Housing and Urban affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has said India is on the cusp of fourth industrial revolution and it is focusing on urban development. <br/><br/>Addressing a national workshop on municipal finance and effective and accelerated implementation of smart cities in New Delhi today, Mr Puri said there is a need for adequate city and town planners. <br/><br/>He said the country is lacking on this front as it has only 10 per cent of required strength available. <br/><br/>Mr Puri said the time has come to adopt the recommendations of the Second Administrative Reforms Commission and merge the functions of the person chairing the municipal council and the individual exercising executive authority. <br/><br/>He urged all State governments to look beyond the IAS and leverage the enormous talent available in Indian society, particularly in the field of finance. <br/><br/>Mr Puri said lateral entrants should become the norm and not the exception. The Minister said, municipalities need to lay a strong foundation for robust financial management for both enhancing own revenues as well as tapping the capital market through Municipal Bonds. <br/> <br/>NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Dr Rajiv Kumar, stressed in his address on the need for economic-political legitimacy, technologically smart solutions and intellectual legitimacy to empower the cities. <br/><br/>He said, to minimise the presence of dualistic structure and to connect villages with all the urban facilities, there is a need to introduce the concept of Rurban.<br/> <br/>CEO of NITI Aayog Amitabh Kant said, with every minute, 30 Indians are moving to cities and the process of urbanisation has just begun and will do more in the next 5 decades. <br/><br/>He said, cities are a centre for growth, creativity and progress and account for about 3 per cent of landmass, 80 per cent of GDP and 78 per cent of CO2 emission.<br/><br/>

Housing and Urban affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has said India is on the cusp of fourth industrial revolution and it will focus on urban development. <br/><br/>Addressing a national workshop on municipal finance and effective and accelerated implementation of smart cities in New Delhi today, Mr Puri said there is a need for adequate city and town planners. <br/><br/>He said the country is lacking on this front as have only 10 per cent of required strength is available. <br/><br/>The Minister said there is a need to look at the Urban Local Bodies which are dependent on state and centre. <br/><br/>