Amarinder Singh, Venkaiah Naidu discuss implementation of central schemes

New Delhi: Union Minister of Urban Development M Venkaiah Naidu and Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh here on Wednesday discussed the implementation of central schemes in the state, an official said.

The two discussed in detail various issues related to the implementation of flagship schemes of the Union government in the state, the Ministry of Urban Development said in a statement.

During the meeting, Naidu informed the Punjab CM about "the recent initiative of conducting review meetings across the country to take first-hand report on the issues and to evaluate the status of various programmes and initiatives" relating to his ministries.

The two leaders also discussed the possible areas of collaboration between the two governments to facilitate effective implementation of these schemes.

They also discussed the delegation of more power to the states by the Narendra Modi government under cooperative federalism.

The Ministry of Urban Development runs flagship schemes like Smart Cities, Swachh Bharat Mission, National Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY), and Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), among others.

Under the Smart Cities initiative, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar in Punjab have been selected for development.

The AMRUT scheme is being implemented in 16 cities of Punjab -- including Amritsar, Jalandhar and Malerkotla.

Senior officials from Punjab and the central government were present during the meeting.