LUCKNOW Six Uttar Pradesh cities — Agra, Ayodhya, Lucknow, Mathura-Vrindavan, Prayagraj and Varanasi — have been selected under the Centre’s Pragati-50 initiative, which aims to develop 50 cities across the country as models of cleanliness, modern civic infrastructure and sustainable urban development.
UP urban development and energy minister AK Sharma participated in the meeting and sought the inclusion of Kanpur, describing it as a major industrial and historic city. In a May PRAGATI review, the PM called for the selected cities to achieve complete cleanliness, including processing of solid and liquid waste, with Centre-state collaboration. Sharma welcomed the selection of the six UP cities but pressed for Kanpur to be added to the list. He argued that its industrial significance and historical importance made it a suitable candidate for development under the initiative.
The initiative comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi directed the Union urban affairs ministry and states to identify 50 cities and demonstrate comprehensive cleanliness and waste-management outcomes.
Khattar said UP has the highest number of cities —six — among the states selected for the initiative. The focus, he said, would be on expediting sanitation and waste-management projects through coordinated efforts by the Centre and state governments. He said the programme could particularly benefit the state’s major religious and tourist destinations. Developing Ayodhya, Varanasi, Mathura-Vrindavan and Prayagraj, alongside Agra and Lucknow, with modern civic infrastructure could improve facilities for pilgrims and tourists and strengthen their international profile, he said.
The announcement was made during a virtual meeting of state urban development ministers chaired by Union housing and urban affairs minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Tuesday.
