Lok Sabha Question No. 485 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-02-06
Subject: Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women for Urban Planning
Ministry: HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS
Asked by: Shri Manoj Tiwari, Shri Anurag Sharma, Shri Yogender Chandolia, Shri Bhojraj Nag, Smt. Aparajita Sarangi, Shri Tapir Gao, Shri Mahesh Kashyap, Shri Balabhadra Majhi, Shri Trivendra Singh Rawat, Shri Chandra Prakash Joshi, Shri Khagen Murmu, Shri Ravindra Shukla Alias Ravi Kishan

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 485

## TO BE ANSWERED ON FEBRUARY 06, 2025

## GENDER EQUALITY AND EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN FOR URBAN PLANNING

NO. 485. SHRI MANOJ TIWARI:

SHRI ANURAG SHARMA:

SHRI YOGENDER CHANDOLIA:

SHRI BHOJRAJ NAG:

SMT. APARAJITA SARANGI:

SHRI TAPIR GAO:

SHRI MAHESH KASHYAP:

SHRI BALABHADRA MAJHI:

SHRI TRIVENDRA SINGH RAWAT:

SHRI CHANDRA PRAKASH JOSHI:

SHRI KHAGEN MURMU:

SHRI RAVINDRA SHUKLA ALIAS RAVI KISHAN:

Will  the  Minister  of  HOUSING  AND  URBAN  AFFAIRS  be  pleased  to state:

- (a) the  manner  in  which  the  Government  envisions  the  future  of  urban workforce functioning in harmony with advanced smart city technologies;
- (b) whether there are any specific programs aimed at encouraging gender equality and the empowerment of women in urban planning roles and if so, the details thereof; and
- (c) the  names  of  the  cities  in  Chhattisgarh  covered  under  National Heritage  City  Development  and  Augmentation  Yojana  (HRIDAY)  and National Smart  Cities Mission along with the amount  of  funds sanctioned for those cities till date?

## ANSWER

## MINISTRY OF HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS

## THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE (SHRI TOKHAN SAHU)

(a)  &  (b)  Ministry  of  Housing  and  Urban  Affairs  (MoHUA)  is  implementing Atal  Mission  for  Rejuvenation  and  Urban  Transformation  (AMRUT),  which was launched on 25 June 2015. Smart elements, components and technologies  are  part  of  AMRUT  projects  and  this  aims  to  promote sustainable  urban  development.  AMRUT  guidelines  provides  for  smart elements such as Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) as part of the water supply and sewerage projects. As reported by States/UTs 230 Water supply projects and 146 Sewerage projects have been implemented with SCADA.

Technology  Sub-Mission  is  an  important  component  of  AMRUT  2.0  to encourage start-up ideas and private entrepreneurship, and commissioning them  into  the  pilot  projects.  As  reported  by  Stat/UTs  under  AMRUT  2.0, 1482  water  supply  projects,  241  Sewerage  projects  are  approved  with SCADA.

MoHUA is supporting States/ Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) in capacity building activities through various Schemes of the Ministry such as Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), for improving the capacities of ULB  functionaries, elected representatives, etc.,  which includes all sections of the society including women. Under AMRUT, against the  target  of  45000  functionaries,  57134  functionaries  have  already  been trained so far.

Under  AMRUT  2.0,  capacity  building  programs  are  conducted  for  all stakeholders  including  contractors,  plumbers,  plant  operators,  students, women and citizens.

MoHUA  has  designated  4  Institutes  in  different  regions  as  Centre  of Excellence  (CoE)  in  Urban  Planning  and  Design,  which  inter  alia  impart certified trainings/ certified courses to Civil Servants, State Town Planners, Municipal  O ff icials,  practitioners/professionals,  young  students  etc.  These centres have been provided endowment funds of ₹ 250 crore each.

Besides, MoHUA has also designated 6 institutes as AMRUT Funded Centre of  Urban  Planning  for  Capacity  Building.  The  role  envisaged  for  these institutes inter alia include subject specific trainings to Municipal officials/ Town and Country Planning officials, augmenting capacity building of State / Local authorities and hand hold them in urban planning.

Under AMRUT 2.0, Ministry has also launched AMRUT Mitra initiative which involve  women  Self  Help  Groups  (SHGs)  in  water  demand  management, water  quality  testing,  water  infrastructure  operations,  and  other  water sectoral  projects.  So  far,  1762  projects  worth ₹ 140  crore  have  been approved under this initiative.

- (c) The  National  Heritage  City  Development  and  Augmentation  Yojana (HRIDAY), a central sector scheme of Government of India was launched on 21 st   January,  2015  and  was  implemented  in  twelve  cities.  No  city  in Chhattisgarh  was  covered  under  this  scheme.  The  mission  has  ended  on 31 st  March, 2019 and no new projects/cities were taken up after 31 st  March, 2019.

Under Smart Cities Mission (SCM), 3 cities namely, Atal Nagar, Bilaspur, and Raipur  have  been  selected  from  the  State  of  Chhattisgarh.  A  total  of ₹ 1351.63  crore  have  been  released  to  the  smart  cities  in  the  State  of Chhattisgarh  under  SCM,  which  includes  release  of  ₹488  crore  to  Atal Nagar, ₹428.75 crore to Bilaspur and ₹434.88 crore to Raipur.

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