BRICS nations can cooperate for developing smart cities: Raje

Jaipur, Aug 19 (PTI) BRICS countries can cooperatemutually for the development of smart cities and otherinfrastructure and the nations can learn from each other,Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje said today. In a keynote address at BRICS Smart Cities Conferencehere, Raje said that innovative urban environmental managementpractices made in Saint Petersburg in Russia, Rio de Janeiroand Sao Paulo in Brazil, Cape Town and Johannesburg in SouthAfrica, and Shanghai and Beijing in China could be implementedin India keeping in view the conditions here. "Member countries of BRICS can learn many things from eachother. The collaborations within BRICS shall strengthen tiesand improve our appreciation of each other’s cultures andpeoples," she said. The Chief Minister said that exchange of experiences andthe sharing of solutions among urban development managers andscholars shall surely help in making our cities better, saferand more resilient. "Growth of population in urban settlements is posing manychallenges. It has placed additional loads on theinfrastructure in every city. Our thinking is that cities oftomorrow require technology-driven inputs to make life of ourcitizens easier and safer," she said at the conference aheadof the BRICS Women’s Parliamentarian Forum meeting to be heldtomorrow. The Chief Minister said smart cities are of little usewithout smart citizens. "To make our citizens smart and skilled, our governmenthas taken skill development as a top most priority. We haveengaged with numerous partners in skilling up our youth in awide range of trades. ITIs have been taken up by industrialhouses to impart skills and all our industry partners arecollaborators in creating job and imparting world classtraining to our youth," she said. Raje informed with support from the government of India,Jaipur, Ajmer, Kota and Udaipur are being developed as smartcities. PTI SDAKUN