**Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh):** Terming urban centres as “new hubs of development,” Chief Minister Mohan Yadav on Tuesday announced that after Bhopal and Indore, the state would get two more metropolitan cities in Jabalpur and Gwalior. He also announced the inclusion of Indore and Ujjain in the Smart City-II project.
The Chief Minister was speaking at a programme organized by Free Press to felicitate mayors of various municipal corporations in the state and corporators of Bhopal Municipal Corporation. The event was part of the celebrations marking 42 years of publication of Free Press in Madhya Pradesh.
Commending Free Press for recognizing the work done by mayors of various municipal corporations, Yadav highlighted the crucial role played by local bodies in the Swachh Bharat Mission launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “If today, one or the other city of Madhya Pradesh figures among the top five in all categories of Swachhta Awards, the credit goes to the work done at the grassroots level by our municipal bodies,” he said.
Lauding Nagar Parishads, the Chief Minister cited Khajuraho as an example, where the Nagar Parishad manages a UNESCO heritage site, an airport, and a railway station. He added, “I was planning a meeting with mayors and chairpersons of municipal committees and Nagar Parishads in Bhopal for a comprehensive discussion on urban development. But the Free Press took the lead.”
Hailing local bodies for making the cities of the state more liveable, cleaner, smarter, and modern, Yadav noted that metro train services in Indore and Bhopal were gifts from Prime Minister Modi to the state. “Eight airports have come up in small cities, and more are in the pipeline,” he added.
Earlier, President of Free Press Group of Newspapers, Abhishek Karnani, welcomed the Chief Minister and special guests Urban Development Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya and Madhya Pradesh BJP president Hemant Khandelwal. He later shared the 42-year glorious journey of the newspaper in the state.
https://www.freepressjournal.in/bhopal/jabalpur-gwalior-to-get-metropolitan-tag-soon-says-cm-mohan-yadav-at-free-press-event