IIT Roorkee Signs MoU With NIUA To Make Indian Cities More Accessible, Safe

Roorkee: Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) for collaboration in areas of universal design principles and inclusive development in the backdrop of ‘Building Accessible Safe Inclusive Indian Cities’ (BASIC) program.

Director of the IIT, Professor Ajit K Chaturvedi signed the MoU with Hitesh Vaidya, Director, NIUA. The MoU is supposed to facilitate cooperation in policy research, knowledge creation, technical support of both the institutions. It will also help make Indian cities more easy, safe and inclusive for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs), the elderly, women and children etc.

“We are elated to partner with an apex Institution like the National Institute of Urban Affairs to augment government efforts in building safe and inclusive smart cities. The collaboration will enrich domain expertise on universal design and inclusion as a core theme and facilitate knowledge sharing towards developing excellence in research and implementation programs of urban futures in India. The partnership with NIUA will strengthen the emerging possibilities towards urban inclusion through exchange of research, capacity development, and other partnerships with Indian cities that will emerge on the way,” Professor Ajit K Chaturvedi, Director, IIT Roorkee was quoted by Hindustan Times as saying.

“It is a momentous occasion for both NIUA and IIT Roorkee and I am especially excited for the motivations behind this partnership. IIT Roorkee is an academic institution par excellence. It’s Department of Architecture and Planning is globally acclaimed for its cutting-edge research and expertise. We are glad to have found a partner in change with them in an endeavor that will facilitate the building of accessible, inclusive, and safe Smart cities as envisaged under the BASIC program. NIUA also envisions itself to strongly position itself in the domain of inclusive development and align itself with the Prime Minister’s vision of a new India. I am looking forward to the partnership and the smart-technical solutions that will come along with it, which will help set a renewed discourse to making Indian cities more accessible and inclusive” said Hitesh Vaidya, Director, NIUA.

The institutions will share information and data and will undertake research projects jointly.