Mumbai: The Maharashtra Congress on Thursday launched the ‘City Transformation Group’ to work on pressing urban issues and promote planned, inclusive and sustainable development in cities across the state.

The initiative was launched on the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister and Bharat Ratna Rajiv Gandhi, with the Congress describing it as an open platform for citizens, social organisations, activists, professionals, students and particularly the younger generation and Gen Z to participate in efforts aimed at improving urban life.

The initiative was inaugurated at Tilak Bhavan, the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee headquarters in Mumbai. AICC secretary and chairman of the City Transformation Group Sachin Sawant, MPCC general secretary Dhananjay Shinde, advocate Sandesh Kondvilkar, former Dinesh Kamble and training department head Ashutosh Shirke were among those present, along with city Congress presidents, office-bearers, workers and representatives of various social organisations.

Speaking to the media after the launch, Sawant said rapid migration from rural areas to cities had resulted in unprecedented urban expansion and placed immense pressure on civic infrastructure.

“Citizens need clean and adequate drinking water, good roads, congestion-free travel, efficient public transport, quality healthcare and education facilities, and effective waste management. These are the basic priorities of urban development. However, instead of addressing these issues, those in power are diverting public attention towards caste and religious issues,” Sawant said.

He said the past decade had witnessed growing political polarisation, the use of money in elections and the politics of splitting political parties, while basic civic concerns were increasingly neglected.

‘Open platform, not just a Congress campaign’

Sawant said the City Transformation Group was conceived as an independent platform through which citizens could raise urban issues and ensure that their concerns reached the government and administration effectively.

“The platform is not intended to remain merely a Congress initiative. We want it to develop into a people’s movement in which everyone who believes in planned, inclusive and sustainable urban development can participate,” he said.

Urban planners, experts, professionals, students, young people, NGOs, social workers and representatives of citizens’ organisations have been invited to join the initiative and contribute to solutions for the challenges facing cities.

The Congress said the platform has been deliberately opened to ordinary citizens and civil society groups, with a special focus on engaging young people and Gen Z in discussions concerning the future of urban India.

Rajiv Gandhi’s vision as inspiration

Referring to the timing of the launch, Sawant said Rajiv Gandhi was a visionary leader who laid the foundations for a modern India and took significant steps towards strengthening local self-government institutions.

“Today, there is a need to look at the rapidly changing urban India with the same vision and foresight. We must come together to build a better future for our cities,” he said.

The City Transformation Group was launched simultaneously in Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur on Thursday. The Congress plans to expand the initiative to municipal corporation areas across Maharashtra in the coming period.

Sawant said the ultimate objective was to ensure that the campaign goes beyond political boundaries and becomes a citizen-driven movement focused on making cities cleaner, safer, better planned and more liveable.