Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, July 11: Chairman, Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP), Harshdev Singh today said that flagship programmes of Government of India (GoI) including PMGSY scheme have been crumbling due to official apathy.
He strongly flayed the PWD for total collapse of PMGSY scheme in the State which, he alleged, has failed to show any tangible results on the ground despite its launch in the State around 15 years back. He regretted that majority of the roads and bridges projects approved under the scheme have been abandoned half way by the contractors.
Singh said that J&K State had rightly been declared as tail-ender in the country in the implementation of PMGSY scheme as not even 20% of the sanctioned schemes of roads and bridges had actually been constructed on ground. He said that with regard to black topping of roads under PMGSY, the position was much worse as hardly 5 to 7 % of the sanctioned roads had actually been blacktopped.
The JKNPP leader accused the PMGSY authorities of unreasonable and in-explicable delay in tendering and allotment of contracts due to vested interests. He regretted that construction work in respect of several roads projects sanctioned in 2010 had not even been commenced by the contractors and PMGSY authorities had failed to take action against erring contractors. He said that there exists an unholy nexus between the R&B Department and the erring contractors and the two were looting the public exchequer in connivance.
Strongly condemning the State Government for total failure of PMGSY scheme in the State, Singh called upon the concerned authorities to wake up from their slumber and to remove the deadwood and the corrupt failing which the people would be forced to resort to direct action.