Smart Village Conclave: Bridging the Gap between Urban and Rural

A large population from villages is migrating to cities for jobs and a better standard of living. According to the Economic Survey’17, 8 to 9 million people migrate for work opportunities within India annually. The survey noted that there has been a rise in migration, which is supplemented by economic growth. The rate at which women migrated was almost twice the rate of which men migrated in the 2000s.The rise comes in spite of disincentives, such as domicile provisions for the working population, lack of portability of social benefits, legal and other entitlements upon relocation.

By 2050, it is estimated that more than half of India will be living in urban India. The devastating effects of natural calamities such as droughts and floods further accentuate rural-urban migration.

The government announced the Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission to strengthen infrastructure in rural areas. This is a Public Private Partnership model while also using funds from various schemes. The aim of the scheme is to bridge the rural‐urban divide and to turn all villages into smart villages like smart cities project by ensuring facilities and services, stimulating local economic development while focussing on reduction in poverty and unemployment in rural areas, regional development, attracting investment in rural areas.

The 6th Smart Cities India 2020 expo will host a 5th edition of “Smart Village Conclave” on 23 May 2019 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi to address and lay forward the researches, solutions, opportunities associated with the creation of “Smart Villages”. This will help in exploring rural community development, practices and relevant policies with a focus on community-centric planning of affordable housing, infrastructure, sustainable development and growth, community empowerment and other issues.

Who will you meet:

• Officials from Ministries
• NGO’s
• Academia
• Influencers
• Pradhan’s and Sarpanch’s
• CSR Heads, etc.

Speakers

Tentative Agenda

Day 2: 23 May 2019 Time Conference Room D: Smart Village Conclave 1400-1445 hrs Opening Session: Bridging the gap between urban and rural Session focus: • Strengthen, implement and monitor the existing Schemes for Rural India • Critical needs for improvement of the village’s economic and sociological environment • Ideas for next 2 to 3 years 1400-1410 Opening remarks and setting the context by Conference Moderator: Ms. Vineeta Hariharan, Head Rurban Mission (Past), Public Policy and Strategies, World Bank Group 1410-1420 Knowledge Partner Address: Ms. Navpreet Kaur, Director, HCL Foundation, India 1420-1430 Address by: Dr. Amitabh Kundu, Distinguished Fellow, RIS, India 1430-1440 Address by: Dr. B. Gangaiah IES, Member Secretary, AP State Planning Board, Government of Andhra Pradesh 1440-1450 Address by: Ms. Tanvi Sundriyal, IAS, CEO, Madhya Pradesh Agency for Promotion of Information Technology, India 1450-1500 Address by: Dr. Chandrashekhar Pran, Founder, Teesari Sarkar Abhiyan, India Vote of Thanks 1500-1600 hrs Roleplay Session: Smart panchayats are making smart villages Session focus: Few villages in India has been marching from “Swarajya to Surajya” through implementation of various community and welfare schemes of rural development. It is necessary that Gram Panchayats perform their duties and responsibilities by more programmes and self-governance, work as per their expectations with certain goal and with foresight for social, human, economic and personal development and become committed to increase citizen services, create atmosphere of healthy competition. The session will witness the roleplay stories from few villages that have become prosperous and smart. Session Chair Remarks: Mr. Yogesh Kumar, Operations Head-Projects, HCL Foundation, India Views from Sarpanch (5 min each): • Mr Amit Kumar Dwivedi, Gram Pradhan, Panchayati raj, Village Akbarpur • Mr. Dilip Kumar Tripathi, Gram Pradhan, Village Hasuri • Mr. Prabhakar Singh, Pradhan, Shahab Pur Village • Mr. Kishor Chand Bhagel, Sarpanch, Sapos Village • Ms Smriti Singh, Sarpanch, Ballia Village • Mr. Ajay Singh Yadav, Mukhiya, Adarsh Gram Panchayat, Dharnai, Bihar • Mr. Amit Kumar Gupta, Pradhan, Kehly Gram Panchayat Session moderated by: Ms. Vineeta Hariharan, Head Rurban Mission (Past), Public Policy and Strategies, World Bank Group 1600-1700 hrs Brainstorming Session: Tools for making smart villages self-sufficient Session focus: Housing: Housing affordability, low-cost housing, materials selection, energy and water solutions, sanitation, reusability and recycling of waste, skill development, environmental design, disaster resilience, etc. Infrastructure: Construction and maintenance of roads and other forms of infrastructure, access to education and health care, provision of services, including energy, potable water, waste and sewage management, creation of public spaces, ICT applications and operations, etc. Economy: Building social capital, micro and community-led finance, income generation, farming support, crop selection and improvement, market access, pricing, various forms of tourism, etc Sustainability: Environmental, Social, and Economic sustainability, etc. Smart Governance: ICT and data-driven solutions, machine learning applications, alternative forms of governance, etc. Conference Moderator: Ms. Vineeta Hariharan, Senior Leadership, Public Policy, Programme Implementation and Strategies Remarks by Conference Moderator: Ms. Vineeta Hariharan, Head Rurban Mission (Past), Public Policy and Strategies, World Bank Group Panel Discussion: • Dr. Imran Amin, Associate Professor, Centre for Development Practice, Ambedkar University, Delhi, India • Mr. Atul Bhatnagar, Business Adviser, SunMoksha, India • Mr. Vaibhav Chauhan, Project Manager, HCL Foundation • Mr. Saurav Choudhury, Associate Counsellor, IGBC, IndiaMr. Nikhil Manohar Dubey, Associate Director, Madhya Pradesh Agency for Promotion of Information Technology, India • Mr. Vikas Jain, AGM – Product Management, Delta Electronics , India • Mr. Manish Pathak, Enviropreneur, 3R Management (P) Ltd., India • Dr. L.C. Sharma, Managing Director, IIRD, India • Ms. Marie – Hélène Zérah, Research Director, Centre for Policy Research, India Views from Innovators: • Mr. Abhinav Goswami, Village- Jarara

We invite you to be a part of Smart Village Conclave 2019 to stimulate the discussions and to showcase the solutions for transforming Rural India. There is no participation fee for attending the conclave. Submit your interest now.