By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 6 Mar: State Rural Development Minister Ganesh Joshi held a press conference at the Vidhan Sabha Bhawan, here, on Monday.
Minister Joshi said that, under the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojana, 104 roads (1090 km length), to be constructed at a cost of Rs 856.84 crore, have been approved by the Central Government. Joshi thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Rural Development Minister Giriraj Singh and Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami for this. He recalled that, in June 2022, a request had been made to the Union Rural Development Minister in this regard.
The Minister said that, against the allocation of 2288 km fixed by the Government of India under PMGSY-III, for the first stage, at the meeting of the Empowered Committee convened on 3 March, 104 routes, length – 1091 km, costing Rs 857 crore had been approved.
These included 4 roads in Almora, 4 in Bageshwar, 18 in Chamoli, 5 in Dehradun, 11 in Haridwar, 5 in Nainital, 35 in Pauri, 4 in Rudraprayag, 15 in Tehri and 3 in Uttarkashi. He said that, according to the standards of the Government of India, the process of assessing the remaining eligible DPRs has also been completed, which would be forwarded by the end of March, 2023, after getting them tested by the State Technical Agency.
The Minister added that, according to the government’s Resolution 2025, the work on strengthening the roads will be completed by March 2025 after obtaining all approvals under PMGSY-III. He said that under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, 1836 habitations have been provided road connectivity against the total sanctioned 1866 habitations with a population of more than 250.
He added that the government has resolved that, out of the remaining 30 habitations, 16 would be connected by road by March, 2023, and 14 habitations in the next financial year, 2023-24.
Minister Joshi revealed that, under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, arrangements for five-year maintenance are included after asphalting of roads. After the completion of the five-year maintenance period of the routes, the state government has decided to transfer these to the Public Works Department for proper maintenance. Till now, out of a total 521 roads, 478 roads of length 3200 kms and 32 bridges out of a total 61 bridges have been transferred to the Public Works Department.
He said that under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Rural), second phase, the Union Ministry of Rural Development, has achieved the target of constructing 18,602 houses for the current financial year, against which a total of 18,000 houses had been allotted (748 in Almora, 1360 in Bageshwar, 1804 in Chamoli, 861 in Champawat, 1547 in Dehradun, 1603 in Haridwar, 803 in Nainital, 2093 in Pauri, 1606 in Pithoragarh, 1315 in Rudraprayag, 1121 in Tehri, 1864 in Udham Singh Nagar). Allotment of 602 houses is in process due to technical reasons (land, etc.). Soon the homeless families would get the benefit.
Under this scheme, a total of Rs 1.30 lakh is given for the construction of houses, in which the share of the Government of India and the State Government is 90:10, respectively. In the current financial year, 2022-23, the construction work on 13,274 houses was completed and a total of Rs 151.26 crores was transferred to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries. Land leases have been allotted to a total of 927 landless families by the state government. The minister said that the target for the years 2020-21 and 2021-22 is Rs 16,472 per family for the beneficiaries of the houses. Under the Chief Minister’s announcement, additional funds have been provided by the state government for the purchase of kitchen materials, utensils, etc., at the rate of Rs 5000. The minister said that 508 beneficiaries were given training as masons under the scheme to enhance their skills and their livelihood.
He claimed that, at present, the state’s all India ranking under the scheme is at 3. Jharkhand is in the first position and Gujarat, second. The minister said that since the inception of the scheme (from 2016-17), the target of construction of a total 47,654 houses has been achieved. An amount of Rs 466.98 crores has been transferred to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries. A total of 27,923 houses have been completed.
