Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday reviewed the progress of the Rural Development Department as a part of his department-wise performance reviews. After the review, Rural Development Minister Preeti Ranjan Ghadai and Principal Secretary Sanjay Kumar Singh presented the details of achievement against the promises given in the election manifesto and also highlighted the transformational initiatives taken by the department.
Addressing in a press meet held at Geeta Govinda Sadan, Ghadai said that the department’s budget has been increased 25 times compared to the fiscal year 2000-2001. While in 2000-01 the budget was Rs 305 crores, it has been increased to Rs.7,500 crore for the year 2023-24. Till date, the department has constructed 2,241 bridges under different schemes and another 1,304 bridges are at various stages of construction.
In the road sector, 1,03,731 km are maintained by the department which provides all-weather connectivity to 18,161 habitations. More than 10,000 km of roads have been constructed using Green Technologies. A total of 8,700 rural infrastructure buildings like OAVs, ITIs, college and school buildings, multipurpose cyclone shelters and Health Department buildings have been constructed augmenting the building infrastructures in rural areas, he said.
As against the election manifesto of the BJD (2019-2024), commitments were made for 750 numbers of bridges under the BSY but the department has constructed 679 bridges till date. A total of 900 bridges will be constructed by March-2024. Similarly, 6,247 km length of roads has been constructed under MMSY and other State Plan Schemes against the commitment of 3000 km. The department also targets to construct another 6,000 km under MMSY by March 2024, totalling to 12,247km. Similarly, 27,079 km length of roads has been constructed under the PMGSY. The department targets to construct another 7,643 km under PMGSY by March 2024 totalling to 34,722 km.
The department has augmented the rural infrastructure by constructing 164 numbers of buildings and also targets to construct another 186 numbers by March 2024. The state has been provided with financial incentive for excellent performance in the PMGSY works amounting to Rs 1,158 crore in the last 5 years. The department has been awarded at national-level for construction of maximum road length, construction of roads using Green Technology and giving connectivity to unconnected habitations.
Highlighting the transformational initiatives taken by the department, the minister said that till 2000 the department had constructed only 58 bridges. At present, the department has already constructed 2,241 bridges and another 1,304 bridges are at various stages of construction. Out of above, 52 bridges constructed over different major rivers Mahanadi, Rushikulya, Brahmani, Baitarani, Tel, Indravati and Jeera with avg. length of 500 meters. The R.D. department is the first department to implement WAMIS for work automation and accounts management which has been adopted by other engineering departments of the state.
In recent years, the standard of Rural Development roads is of ODR type with intermediate lane to accommodate higher traffic volume in rural areas. The department will ensure to make 50,000 kms of rural roads pothole-free and improve riding quality by March 2024.
The Rural Development has a vision to construct 1500 new bridges under Biju Setu Yojana (BSY) with an outlay of Rs 6,000 crore in the next five years which will remarkably increase the rural connectivity network. Under the Mukhya Mantri Sadak Yojana (MMSY), 15,000 km of roads shall be constructed with an expenditure of Rs 12,000 crore.
Sanjay Kumar Singh, Principal Secretary, Rural Development Department, answered various questions of journalists relating to different schemes undertaken by the Department. A documentary on achievement of RD Department was also presented on the occasion.
