Low 'smart' scores for city

LUDHIANA: In a major jolt to its smart city dreams, Ludhiana has scored the lowest among the four cities of Punjab in a survey by National Institution for Transforming India (Niti) Ayog and Punjab government.
Sources said Ludhiana scored 60 points out of 100 whereas Mohali topped the list in Punjab with around 90 points. Patiala is second among the cities from Punjab with around 70 points in the survey followed by Jalandhar which has scored slightly more than Ludhiana.
One of the officials who attended a meeting of Niti Ayog in Delhi said Ludhiana could not complete the project under JNNURM scheme even after several extensions which is why the city scored less point. He added that the city also lagged in initiatives taken for good governance including at least 50% tax collection and 60% assessment of properties and performance under Swachh Bharat scheme.
Confirming that Ludhiana has scored lower than Mohali in the survey, additional chief secretary Nirmaljeet Singh Kalsi said, "Ludhiana may have scored 60 to 70 points in the survey whereas Mohali scores are quite high. However, to compete for the smart city project, cities had to score around 80. There are some 15 factors including tax collection, infrastructure which decided the score". However he added that the government will try it's best to improve the points so that Ludhiana is developed as a smart city.
Senior official said quality of life and sustainability are two very important factors for a city to get smart city funds as it is important to provide water and sewerage facilities.