The selection of the first lot of 20 smart cities by the central government saw both jubilation among those selected and considerable angst among the remaining 78 that did not make the second cut. One calls it the second cut, because there was a first round that left out cities like Bengaluru, Mysore, Thiruvananthapuram, Gurgaon, Patna and so on from the first shortlist of 98 cities.
Bengaluru was deservedly left out, given the absence of audited reports (a decidedly ‘smart’ move by the city councillors!) for the city corporation since 2010. Unlike the first culling, the 78 left. . .
