Odisha leads country in Urban Governance

Bhubaneswar: Odisha bagged yet another accolade and received laurel for leading the country in outstanding Urban Governance.

 In a detailed study and ranking done by Praja Foundation in 40 cities across 28 states and NCT Delhi, Odisha has been ranked 1 in Urban Governance.

The ranking is based on the Urban Governance Reforms, said a statement.

Empowered City Elected Representatives and Legislative Structure, Empowered City Administration; Empowered Citizens; and  Fiscal Empowerment are the core themes of the Urban Governance Index Ranking 2020.

These themes act as bedrocks to achieving empowered urban governance. They are significant to enable the functioning of democratic and empowered urban governance.

The transformative principle of the Government, 5T (Technology, Transparency, Teamwork, Time and Transformation) and Mo Sarkar has been an important instrument in bringing such transformation, the statement said.

The recent amendments in its Municipal Acts, bringing Government services at the door steps of the citizens, obtaining feedback on transparency and hassle-free services from citizens are some of the key initiatives which have resulted in this.

There are many global and national level indices that map performance of cities. However, majority of the schemes and indices have focused predominantly on the aspect of mapping the performance/delivery of urban services, followed by trying to fix the gaps in the same.

Odisha will continue its transformative journey in all its sectors viz Urban Sanitation spectrum, Slum Upgradation and Denotification, Waste Management, Urban Mobility, Livelihood, eGovernance, Augmentation of Resources, et all and will always be committed towards achieving major Urban Governance Reforms for bringing Citizen Centric Services, it said.