Madurai city, known as ‘Temple City,’ deserves to be modernised and developed into a ‘smart’ city. The Centre, which is planning to develop 100 cities into ‘smart’ cities, should include Madurai in this project, according to Madurai MP R. Gopalakrishnan.
In a release issued here recently, he said Madurai city, which had a mix of urban and rural areas, was considered as the gateway to the southern districts.
The city should be provided with modern infrastructure like metro rail, helicopter tourism facility, increased rail services with modern coaches among others.
To decongest roads, the Outer Ring Road work should be expedited on a war footing, he noted.
At a time when agriculture had been affected due to poor monsoon, there had been unemployment and large-scale migration of farm workers to Madurai.
The Union government had earmarked Rs.7,060 crore for developing 100 ‘smart’ cities in the current budget.
If Madurai was included in the list, the unemployed workers could benefit from job opportunities that might be created in the future, he suggested.
Welcoming the allocation of Rs.100 crore towards transforming select employment offices into career centres, he urged the Centre to include Madurai employment office in the project on a pilot basis.
“Amma Unavagam” scheme implemented in Tamil Nadu was a success, and the Centre should take it across the country as it would benefit a large number of people.
When contacted, Mr. Gopalakrishnan said he had given his submission in writing in the current session of Parliament under Rule 377 of the Lok Sabha.
