Just ahead of the launch of smart city project and housing for all by 2020, the Narendra Modi government eased out the top bureaucrats of the urban development and housing ministries respectively, on Saturday. 

Shankar Agarwal, secretary in the Urban Development Ministry and Anita Agnihotri, secretary, Housing and Poverty Alleviation (HUPA) Ministry have been transferred. 

The two ministries were not able to keep pace with the government's urgency to implement the two flagship projects of the government, resulting in "dissatisfaction" at the PMO level. 

A Hindustan Times report said that in the last eight months, the urban development ministry has been unable to either finalise the policy nor criteria for identifying smart cities.

Agarwal will be replaced by Madhusudhan Prasad, currently special secretary in the Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry.