Mangaluru : MCC have selected three vision statements for Smart City project from the citizens for prizes. The civic body had invited vision statements from the public in a maximum of 50 words.

Dileep and Animesh, representatives of IIDC, the consulting agency for Smart City, said the vision statements sent by Padi Childline president Renny D’Souza, Avin Don Roche and Sunitha D’Souza had been selected. The experts selected the statements that give a complete picture of a Smart City.

The selected statements will get Rs 25,000 each, said district incharge Minister B Ramanath Rai. The MCC is making all efforts to stake claim to be one of the 20 cities in the Smart City scheme of the Union government. The MCC and the district administration had organised a series of meetings with stakeholders to discuss the Smart City concept.

Initially, MCC had said that the best vision statement will get Rs one lakh. If no vision statement gets selected, the best three statements will win a cash price of Rs 25,000 each, it had announced. Later, based on the vision statement, a logo with a tagline will be created to represent the true spirit of Mangaluru.

Accordingly, the MCC had received 719 statements. The expert committee selected 15. Out of these, the best three were selected. The three vision statements were compiled by the expert committee to make one single vision statement, said MCC Commissioner Gopalakrishna.

The vision statement prepared by IIDC is as follows: “Mangaluru – a gateway to the golden beaches and flora and fauna of the Western Ghats.”

“A clean and green port city, nurtured by a vibrant community of educated and industrious citizens with a pluralistic cultural heritage driven by innovation, knowledge and health care services, using eco-friendly technology to develop efficient infrastructure and accountable governance systems providing equal opportunity with affordable, safe and quality urban life.”

Mayor Jacintha Vijaya Alfred, Deputy Mayor Purushotham Chitrapura, Deputy Commissioner A B Ibrahim and others were present.