Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Feb 28: Minister for Public Works Naeem Akhtar and Minister for Rural Development Panchayati Raj, Law and Justice, Abdul Haq Khan attended a meeting convened here today by the Union Minister for Rural Development, Panchayati Raj and Mines, Narendra Singh Tomar to discuss implementation of Prime Minister’s Awas Yojana (PMAY) and Prime Minister’s Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY).
The meeting was attended by various State Rural Development Ministers and officers.
The Union Minister said under the guidance of Prime Minister, Ministry of Rural Development is determined to improve standards of living of the people in rural areas through various schemes.
He said the Ministry has brought important changes in implementation of its programmes and has also ensured that the States are provided adequate resources to augment infrastructure.
Union Minister said the Budget of Rural Development Department which was Rs 58,630 crore in 2013-14 has been increased to Rs 1,09,042 crore in 2017-18 which depicts Government’s commitment to uplift the rural areas at par with the urban areas.
The Minister said under PMGSY the Government is providing rural connectivity connecting habitations besides Mandis, Towns, Hospitals and other amenities.
Minister for Public Works Naeem Akhtar informed the meeting that a network of roads is being laid in rural areas to increase the connectivity and assured that the centrally sponsored schemes will be implemented in letter and spirit.
He said the roads in villages will set the villages on the track of development as more jobs will be created and business will flourish after the connectivity is increased.
Union Minister was informed that before the inception of PMGSY in J&K the rural connectivity in the State was 58 percent which has been now increased to 86.13 percent.
Abdul Haq briefed the meeting about the achievement in the implementation of PMAY and assured full support from the State Government with regard to the implementation of these schemes.
Minister said the State Government is in process of holding Gram Sabha to prepare a fresh list of the house-less and economically backward population who were left out in the earlier surveys.
He said the J&K Government has also directed the officials of Rural Development Department to finalize the list within 15 days after holding Gram Sabha and make the list public in the respective Panchayats by pasting the same list at public places including outside the offices of BDOs and Panchayat houses so that everybody is aware about the list and discrepancy or complaint, if any, can be communicated to the people thereby by ensuring transparency.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
