Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the meeting of the 43rd edition of PRAGATI on October 25, to review the progress of eight key projects spread across seven States with a cumulative cost of around Rs 31,000 crore, according to a press release from the Prime Minister’s Office.
PRAGATI is an ICT-based multi-modal platform for pro-active governance and timely implementation, involving the Union and State Governments.
“In the meeting, a total of eight projects were reviewed. Among these, four projects were concerned with water supply and irrigation, two projects for expanding National highways and connectivity, and two projects for rail and metro rail connectivity. These projects have a cumulative cost of around Rs. 31,000 crore and relate to 7 states viz., Bihar, Jharkhand, Haryana, Odisha, West Bengal, Gujarat and Maharashtra,” as per the release.
The Prime Minister emphasised that PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan Portal in conjunction with technologies such as satellite imagery can help address various issues of implementation and planning relating to location and land requirements for projects.
He also instructed that all the stakeholders executing projects in high-population-density urban areas may appoint nodal officers and form teams for better coordination.
“For irrigation projects, the Prime Minister advised that visits of stakeholders be organised where successful rehabilitation and reconstruction work has been done. The transformational impact of such projects may also be shown. This may motivate the stakeholders for the early execution of projects,” the release stated.
During the interaction, the Prime Minister also reviewed ‘Mobile Towers and 4G Coverage under USOF Projects’. Under the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF), 33,573 villages with 24,149 mobile towers are to be covered for saturation of mobile connectivity. Prime Minister asked to ensure the setting up of mobile towers in all uncovered villages within this financial year with regular meetings with all stakeholders. This will ensure saturation of mobile coverage in the remotest of the areas.
Up to the 43rd edition of PRAGATI meetings, 348 projects with a total cost of Rs. 17.36 lakh crore have been reviewed, the release said.
(with inputs from ANI)
