buildings and

industries to adapt and evolve (smart storage solution, intelligent grid control etc.)

4. SMART WASTE MANAGEMENT: It will be generating solutions like sensors placed in waste

receptacles to measure the full levels and when filled notify automatically the city collection services

to collect the waste. While waste can be carried to plants where energy out of waste can be produced

as well as can be converted into manure.

5. SMART WATER MANAGEMENT: It will generate censors used to gather data regarding flow,

pressure and distribution of water in the city.

6. SMART TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT: It will generate sensors and traffic signals to monitor, control

and respond to traffic conditions. Cameras everywhere reduce day to day congestion for improving

traffic flow.

7. SMART HOMES: It will generate applications and devices can be automatically controlled remotely

from anywhere with an internet connection using network deviced or even phones.

So, if these types of facilities are provided in a region then definitely it will bring about growth.

CASE STUDY: BROWN FIELD SMART CITY: VARNASI

Varanasi is one of the ancient cities of India, which is considered to be holy and religious. The city is famous

for pilgrimages’, temples and Ghats. It is said to be established by lord Shiva. This city attracts lot of tourists

because it is considered to be one of the oldest spiritual heritages of India.

ECONOMY

Varanasi is dependent on agriculture sector. For the people of Banaras agriculture is one of the most important

occupations. It is very famous for handloom industry due to which it attracts lot of tourists which ultimately

leads in earning profits. Varanasi’s economy depends on following factors:

 Tourism

 Handloom

 Educational

 Hospitality

IJCRT2105398

International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts (IJCRT) www.ijcrt.org

d537

 Government sectors

Tourism is one of the major sources of income for the people of Varanasi. It consists of pilgrimage which acts

as a source of income for the people.

We can see that the people in Varanasi are more dependent on tourism due to their religious heritage rather

than having sufficient knowledge related to science and arts. Due to this scenario most of the people are

backward and earn income that is sufficient only to fulfil their basic necessities.

VARANASI TEST ON BEFORE BEING SMART

 LITERACY RATE

According to the census of 2011 the literacy rate, i.e., number of people who can read and write of Varanasi is

75.60% which consists of 83.78% and 66.69% of males and females respectively. The literacy rate of females

is very low because they are forced to handle the household chaos, does they are considered to be a burden on

family and are married off at very young age, whereas males are considered to earn for families and hence are

more educated. Varanasi can only be changed into a smart city when people gain awareness and upgrade the

quality of education.

 ENVIRONMENTAL COND ITIONS & SURROUNDINGS

The pollution index of Varanasi is 91.99 which are very high due to high unfavourable environmental

conditions. There is an increase in air and water borne diseases which affects the life of residents. The water

quality in Varanasi is about 26.97% and which is extremely poor. Another major factor that is included in

environmental condition is greenery, the recent statistical data showcases that the quality parks or greenery in

Varanasi is about 37.78%.

In spite of development, crime also becomes a major factor of concern in Varanasi. The level of crime

prevailing, for example robbery murder, harassment etc… in Varanasi is increasing day by day and it’s about

35.42% in numbers. Besides crime, even the level of corruption is increasing at rate of 61.36% per year. This

states that Varanasi fails the test in being same, it’s more necessary than being smarter for a better tomorrow.

 WASTE MANAGEMENT

Due to development in urban and rural areas, increase in population has led in generating ample of solid waste

in the city. Due to lack in transportation of waste and inadequacy of suitable land has led to a critical situation

for management of solid waste. Disposable of unnecessary solid waste on the streets drains open spaces water

bodies etc... has an adverse effect on environment and human health. A proper infrastructure and financial

support are needed for managing the solid waste in Varanasi. Due to increase in solid waste that includes

polythene, plastics paper bag and metal which are biodegradable product has led to adverse in pollution. In

terms of pollution Varanasi is considered is one of the toxic cities, that generates harmful fumes such as

methane, co2, nitrogen dioxide and so on.

Government has implemented waste collection system in order to collect waste from 2 lakh 13 thousand 450

household by using handcarts rickshaw and auto trippers which are transported to roadside bin and other

secondary storage point. The wastes that are disposed in roadside bin are collected by refused compactor and

send to disposable side.

 HEALTH CARE

Health is one of the major factors which are important for development in any country. We can see that

Varanasi has developed in terms of skill and competency of medical staff but lacks in equipment’s for modern

diagnosis and treatment. This leads to higher death rate. The government is trying its entire means with a motto

of giving a better livelihood to every person with better equipment’s for modern treatment which is accessible

to every citizen.

