Govt announces “Nurturing Neighbourhoods Challenge”

What is the news?

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs shortlisted 25 cities for the ‘Nurturing Neighbourhoods Challenge’. This challenge is covered under the Smart Cities Mission.

About Nurturing Neighbourhoods Challenge

• It is a three-year initiative hosted by the Smart Cities Mission, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, in collaboration with the Bernard van Leer Foundation and World Resources Institute(WRI) India.
• All cities with a population above 5 lakhs are eligible to participate.
• Purpose: The challenge aims to enable Indian cities to focus on early childhood development (0-5-year-old children). The focus will incorporate into the planning and management of Indian cities.
• Objectives:
  • Promote early childhood centric approach among Indian cities.
  • Facilitate demonstration of early childhood centric solutions.
  • Catalyse cities to the mainstream and implement solutions in the long-term.
  • Develop a peer to peer network of nurturing cities.
  • Collect and analyse data related to young children and their caregivers.
• Who can apply? The challenge is open to all Smart Cities, capitals of States and UTs, and other cities with a population above 5 lakhs.
• Cities Selected under the challenge: The following cities have been selected for the Challenge: Agartala, Bengaluru, Coimbatore, Dharamshala, Erode, Hubballi, Hyderabad, Indore, Jabalpur, Kakinada, Kochi, Kohima, Kota, Nagpur, Rajkot, Ranchi, Rohtak, Rourkela, Salem, Surat, Thiruvananthapuram, Tiruppur, Ujjain, Vadodara and Warangal.
• Benefits to Selected Cities: Cities will receive technical assistance and capacity building. It will be helpful to develop, pilot and scale solutions that enhance the quality of life of young children.
• Over time, the programme will enable cities to incorporate a focus on early childhood development into the planning and management of Indian cities.

Source: PIB