Naidu to visit one state to assess progress of schemes

Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu, along with a team of senior officials, has decided to visit one state each week to get first hand information about the progress of implementation of various schemes by his ministries.

Naidu, who holds Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and Information and Broadcasting portfolios, today visited Goa as part of his plan, an official said.

Six major schemes--Smart City Mission, HRIDAY, Swachh Bharat Mission, AMRUT, PMAY, and DAY-NULM--have been launched by the Urban Development and the Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation ministries.

The two ministries have sanctioned projects worth crores of rupees in the last two years and now the focus is more on their implementation.
 

"To assess implementation of the schemes and get first hand information from the ground level as well as to remove the bottlenecks, the Minister has decided to visit every state in the coming days with touring at least a state in a week," he added.

The Minister's first visit was to Goa today with mission directors along with other senior officials accompanying him, the official said, adding Naidu is expected to visit Gujarat tomorrow.

The move is being seen with Modi government's preparation of report cards to be presented to people of the states which are scheduled to go for Assembly polls in 2017. Goa, Punjab, Manipur, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh are going to next year.

Under the Smart City Mission, the government has approved investment of Rs 1,30,000 crore for 60 cities with central assistance of Rs 30,000 crore, while Rs 350 crore has been santioned for National Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) scheme for 12 cities.

Under the Modi-government's flagship Swachh Bharat Mission, a sum of Rs 3,500 crore has been released since the launch of the programme on October 2, 2104.

For Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana--Housing for All (PMAY), the Centre has approved investment of Rs 59,000 crore for construction of 10.10 lakh houses with central assistance to the tune of Rs 14,000 crore.

Similarly, a nod for an investment of Rs 45,700 crore has been approved for Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) with central assistance to the tune of Rs 20,500 crore.