Himachal PWD minister urges Centre to relax urban challenge fund criteria

Himachal public works department (PWD) minister Vikramaditya Singh on Saturday met Union minister for housing and urban affairs Manohar Lal Khattar and urged the him to relax the criteria fixed in the Urban Challenge Fund for redevelopment of cities. He requested for fixing criteria on the basis of 90:10 for the state keeping in view its hilly terrain.

He said that due to tough geographical conditions and small population, the cities of the state are not matching the criteria fixed in the Urban Challenge Fund.

He informed the Union minister that the state has launched the “Citizen Service Portal” under the National Urban Digital Mission. He demanded ₹70 crore for the successful implementation of the scheme for five years. Vikramaditya added that the funds allocated by the state government for its implementation from its own resources will be exhausted by March 2025 hence funds are required from the central government to effectively implement and sustain this initiative.

The PWD minister also requested ₹3.28 crore for clearing liabilities under National Urban Livelihood Mission and requested for sanctioning special funds for the construction of parkings and development of urban infrastructure for Himachal.