India News | JK Rural Road Projects Proposed by Sarpanches Should Be Given Top Priority: Jitendra Singh
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Tuesday said that rural road projects in Jammu and Kashmir proposed by local body representatives like sarpanches should be given top priority.
New Delhi, Jul 21 (PTI) Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Tuesday said that rural road projects in Jammu and Kashmir proposed by local body representatives like sarpanches should be given top priority.
He said the Modi government has taken a historic initiative of conducting local body elections in the state and “we would be failing in our duty if the opinions and views of the elected office-bearers of these bodies are not given priority”.
Singh issued clear instructions to authorities that the lists of roads in rural areas under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), and the roads constructed through Central Roads Fund should essentially include the priority and preference by local body representatives including sarpanches, Block Development Council (BDC) chairmen and councillors.
He also added that as far as possible, road projects proposed by sarpanches and BDC chairmen should be given top priority without any reservations, according to an official statement.
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The directive came during a District Development Co-ordination and Monitoring Committee (DISHA) meeting the minister had with the officials of Kathua and Kishtwar districts of the Union Territory.
The meeting was also attended by BDC chairmen and councillors.
Singh, the Minister of State for Personnel and Lok Sabha member from Udhampur constituency of J-K, issued instructions to them for holding a meeting with the officials of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and Border Roads Organization (BRO) for expediting various road and bridge projects.
The minister was informed that the land acquisition process for the construction of the prestigious Katra-Delhi express road corridor, involving the widening of the national highway from four to six lanes between Pathankot and Jammu, had been initiated.
He asked for resuming the work on the highway village, which had been stalled due to the survey for widening of the national highway from four to six lanes.
In the Kishtwar DISHA meeting, national power projects of Pakkal Dul (1,000 Megawatt) and Kiru came up for a review.
The minister was informed that after his intervention, the work at Kiru project was started last week despite constraints of lockdown and COVID-19 pandemic.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)