NEW DELHI: In a bid to ensure speedy implementation of projects and schemes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday announced that the presentation of Union Budget was being advanced by about a month.
Chairing his sixteenth interaction through PRAGATI, the platform for monitoring government projects, Modi urged states to align their plans with the new date so that they could take maximum advantage.
Modi reviewed the progress towards handling and resolution of grievances related to the Ministry of Labour and Employment. Expressing concern at the large number of grievances of labourers and Employees’ Provident Fund beneficiaries, he said the government must be sensitive to labourers’ needs.
While reviewing the progress of e-National Agricultural Market (e-NAM) initiative, officials mentioned that e-NAM which began in April 2016 with 21 mandis in eight states, has now expanded to 250 mandis in over 10 states. Modi urged the remaining states to quickly make the required changes in the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) Act, so that e-NAM could be enabled across the country.
According to a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office, the PM also reviewed the progress of infrastructure projects in the railway, road, power and natural gas sectors, spread over several states including Telangana, Odisha, Maharashtra, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Bihar. He reiterated the importance of completing projects in time, so that cost overruns could be avoided.
The PM urged all secretaries and chief secretaries to work towards ensuring that at least one website out of the departments and organizations under them, is available in all officially recognized Indian languages, the PMO statement added.