Kalam’s ‘virtual cities’ may soon be reality

President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam’s ‘Vision of a Developed India’ may soon be realised. Between April and May this year, the gover...

President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam’s ‘Vision of a Developed India’ may soon be realised. Between April and May this year, the government-owned Housing and Urban Development Corporation made two presentations before Kalam to give shape to his idea of creating ‘Virtual Cities’ — to stem migration from rural areas and small-towns to large cities.

Bothered by the lopsided development of the nineties that made the urban rich richer and left the rural population impoverished, the President is reportedly keen that model urban pockets with high-connectivity are created within the rural pockets.

‘‘This, he feels, would go a long way to reverse the trend of rural migration,’’ says CMD HUDCO P.S. Rana, who made the presentations. The challenge, Rana adds, is to create scope for ‘‘better life with urban amenities’’ near the sites of agricultural productions.

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HUDCO is already negotiating with two state governments — Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan — which have promised to identify two rural pockets within reasonable proximity of highways for the President’s dream project.

The economic-feasibility study of the project also looked into environmental issues. ‘‘Building on the President’s idea, we created a model that would generate jobs in the rural areas, improve quality of life, provide basic amenities and also access to city,’’ said Rana.