As part of his visit to Gujarat to study various policies, institutional practices and developmental initiatives related to his departments, Assam Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs, Food, Public Distribution and Consumer Affairs and Cooperation, Kaushik Rai on Tuesday undertook a series of visits and high-level meetings with his counterparts in Ahmedabad, focusing on urban development, municipal governance, sugar price management and the cooperative sugar industry.
The Minister, accompanied by senior officials of the Government of Assam, inspected the Sabarmati Riverfront in Ahmedabad and visited the iconic Atal Bridge, taking first-hand stock of the planning, development and various components of the approximately 22-km-long riverfront project.
A detailed meeting was subsequently held at the office of the Sabarmati Riverfront Development Corporation Limited (SRFDCL) with senior officials of the Ahmedabad administration.
Discussions covered technical planning and design, flood management, Town Planning Schemes (TPS), Local Area Plans (LAP), door-to-door waste collection, solid waste management, civic amenities and other aspects of integrated urban development.
Minister Rai said that the first-hand experience and technical knowledge gained from the Sabarmati Riverfront project would provide valuable insights for Assam’s ongoing efforts towards urban development, modernisation and beautification.
He further emphasised that Gujarat’s experience in planned and sustainable urban development, under the visionary guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the leadership of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, would offer useful learnings for strengthening citizen-centric urban infrastructure and services in Assam.
The Minister also held detailed discussions on the municipal governance and service-delivery systems of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation. The best practices shared during the interaction are expected to help strengthen municipal services and make urban local bodies in Assam, including the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC), more organised, efficient and responsive.
Representing the Ahmedabad administration, Amritesh Aurangabadkar, Executive Director, SRFDCL and Deputy Municipal Commissioner, West Zone, and Deepak Patel, General Manager, Administration and Finance, along with other senior officials, participated in the discussions.
Minister Rai thereafter held a high-level meeting with Ishwarsinh T Patel, Chairman, Gujarat State Federation of Co-operative Sugar Factories Ltd., along with representatives of Gujarat’s cooperative sugar sector, to discuss sugar pricing, procurement, production and distribution mechanisms.
The discussions focused on measures to ensure the availability of sugar at reasonable prices, effective monitoring of wholesale and retail prices, and better coordination among sugar mills, traders and the administration.
The Assam delegation also studied Gujarat’s institutional framework for regulating and monitoring the sugar industry and sugar prices, including the role played by cooperative sugar factories.
The Minister discussed the cooperative model of sugar production and its linkage with farmers, with a view to examining practices that could be adapted to Assam.
He also held discussions with Gujarat’s Agriculture, Farmers Welfare and Cooperation Department on strengthening modern agricultural practices, farmer-oriented initiatives and the cooperative sector.
The Minister thereafter held a detailed meeting with the Urban Development and Urban Housing Department, Government of Gujarat, to study various urban development schemes and initiatives implemented in the state.
The meeting focused on Gujarat’s experience in planned urban development, urban infrastructure, municipal services and innovative approaches to urban governance.
Detailed discussions were held on the policies, planning and implementation mechanisms, monitoring systems and institutional frameworks of various urban development programmes, with a view to examining their replication and adaptation in Assam, particularly in the context of rapidly growing urban centres.
