The Urban Development Minister of India Venkaiah Naidu has set up city-based task forces with a specific focus on Ajmer, Vishakhapatnam and Allahabad. The responsibility of these task forces would be to come up with proper plans so that these cities can be transformed to smart cities in the future. The task forces will be manned by representatives from the external affairs and the urban development ministries. The concerned state governments, the United States Trade Development Agency (USTDA) and the cities in question will be represented in the body as well.
A few days back Naidu had met Penny Pritzker, the United States Secretary of Commerce, at New Delhi and a decision was taken during the said meeting to set up task forces for charting out a course for the smart cities. The task forces being constituted right now are in accordance with the said decision. On 25 January 2015 the USTDA had signed MOUs with the state governments of the concerned cities and assured its cooperation in turning them into smart cities. Similarly, when Narendra Modi visited the US and discussed commercial and strategic issues with Barack Obama, the US had expressed its willingness to help with the development of the aforementioned cities.
The task force for Ajmer is made up of the following entities:
- Divisional Commissioner, Ajmer (Chairman)
- Mayor of Ajmer
- Secretaries of Town and Country Planning and Municipal Affairs of Rajasthan Government
- Joint Secretary of Union Urban Development Ministry
- District Collector of Ajmer
- Representatives from Ministry of External Affairs, India
- Administrator of Urban Improvement Trust, Ajmer
- USTDA representatives
- Municipal Commissioner of Ajmer
