‘Metro Metroto run between Indoreand Pithampur in two years’

 

 

 

 

KAILASH Vijayvargiya’s political journey starts from his student life and elevated to the party’s central leadership. He was made incharge of the BJP’s election campaign for Haryana and lat er became BJP’s National General Secretary.It can be said that min ister Vijayvargiya is well aware with grassroots difficulties of the urban bodies since he served his home town Indore in the capac ity of Mayor.Now,the six-time legislator,Kailash Vijayvargiya is holding the Urban Development and Housing Minister portfolio in Mohan Yadav government. State has made several remarkable achievements in 2024 and among the top states in the country in terms of urban development whether it is Swachh Survekshan 2024-25 or Housing Mission.

 

The State has emerged as a leader.Despite gaining national recognition in various sectors,urban bodies are facing perennial problems e.g. budget crunch,water scarcity etc. Known for mass leadership and good oratory skills,Urban Development and Housing Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya talked exclusively to ‘The Hitavada’ and candidly acknowledged the shortcomings and also highlighted initiatives taken up in last couple of years. Q.1Indore Metro Project is running with full speed. Bhopal Metro is all set to start operation. Do you think there was need for such a huge project in these tier II cities? Vijayvargiya:-Honestly admits in present scenario there is not much need of Metro in cities like Bhopal and Indore, but we need to keep in mind the expansion of these two cities or we can say better connectivity with neibouring regions, especially industrial area and satel lite towns, there is huge need for such ambitious project.

 

If a person from Sanwar or Dewas reaches Indore within 20 minutes it will benefit not only locals but also give a push to eco nomic and job activity. By 2028, Indore Metro will be extended to industrial town of Pithampur. Q.2You have been credited to transform mill area of Indore, the constituency you represent, in to most modern and advance locality from being tagged as backward locality. How this has happened? Vijayvargiya:-I always advocate to develop a city where quality of life should be excel lent. We should know plantation is equally important and city forest like concept will take shape. Gardens will be developed in to dense tree areas. Q.3Most of the urban bodies in the State are facing financial crisis. How you are going to address this chronic problem? Vijayvargiya:- We moved to make our civic bodies financially self-reliant.

 

It can be achieved by effective expenditure management for this the department is guiding urban bodies to enhance their income and reduce unnecessary expenditure we have plugged financial leaks e.g. now e-attendance has been introduced in municipal corporations. Since GIS-based assessment of properties and efficient collection of tax is vital for municipal corporations as property tax is the primary source of income for these authorities. Through this system, the tax collection has been reached to 150% from just 40%. Under the incentive scheme, urban bodies that increase their income will receive incentives based on the percentage growth in revenue and non-revenue income over the last two financial years.