BHUBANESWAR: Even as the State Government has submitted detailed project reports (DPRs) for roads under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) to the Centre, the latter is yet to respond to the request of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for release of more funds under the scheme.
Naveen had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in November seeking funds under PMGSY for 2014-15. “I would request you to consider allocation of `1,800 crore for 2014-15 and release of balance funds at the earliest for smooth implementation of PMGSY programme in Odisha,” he had written.
Stating that the Centre had indicated `1,178 crore allocation under the PMGSY for the State of which `1,051.5 crore only has been released so far, the Chief Minister said `1,615 crore was spent in the State under the same programme during 2013-14.
The Ministry of Rural Development has sanctioned ` 17,814.24 crore since inception of the programme, Naveen pointed out in the letter, adding that out of the sanctioned amount, `11,942.83 crore has been released and fully spent.
“This leaves a balance sanction of `5,871.41 crore. Therefore, the allocation of `1,178 crore made during the current fiscal will not be sufficient and needs to be enhanced to at least `1,800 crore. We have already spent ` 800 crore out of the released amount,” Naveen said.
As a follow-up measure, the State Government has again requested the Centre to sanction funds for upgradation of roads in Phailin and Hudhud-hit districts of the State under PMGSY.
The State Government has already prepared the DPRs for 2,978 km roads amounting to `1597.25 crore, including five-year maintenance cost for 15 Phailin and flood- affected districts of Odisha, P K Mohapatra, Principal Secretary in the Rural Development department, said in a letter to Rajesh Bhusan, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Rural Development.
Mohapatra said these up-gradation proposals are part of the State’s eligible 7,200 km of roads yet to be sanctioned by the Centre. “It is therefore requested to examine the proposal and fix a suitable date for meeting of the empowered committee for their approval,” he said.