Jabalpur Smart City: Smart Psychology

Professor R Shankar,R D University, Jabalpur

Mob: 09300089356E-mail: rs_dubey@yahoo.com

Introduction:

• The idea of Jabalpur as a smart city has to evolve along three dimensions. If attention is not paid to any of these aspects or any one of these dimensions is underplayed while planning for the future then the sustainability and feasibility of our dream may become suspect.

Mandatory Dimensions:

These three aspects pertain to:• Physical infrastructure development;• Generation of an appropriate psychological/cultural mindset;• Identifying the potential fault lines.

Infrastructure:

Smart cities the world over have by now well defined structures that are mandatory for the concept of smartness.• This obviously includes:• state-of-the-art structures pertaining to communication, • waste-management, • energy conservation/efficiency, • carbon foot printing, • health care, • entertainment, • disaster-management,• greening, • smart space management for offices, industry commerce, relaxation etc• and most important education. There is enough literature available already on the above aspects and it basically needs an ecclective approach only.

Two small ideas regarding energy: • All public lighting to be operated by light

sensitive switches which will help conserve electricity by at least 20% and all roads could have pressure operated electric generation systems so that energy consumed by vehicles is plowed back.

Smart Psychology/Culture:

• Any concept to be operationalized, especially in a democracy has to have the participation of the citizenry.

• It is this cardinal point that we have to focus upon in our efforts both to educate and integrate people in the mission.

• There are obviously a number of ways to do this through workshops/orientation programmes/nukkad nataks/ advertisements both print and audio visual/involvement of NGOs for awareness generation.

• Furthermore it has to be emphasized here that the involvement of marginalized sections is even more important than the VIPs.

Herein the role of educational institutions becomes imperative. So a comprehensive strategy has to be worked out in this regard.

Fault - lines:

• It is perhaps as important to identify the future fault lines that have the potential of disrupting the whole process and developing strategies to offset potential fissure-points.

• One potentially disruptive scenario includes the increased incidence of criminal activity.

• Given the fact that we live in a sea of feudal social milieu interspersed with pockets of modernity.

• There is every likelihood of the surrounding areas becoming breeding grounds of criminal elements who will infiltrate from time to time. This happens whenever and wherever modernization takes place.

• Furthermore smartness implies the basic ingredient of security and unhindered ease of conducting business.

The administration must take serious cognizance of this aspect so as to be able to evolve counterstrategies.

• Also a robust system of penalties has to be evolved and implemented for defaulters without exclusion and bias especially given our VIP prone attitudes.

• Along with planning/landscaping a system of incentives has to be evolved to encourage public sensibilities.

Last but not the least all this has to be done having in mind the philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi when he told Nehru ji that the real vindication of all public policy is, how it has impacted the person standing on the last rung of the socio-economic ladder.