States, UTs put in over 4,200 entries for most beautiful public spaces competition

In a letter to all states and UTs on July 14, the ministry wrote that the deadline had been extended due to the requests received from several state governments.

“An extension of the last date has also been considered to ensure better representation across all States, as also to encourage more participation across the four award categories for beautiful public spaces in the cities,” the Ministry wrote.

According to officials, the idea for holding such a competition came from Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the Chief Secretaries Conference he addressed in Dharamshala in 2022. The ministry already awards the cleanest cities in different categories under the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban and the best cities in the Smart Cities Mission.

After the cities complete their online submissions for the beauty competition, state-level third-party evaluators would visit the projects. The best wards would be awarded at the state-level. The best projects in the categories of waterfronts, green spaces, tourist and heritage spaces and markets and commercial places in each state would then be shortlisted for a national-level award.

Among the entries so far are covered marketplaces in Telangana and waterfront redevelopment in Srinagar. States that have submitted many entries include Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, an official said.

The winning cities will not get any monetary prize, but will get to use the tag of having the most beautiful public space, the official said.