General complaint about various infrastructure projects taken in hand, either on state or district level, is that these are not completed on time. Various reasons are given for the delay. It could be a technical complicacy, non-release of funds at proper time, defaulting contractors etc. When a project is delayed inordinately, its execution cost goes up and then the entire project runs into major complicacy. There have been efforts on the part of the administration to find a way out of this impasse. By and large, a project completed within stipulated time encourages the authorities and the executors to take up another project in hand and utilize the experience gained in it.
Planning and Development Department has come out with a proposal of finding a solution to this problem by setting up random monitoring and verifying system within the administration. The monitoring will cover projects/schemes involving more than Rs 1 crore of the State Sector and Rs 20 lakh of the District Sector. Planning and Development Department will be the Nodal Department through Director PA&PM and all the instructions, clarifications and modifications will flow from the Department. This is in modification of the practice observed so far. Planning and Development Department will assign 2 to 4 projects on monthly basis to the concerned for physical verification on random basis from the list of works under Projectized/CCS/Negotiated Loan Scheme etc. The Nodal Officer will convene monthly/quarterly meetings for input about field verification reports and make a presentation in respect of projects monitored in the quarterly meeting.
We think this is an experiment and the Government might be intending to monitor the extent to which this experiment succeeds. Random verification is bound to energize execution of the project and also help in bringing to the notice of the authorities the financial position of the project. What really happens is that funds are not released in time and the work on project is stopped and labour gets dispersed and engaged somewhere else. Periodic and random verification should be helpful in deciding the release of funds on spot and without delay. Equally important is the quality of work done. We have many examples of defective planning and execution that come to light after the project is completed or when it is half way. In some cases projects are abandoned halfway as unfeasible. It is waste of funds and labour to put a halt on a project half way for technical and other reasons. One important reason for delay in completion of projects is the matter related to acquisition of land and payment of compensation. It has been found that inordinate delay is made in the payment of compensation amounts to the owners of land and this gives rise to long time litigations. The monitoring agency will take care of this issue also and the master computer in the Planning and Development Department will maintain a full record of the feasibility of projects, work competed and under completion, and all other related matters. The concerned officers at the Planning and Development Department will submit reports on at least 2 to 4 projects in a month.
The saying is that the taste of pudding is in eating. Whatever mechanism is employed, the purpose is that a project should be completed within the stipulated time; it should be of the standard as is set forth in the blue print and it should be profitable to the society. We welcome the new monitoring and verification scheme announced by the Planning Department. But we will focus attention on delivery. People will be happy to know that the project has been brought to completion in time. Obviously, the periodic reports from the competent authority will also bring out the obstacles in the path of completing the project in time. The Planning Department will need a mechanism to remove those obstacles within shortest possible time. Mere verification does not solve the question, though, of course, positive verification will help in deciding what should be the next step. Let the Planning and Development Department makes this experiment and even let there be full support for the new mechanism. We learn by error. If any fault seeps in, the Government will be able to set it right.
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