BACKGROUND & VISION

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Urban ecosystems with their complexities are spaces for discovery, learning and design of new solutions that require a steady stream of fresh minds to infuse creative and dynamic thinking. Globally, local governments engage with academic institutions by providing students and fresh graduates internship opportunities to assist in research and fieldwork, thus creating the lab-to-land transfer of innovative solutions. This is mutually beneficial to students in gaining exposure to the functioning of cities and also to local governments as new solutions evolve for the city and a pool of talent gets created for absorption in the market. Activating this triple helix of stakeholders can go a long way in unleashing India’s demographic dividend and creating a talent pool that can pave the way for our cities becoming self-reliant.

TULIP has been envisioned to deliver the above by equipping the youth with problem-solving and critical thinking skills through hands-on, experiential learning in India’s fast-growing urban ecosystem. Experiential learning opportunities in the urban sector will help transform them into future leaders. The flexible nature of the program provides for inclusivity and access, is ecosystem driven and built on the principles of federated architecture and transparency.

TULIP TENETS

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PROGRAM STRUCTURE

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The TULIP program is being implemented through a partnership between MoHUA and AICTE. At the State level, TULIP will be supported by the Urban Development departments in providing a clear roadmap for the ULBs/smart cities to adopt TULIP in their respective organizations.

At the ULB/smart city level, flexibility has been provided in defining the roles, numbers, stipend, allowances and other parameters in ways that best benefit their contextual needs.

OUTCOMES

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TULIP has been designed keeping in mind the individual needs of the participants. The program intends to deliver for:

MoHUA : Strengthen institutional capacity of urban ecosystem and youth engagement towards urban initiatives, creating an ecosystem wherein youth can contribute towards building a liveable city.

ULBs & smart cities : Skilled, high-quality workforce and innovative citizen-centric solutions that help them address critical challenges.

Participating Graduates : Enhanced employability through “learning by doing” and opportunity to co-create innovation for cities. TULIP interns would get exposure in a large number of areas including but not limited to urban planning, urban design, different branches of engineering, information and technology, mobility, finance, social sector issues and environmental issues.

TEAM

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TULIP Program- Acknowledgement

The famous African proverb, “It takes a village to raise a child”, can be recalled at this juncture, because truly speaking, TULIP, has been nurtured and developed by diverse team coming together in a partnership, to mould the program with the right set of principles and objectives. The program from its conception to its design has been based on freedom, incentive and transparency. The team at MoHUA and AICTE have worked hand-in-hand to create a user-centric and outcome-oriented platform.

Building a national program that paves the way for new and unique set of opportunities to many a stakeholder, spanning the geography and diverseness of India, necessitates a vision that has a clear sense of purpose, an articulate understanding of organisational values and an unwavering spirit to accomplish. Secretary, Housing and Urban Affairs, Shri Durga Shanker Mishra, Chairman, AICTE, Prof Anil Sahasrabudhe, Joint Secretary & Mission Director, Smart Cities Mission, Shri Kunal Kumar, and Vice Chairman, AICTE , Dr M P Poonia, have been continuously guiding the development of the program so that it delivers the requisite outcomes for its stakeholders.

To execute the demands of designing such a program, it takes a dedicated team of individuals with the capacity to work across functions and disciplines, a rigour to detail and perseverance until perfection. Following are the members of the two team from MoHUA and AICTE who had worked on the program from conception, design, creation and commissioning of the TULIP platform.

MoHUA core team:

• Shri Jitendar Kumar Mehan, Deputy Secretary, Smart Cities Mission
• Mr Mohit Misra, Chief Operating Officer, Aligarh Smart City Limited
• Mr Rupesh Chopra, Mission Management Unit, Smart Cities Mission
• Mr Anshul Abbasi, Fellow, India Smart Cities Fellowship 2019, India Smart Cities Mission
• Mr Josh Singh, Young Professional, Data Analytics & Management Unit
• Mr Kuhan Madhan, Young Professional, Data Analytics & Management Unit
• Mr Sukhbeer Singh, Young Professional, Data Analytics & Management Unit

AICTE core team:

• Mr Buddha Chandrasekhar, Chief Coordinating Officer (NEAT)
• Mr Akash Pandey, Intern, Graphic Era University
• Mr Shivanshu Gupta, Intern, Graphic Era University

MoHUA support team:

• Shri Rahul Kapoor, Director, Smart Cities Mission
• Shri Lal Chhandama, Director, Smart Cities Mission
• Mr Hitesh Vaidya, Director, National Institute of Urban Affairs
• Mr Nidish Nair, Technical Assistance for Smart Cities, Smart Cities Mission
• Mr Murali Mohan Thimmapuram, Mission Management Unit, Smart Cities Mission
• Mr Nanda Kishore, Urban Research Consultant, National Institute of Urban Affairs
• Mr Pranay Bhardwaj, Technology Lead, National Institute of Urban Affairs
• Mr Abhijeet Mishra, Sr. Web Developer, National Institute of Urban Affairs
• Mr Priyank Khare, Research Associate, National Institute of Urban Affairs
• Mr Manish Sharma, Project Management Unit, Smart Cities Mission
• Mr Deepak Kumar, Project Managemen Unit, Smart Cities Mission

AICTE support team:

• Dr NH Siddalinga Swamy, Director, e-Governance
• Ms Neetu Bhagat, Deputy Director, Policy & Academic Planning Bureau
• Mr Baljeet Singh, Startup Fellow
• Mr Rajesh Kumar Jha, Senior UI Developer

The program was co-created along with Commissioners and CEOs of ULBs and Smart Cities, who had taken time out at the height of the covid-19 crisis towards this endeavour. The following officers deserve special mention for their efforts:

• Mr Arun Prakash, CEO, Agra Smart City
• Mr Satya Prakash Patel, CEO, Aligarh Smart City
• Mr Raj Cherubal, CEO, Chennai Smart City
• Ms Garima Mittal, CEO, Faridabad Smart City
• Ms Bhanu Prabha, ex-CEO, Itanagar Smart City
• Mr Shravan Hardikar, Commissioner, Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation
• Mr Qummer Choudhary, CEO, Udaipur Smart City
• Mr Gaurang Rathi, CEO, Varanasi Smart City
• Mr D Vasudevan, Head of Information SysteMr, Varanasi Smart City

India Smart Cities Fellowship team

• Ms Aarsi Desai, Fellow, India Smart Cities Fellowship Program, 2020
• Ms Abhisikha Das, Fellow, India Smart Cities Fellowship Program, 2020
• Mr Rohitaash Debsharma, Fellow, India Smart Cities Fellowship Program, 2020
• Ms Srinidhi Ravishankar, Fellow, India Smart Cities Fellowship Program, 2020
• Ms Subarna Sadhu, Fellow, India Smart Cities Fellowship Program, 2020
• Mr Syed Mohammad Hamza Abdullah, Fellow, India Smart Cities Fellowship Program, 2020
• Mr Zia ul Haque, Fellow, India Smart Cities Fellowship Program, 2020

Finally, hearty thanks and appreciation to the Cohort of 2020, India Smart Cities Fellowship, for conducting rigorous and thorough testing, providing feedback for improvement, and creating the user guide videos for the platform.