IJCRT2105398

International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts (IJCRT) www.ijcrt.org

d538

 STANDARD OF LIVING

“More efforts are needed to eradicate poverty in the country and that education is the best way to fight poverty,

said by our prime minister.”

We can see that the people in Varanasi are more dependent on tourism due to their religious heritage rather

than having sufficient knowledge related to science and arts. Due to this scenario most of the people are

backward and earn income that is sufficient only to fulfil their basic necessities.

The literacy rate of females is very low because they are forced to handle the household chaos, does they are

considered to be a burden on family and are married off at very young age, whereas males are considered to

earn for families and hence are more educated. Varanasi can only be changed into a smart city when people

gain awareness and upgrade the quality of education.

In Varanasi, people do not get easily adapted to the environmental conditions due to advancement of

technology. These people mostly believe on ancient facts and figure rather than adapting to the changes.

CURRENT STATUS OF SMART CITY

The current state of smart cities that existed selected for upgrade to the smart test section that discussed the

city's equipment. As well as the situation, few challenges facing the city’s smart work were also described. So,

as per the current status total INR 189155 Cr is estimated to be total investment in the development of a smart

city. These estimated investments approved by cabinet, and if not added budget is needed for the development

of a smart city, then state governments must raise funds to improve their programs. This estimated investment

is still distributed in both only the specific categories of INR 152499 Cr projects based on location are identified

and approved under the auspices urban mechanical system. INR 36656 Cr already planted in the promotion of

good programs under pan city launch system. Depending on the smart city mission plan, a list of possible

options smart cities at state level and All India Level smart cities Competition is selected based on merit too

the selection methods. The final list of eligible smart cities for the “100 new smart cities of India” were released

for three consecutive rounds. In the Round-I selection list, 20 cities are shortlisted, too thirteen other cities

were selected under the rapid circulation program of smart cities mission. 63 otherwise cities were present

selected in Round-II, and in Round-III, 30 smart cities they were identified and selected. All of these selections

were completed cities asked to make special vehicle (SPV), it’s like a limited company in a city where they’re

smart the city is organized under the Companies Act, 2013, it will be responsible for implementing the city's

good plans as well developing the city as a proposal.

Also, COVID-19 has caused widespread unrest around the world. In India, the challenges of the epidemic were

compounded by the complexity of health care and the vulnerability of many to the economic crisis of inflation.

Citizens look to their governments for reliable information, guidance and leadership to keep them safe and

sound and to avoid economic hardship. The technology used to build smart cities can provide a way forward.

As part of his urgent response to the epidemic, the Indian government has implemented the Smart Cities

Mission, a move launched in 2015 to empower cities to use technology more efficiently to improve citizen

services and overall quality of life. A new report by the World Economic Forum, in collaboration with Deloitte,

Technology and Data Governance in Smart Cities: On the Frontlines of India's Fight against COVID-19, shows

how Bengaluru, Surat, and Pimpri Chinchwad used technology to link between various city-level agencies to

plan and monitor response. their emergency COVID-19. Most of India's smart cities have successfully used

their Integrated Command and Control Centres (ICCCs) to set up a “brain and nerve centre” in the management

of city activities, such as the "COVID-19 Rooms War" for city-specific data analysis, coordination and

interaction with citizens. Using data collected with a variety of sensors and intelligent solutions, cities model

data and predictive predictions, create dashboards, scenarios and simulation models to analyse the spread of

the virus and plan their response. These centres have provided cities with a single platform to bring community

organizations, local businesses and others together to work with city officials on the following activities:

 Dissemination of information and access to citizens

 Contact and follow up on possible cases and treatment planning

 Managing the impact of local locking by arranging door delivery is important

IJCRT2105398

International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts (IJCRT) www.ijcrt.org

d539

 Provide food and shelter for the economically vulnerable sections of the community and vulnerable

citizens

 Ensuring sanitation and hygiene

 Provide emergency services

GOVERNMENT INTIATIVES

The smart villages were adopted by the government in year 2016. The main initiative taken up with regards to

smart villages is that 300 villages are taken into consideration as of now and when developed and facilitated

with latest technology, these villages will act as growth engines for the development of the nearby areas. We

have known that most of the people in our country live in the villages and hence there is a serious need to

develop these villages first so that these people can add to the development of the country as well. Moat if

these people are very talented and are running their own business so it is time to amplify the voice of these

village people and henceforth local for vocal playing its role. Another initiative taken up by government is to

bridge the gap between them and CSR in the villages.

