Punjab local bodies department is gearing up for the second phase of the Smart City plan after failing to get any city into the first list of 20 cities under the Smart City Mission of the Union Urban Ministry.

VP Singh, General Manager, Punjab Municipal Infrastructure Development Company (PMIDC), said a meeting has been called to discuss ways to upgrade the Smart City proposals.

The government has asked municipal commissioners of Amritsar and Jalandhar to attend the meeting along with the consultants for these cities.

For the second round, the   focus will be on public participation which is one of the several reasons why the city lagged behind Ludhiana in the first phase. Ludhiana had succeeded in engaging around 100, 000 residents while Jalandhar could garner only 26,000 votes.

Jalandhar was in the 27th position with 53.08 marks while Amritsar 25th with 54.55 marks in the evaluation in the first round.