A 45 day- Freedom2 Walk, Cycle, Run challenge initiated by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India, was thrown at officials from the Chandigarh UT Administration, Municipal Corporation and senior IAS officers. They took up the challenge in the right earnest– 10 officers have voluntarily nominated themselves to be a part of the challenge.
A leader board is being generated by the MoHUA in Delhi of this inter-city competitiotin in which officials from other smart cities are participating. These representatives of the government have been termed ‘city leaders’ in which each official will cycle, walk or run which gets captured on the Strava app, an app generally used by athletes.
The aim of the campaign is to ‘lead by example’ so that the citizens follow the footsteps of these ‘leaders of change’ in following a healthy lifestyle. “The Freedom2 Walk, Cycle, Run campaign started today and our leaders explored the city through a cyclists’ and pedestrians’ viewpoint. It will help in developing strategic and contextual solutions to issues which they will observe during the activity routes in the city,” said Anindita Mitra, IAS, Chief Executive Officer, Chandigarh Smart City Limited.
The aim of the campaign is also to identify the bottlenecks and find solutions in the city infrastructure and facilities by the top administrative machinery to promote use of healthy and natural means of staying healthy.
The infrastructural changes in roads, public sharing cycles, wide roads, traffic rules to ease cycling, separate lanes for cyclists, open air gyms in public parks, marathons, runs, public awareness campaigns, etc are some of the many initiatives the Chandigarh Administration keeps working on to provide a vibrant environment for health-consciousness.
Mitra appealed to the citizens of Chandigarh to be a part of the campaign by walking, cycling, running to achieve their fitness target and log the activity on Strava App.
A Smart Cities Mission initiative
Smart Cities Mission, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has put into orbit two unique national level challenges:
Freedom2 Walk & Cycle Challenge for City Leaders
Inter-City Freedom2 Walk & Cycle Challenge for Citizens
This campaign was held for the first time in 2022 under the umbrella of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav (AKAM).
Efficaciously circulating the message for citizens to adopt healthier life choices, Rupesh Aggarwal, IAS, Additional Commissioner represented Chandigarh in Super Hero Award Category in 2022 and was honoured for taking up the initiative of cycling to the work place.
City Leaders of the Freedom2 Walk, Cycle, Run Campaign from Chandigarh
Anindita Mitra IAS, CEO, Chandigarh Smart City Limited
Yashpal Garg IAS, UT Health Secretary
Hargunjit Kaur IAS, UT Special Secretary, Finance
Rupesh Kumar IAS, Director, Information Technology
Anisha Srivastava IAS
Paviter Singh PCS, Joint Commissioner, Chandigarh MC
Gurinder Singh PCS, Joint Commissioner, Chandigarh MC
NP Sharma, Chief General Manager, Chandigarh Smart City Limited,
Kapil Setia, Chief Architect, UT Chandigarh
Krishan Pal Singh, Superintendent Engineer, Horticulture, MC Chandigarh