For smart villages initiatives like provision of electricity for every household, people were asked to give up

their gas subsidies so that village women can get gas instead of working on traditional Chula’s, these is an

initiative that government is determined to fulfil is provide proper housing facilities to these poor people along

with clean drinking water.

Smart cities include three initiatives of the government:

First is the smart cities competition in which various cities compete, having latest technology and other factors

of a developed nation, and at the last the winner would be declared. The competition perspective has been the

first-time thing that has been adopted by the government which will encourage the people of a city to see

themself at a top position on the chart and hence more efforts will be done by them leading to creating of not

only 1 but many smart cities henceforth. Because of this a lot of people have been provided with employment

opportunities and the 2015 initiative has also led to expansion in mainframe of the population as now people

are more aware about cleaning cities, putting waste in dust bins etc.

Second, initiative taken by the government is that of make in India which is seen as an encouragement towards

the local vendors and businessmen whose work has been for long suffered due to International brand. Make is

India is a branch under smart city as the government aims that in this smart city there are more independent

entrepreneurs that will lead to increase in income and also there will be increase in the skill development of

people. In these smart cities local goods will be promoted to a great extent giving a boost to the labour force

and hence the economy's growth.

The third important initiative taken by our government with regards to the smart cities program is that of digital

India I.e., these smart cities will be high tech and will be run solely on technology. Buildings, pipelines,

drainage system etc. all will have sensors that will be connected to one main building in town and if there is

any emergency there would be direct communication through technology and hence safety in these smart cities

will be top priority

Moreover, these smart cities will also be promoting pedal bikes and cycles instead of cars in order to decrease

the pollution levels, e buses for travelling purposes and also for safety measures women transportation vehicles

would be increased.

CONCLUSION

Due to greater development in terms of smart devices, that support innovation and creation. The concept of

being smart has gained lot of attention and it will most likely continue to do future too. The need for designing

and development of turning out to be SMART in terms of villages and cities which are interconnected internally

as well as externally to provide the world class best services to the residentials as well as visitors. The idea is

to transform the picture of a village into a place which has comprises of all the amenities for better future.

Being an aware citizen it’s our vision and mission to see our country attaining great heights in all the ways

whether it be development of infrastructure or technology. These smart cities and villages collectively not only

IJCRT2105398

International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts (IJCRT) www.ijcrt.org

d540

seem to attract investment also tourism attraction and reputation in the outside world. The mission itself is a

very challenging project and comes with a lot of hindering processes that not only involves technology but

large number of stake holders to make it success even economically. Every time we would be requiring a

unique or a customise solution for each city based on their demography and geographical structure. It’s not the

theory where One size fit to all but a study which comes with analytical and problem-solving approach per

square kilometre.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

References

B. Peera Kumar, D. N. (2016). SMART VILLAGES & SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF NATION. International

Journal of Innovative Research in Information Security, 13-18.

Dr. Sanjay Patil, D. D. (2020). Smart Villages With a Two Way Digital Governance For A Atma Nirbhar Bharat. Global

Scientific Journals, 1793-1799.

HALL, K. G. (2917). The Indian Perspective of Smart Cities. Smart City Symposium Prague.

Kochare Akshay, K. M. (2019). CASE STUDY OF SMART VILLAGE AND LOCAL VILLAGE. International Research Journal of

Engineering and Technology , 7505-7510.

Mr. Milind R. Hegade, M. S. (2016). Smart Village System. International Journal of Science Technology & Engineering,

163-166.

Pinak Ranade1, S. L. (2015). SMART VILLAGES THROUGH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY – NEED OF EMERGING INDIA.

IPASJ International Journal of Information Technology (IIJIT) , 1-6.

Piyush Sharma, S. G. (2017). Intelligent Town Planning for Indian Smart Cities: Principles and Practices. International

Journal of Recent Research Aspects , 111-117.

Rutuja Somwanshi, U. S. (2016). Study and development of village as a smart . International Journal of Scientific &

Engineering Research.

Rutuja Somwanshi, U. S. (2016). Study and development of village as a smart Village. International Journal of Scientific

& Engineering Research.

Sharma, K. S. (2017). SMART CITIES IN INDIA: KEY AREAS AND CHALLENGES – CASE STUDY OF CHANDIGARH CITY.

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL IN MANAGEMENT AND SOCIAL SCIENCE, 1-12.

Sunny Bansal1, V. P. (2015). RE-DEFINING AND EXPLORING THE SMART-CITY CONCEPT IN INDIAN PERSPECTIVE: CASE

STUDY OF VARANASI . Research Gate, 1-10.