India Smart Cities Fellowship (ISCF) and Internship (ISCI) Program Launched To Provide Opportunity to Youth to Work In the Domain of Urban Planning and Governance .

Smart Cities Digital Payments Awards 2018 Launched to Reward Cities at the Forefront of Digital Payments

Sh. Hardeep S Puri, MoS(I/C), Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has stated that Smart cities fellowship and internship program will provide the youth an opportunity to experience the aspects of Urban planning and governance. Announcing the launch of the Smart cities digital payment award, Sh. Puri said that it is intended to promote ‘Digital India’ and ease of living for India’s urban residents by promoting digital payments and encouraging Smart Cities to adopt innovative digital payments initiatives. Sh. Puri launched several new initiatives under AMRUT and the Smart Cities Mission, here today. These include the India Smart Cities Fellowship (ISCF) Program, India Smart Cities Internship (ISCI) Program and The Smart Cities Digital Payments Awards 2018 and the ‘CITIIS’ challenge under the Smart Cities Mission and the Local Area Plan (LAP)/Town Planning Scheme (TPS) to be implemented in 25 cities on pilot basis under AMRUT. Sh. Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary, Ministry of Housing Affairs and other senior officials of the ministry were also present on the occasion.

1. India Smart Cities Fellowship (ISCF) Program

The India Smart Cities Fellowship Program is designed to provide valuable experience to the youth interested in smart cities specifically, and urban renewal sector in general and will bring in new ideas, passion and energy to the challenging but exciting work of implementing cutting edge, high-impact solutions to key urban problems. This program will cultivate young leaders, strengthen their understanding of Indian urban sector and prepare them for greater leadership roles in future.

MoHUA will engage 30 young graduates/post graduates and PhDs in the fields of Urban Planning, Urban Design, Engineering, Information and Technology, Urban Mobility, Finance, Social Sector, and Environmental issues as Smart Cities Fellows. The period of engagement is 1-year extendable upto 3 years. They will provide necessary support to Office of Mission Director, Smart Cities in MoHUA and/or CEOs of selected Smart Cities in terms of analytics, research, documentation, independent assessment, visualization or any other related activities including preparation of reports, posters, dossiers, etc.

Interested applicants may apply online through Smart Net ( https://smartnet.niua.org) till 31 August 2018. Applications received will be scrutinized and shortlisted by the Selection Committee.

2. India Smart Cities Internship (ISCI) Program

MoHUA will engage students pursuing Under Graduate/Graduate/Post Graduate degree as Interns to help implementation of Smart City Projects in various States/Cities. The internship will be on unpaid basis for a period of 6 to 12 weeks. They will be given an Experience Certificate at the end successful completion of the program. ISCIs will be given exposure in the following areas of development under Smart Cities Mission including Urban Planning, Urban Design, Engineering, Information and Technology, Urban Mobility, Finance, Social Sector, and Environmental issues.

The ‘Interns’ shall be a part of the Smart Cities Mission, and their role primarily would be in implementation /reporting /evaluation and monitoring /knowledge management/stakeholder engagement/ media outreach and other similar activities as assigned to them by the Mission Director (SCM). Interested applicants may apply online anytime of the year through Smart Net ( https://smartnet.niua.org). Selection will be made by a Selection Committee constituted by the Mission Director (Smart Cities Mission).

3. The Smart Cities Digital Payments Awards 2018

The Smart Cities Digital Payments Awards (SCDPA) 2018 ‘100 days Challenge in 100 Smart Cities’ is part of the initiatives of MoHUA to promote ease of living for India’s urban residents. The objective of these awards is to guide, motivate, recognize and reward the Smart Cities for promoting digital payments and carrying out innovative payment initiatives in their respective cities.

This program will not only reward cities at the forefront of digital payments but also act as encouragement for other cities to follow suite and strengthen their digital payments infrastructure, create awareness through promotion of digital payments with all the stakeholders and provide citizens with multiple options to make digital transactions.

The challenge period would be 100 days starting from the launch of the awards. This would galvanize the digital payments landscape in the Smart Cities. The awards will be conferred based on a 2-stage process. Evaluation Committee(s) chaired by Secretary, MoHUA and comprising of other members shall comprise the Jury. The timelines for the awards program are as follows:

• Submission of responses for 1st stage: 15th September

• Shortlist declaration for 1st stage: 30th September

• Template sharing for 2nd stage evaluation: 15th October (template will be shared with the shortlisted cities only)

• Submission of responses for 2nd stage: 30th October

• Final results: Dates will be announced later (Source: PIB)