Giving a glimpse of his to-do list if he becomes the prime minister, Gujarat chief minister and BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendta Modi has said he wants to see Indian cities free of manual scavenging by 2019, the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

“Mahatma Gandhi had opposed manual scavenging and also was a stickler for cleanliness. So we should try to achieve his goals by his 150th anniversary,” he said, at the inaugural session of the National Summit on Inclusive Urban Development organised by his government at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar on Thursday. 

Setting another target, Modi said by 2022, the 75th year of independence, Indian cities should be ready to face challenges of rapid urbanisation – that is, solid waste management, rainwater harvesting, environment protection and public transport.

Urging people to look at urban development not as a challenge but as the country’s strength, he said urbanisation was inevitable and should be embraced by every individual so as to ensure greater progress. “We have already spent decades crying over the fact that villages have been vanishing and are being replaced by modern towns and cities. It is high time that we stopped crying over urbanisation and instead start thinking of it as a necessary change,” Modi said. 

“Around 34 crore people live in cities at present and this is set to go up to 60 crore by 2025,” he said, reiterating the need for governments at all levels to brace up for this fast-paced development.

Talking about the need for the right vision in turning things around, he said, “Kachde se bhi kanchan ban sakta hai. Hamare dimaag mein kanchan roopi soch honi chahiye (valuable things can be made even from filth. We only need the right attitude to be able to achieve this).  And it is important that people become important stakeholders in this development process,” he said explaining the fourth P in his PPPP (people public private partnership) model.

Expanding the term ‘nagar’ to define the main aspects that need to be focused on for successful urban development, Modi said, “The word nagar is made up of three components- nal, gutter aur rasta (Water supply, drainage system and roads) and this is what the main focus of governments should be on so as to ensure urban development.”

Taking a dig at prime minister Manmohan Singh, he recounted a ‘monologue’ with the PM for ensuring better solid waste management and redistribution of recycled water to villages. “During a discussion, in which only I spoke, I requested the PM to identify around 500 cities wherein water recycling and its redistribution to villages can be taken up in a more efficient way. He did show interest and asked me to create a pilot project and give it to him which I did. But even after over a year when nothing was done on this aspect and I went back to the PM, he asked to me to discuss the matter with the Planning Commission. We all know what happens over there and so why keep any hopes. I just resorted to implementing these better practices in my state,” he said.

The conference which was organised in partnership with the Japanese government saw the participation of senior ministers and officials from across the country including over 130 mayors and deputy mayors from various cities across 26 states of the country.

Terming the conference an “unofficial parliament of urban India”, the Gujarat chief minister said that the country’s towns and cities had enough potential to achieve growth and development by simply looking and learning from each others’ governance models. “If we (state and city governments) merely look and learn from each other, we can do a lot better without depending on any kind of help from outside. This collective strength can contribute in a great manner to the growth and development of not just our country but of the entire world,” he said.

Also present at the conference were Japan’s ambassador to India H E Takeshi Yagi and chairman and managing director of Mitsubishi Masakazu Sakakida who agreed that urban development was an important objective for India so as to take a leap on the development scale. “In the area of urban development, there is a vast expanse of opportunity in India especially in Gujarat that Japan can exploit and contribute immensely,” Yagi said.

“Gujarat has been doing very well on urban development and this needs to be spread across the country. It has good quality infrastructural facilities and a much favourable business climate compared to the other states in the country which has made it a preferred investment destination for foreign investors,” said Sakakida, adding that the number of Japanese companies in the state has gone from 6 companies a decade ago to 60 today.