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Innovation, entrepreneurship, science and technology, Research skills and good practices constitute knowledge and turning knowledge into wealth is the future of the country, said Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari while addressing the convocation ceremony of All India Institute of Local Self Government held in Mumbai today.
President of All India Institute of Local Self Governance Ranjit Chavan, Director General Dr. Jayaraj Phatak, Vice President Rajkishore Modi, members of the governing body of the organization Vijay Sane, Govind Swaroop, Ravi Guru, Utkarsha Kavali, Sneha Palanitkar were present on this occasion.
Minister expressed the belief that the students graduating today will work for the country and society through their respective fields by using the knowledge they have obtained. He said that it is necessary to combine technology and education as technology is constantly changing all over the world.
Shri Gadkari said that to make the projects of Local self government bodies qualitatively better, it is high time we engaged the Project Management Consultancy Organizations of world-class standard, and for that, technical parameters should be given more weightage than financial qualifications. He expressed the opinion that unless this happens, there will be little improvement in the administration of municipal bodies. Minister said that in order to improve the performance of the municipalities, it is equally necessary to do performance audit along with the financial audit.
Minister said that there is a need for financial empowerment of the local self-governing bodies, especially the municipal corporations, by using technology. Technology can be utilised to provide services like road construction, waste management, water treatment, and 24-hour water supply in the best way. This will not only save money but will also earn revenue. As an example Minister said that by making public transport fully electric, a lot of money will be saved.
“Local self-government bodies should not rely only on government grants for projects, but should also adopt the option of working through public private sector partnership. There is a huge opportunity for that in every field. Public private sector partnership in solid and liquid waste management can generate an economy of Rs 5 lakh crore, minister added.” In this context, Gadkari gave examples of projects implemented in Mathura and Nagpur Municipal Corporation for sewage management.
The minister also said that making bio-ethanol from crop residue will not only create fuel but will also curb pollution due to burning crop residues.