BHUBANESWAR: The state government on Tuesday decided to form an inter-ministerial committee to monitor an integrated system called Mission PoWaR (Power, Water & Roads) aimed at fulfilling basic needs of the people such as electricity, drinking water and road connectivity in every village.
The decision was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by deputy chief minister Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo at Lok Seva Bhawan following a directive from Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi to address these shortcomings by 2027. The meeting was also attended by Rural Development minister Rabi Narayan Naik.
As per the discussion, an inter-ministerial committee along with line department officials will be formed to review the progress of works on a regular basis. A roadmap and timeline for each of the panchayat will be prepared and the ministerial panel will collect status reports from district collectors on a regular basis.
“Providing power, drinking water through taps and last-mile connectivity to every village is the objective of Mission PoWaR which will work on three defined principles - speed, scale and standard (quality),” Singh Deo said and added that an integrated approach will ensure the implementation and completion of projects in a time-bound manner.
Naik stressed universal coverage of drinking water by March 2027. Earlier, the state government had set 2026 as the revised timeline to provide tap water to all houses.
In order to ensure last-mile connectivity, a saturation drive will be conducted by all line departments with the help of district collectors to provide all-weather roads to left out villages, habitations and hamlets, he said.
As per official data, nearly 8,300 of the state’s 59,971 revenue villages do not have all-weather roads despite the fact that the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojaya (PMGSY) was launched in 2000. Even as government records show 100 per cent electrification of villages, large number of households, mostly in rural areas, are still going without power.
Chief secretary Manoj Ahuja, development commissioner Anu Garg, principal secretary Energy Vishal Dev, Panchayati Raj secretary Girish SN and other senior officers were also present.