Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu on Dr. Shalini Rajneesh’s book ‘Making of a Smart City’

New Delhi:  “The writers of the book ‘Making of a Smart City,’ Dr. S.L. Goel and Dr. Shalini Rajneesh, have portrayed the concept of modern cities based on happiness index of its citizens. This is a new and welcome perspective,” said Vice- President M. Venkaiah Naidu.

He was speaking after receiving the book and said “A truly Smart City is one which gives equal opportunity to all its residents to participate in governance as well as become engines of growth and development. Smart Cities involve multidisciplinary approach and action, that is, technology, psychology, sociology, public administration and ethics.”

“The book encourages a common man to actively participate in issues associated with preservation of natural resources and our environment. I congratulate Dr. Goel and Dr. Shalini on this valuable publication,” he said.

About the Book: The book is like a “one-stop shop” for all stakeholders who are involved in urban governance in general and making of a Smart City, in particular. The increasing pace of urbanisation and its role in spurring economic growth necessitates efficient and effective urban planning, monitoring and evaluation. In this process people’s participation is of utmost importance, which can eventually lead to higher index of happiness and prosperity of the people.

The Smart Cities are the need of the hour. Smart Cities have vast potential to improve quality of life of citizens, provided the capacity of functionaries is built along with autonomy and responsibility. The authors’ inputs based on vast experience in public administration can help enhance the success and sustainability of upcoming Smart Cities.

About the Authors: Dr. S. L. Goel, Emeritus Fellow UGC at Punjab University, had been teaching Public Administration and Political Science for over three decades. He had been a member of University Grants Commission,  New Delhi, Distance Education Council and a member of All India Board of Management under All India Council for Technical Education, Ministry of HRD, New Delhi. He has been Advisor to Himachal Pradesh and Haryana Health Departments under their USAID Programme. He has written books on Health Administration, Management of Public Administration, numbering about seventy, conducted research and guided more than twenty-five Indian and foreign students for Doctoral Research as well as conducted training programmes for senior administrators.

Dr. Shalini Rajneesh, a topper of Indian Administrative Service (IAS) 1989 batch, is a gold medallist in Psychology, MBA from Australia and Ph.D in Rural Development. She has penned 11 books, 6 in English and 5 in Kannada covering subjects like Management, Personality Development, Women Empowerment, IAS Coaching etc. Besides, she regularly writes articles and gives lectures/interviews in T.V., Radio, seminars, etc., to connect to people at large on issues of public interest.

Her most momentous experience has been during her stint as Deputy Commissioner, Belgaum, when she deftly handled the worst floods of the century. She won the second Best Panchayat Raj National Award in 2012. She steered a revolutionary legislation, that is, Karnataka’s Guarantee of Services to Citizens Act, 2011 popularly known as “Sakala” Project, which bagged the Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Civil Services. She is currently Chairman of Tumakuru Smart City Corporation.