Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba to lead an elaborate exercise with ministries to identify decisions of various courts and National Green Tribunal (NGT) which are causing delay in infrastructure projects, prepare a list of all such delayed projects and the loss incurred to the exchequer.
The directions from the PM came at a review meeting called on August 25, minutes of which have been reviewed by News18. Four ministries were asked to coordinate the exercise under monitoring of the Cabinet Secretary. It is not clear yet what the government plans to do once the exercise is complete but the top-level intervention by PM and involvement of the Law Ministry in the same indicates a coordinated legal approach could be followed to clear bottlenecks in a plethora of such infrastructure projects.
“Ministries of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Railways and Road Transport & Highways in consultation with Ministry of Law and Justice should identify decisions of Hon’ble Courts, NGT etc., related to land acquisition, forest or other clearances etc. which are causing delay in infrastructure projects. Cabinet Secretary should monitor such exercise. A list of delayed projects due to such court decisions and orders, including loss incurred to the exchequer may also be prepared and complied by the Cabinet Secretary,” say the minutes of the meeting chaired by the PM.
At the same meeting, the PM also asked the Cabinet Secretary to prepare a list within a week of projects delayed due to various government authorities and officials and identify them. “Cabinet Secretary should prepare a list of projects which are delayed substantially and identify responsible authorities, agencies or officials for such delay. The list may be submitted within a week,” the minutes of the meeting add. A press statement issued after the meeting on August 25 by the Prime Minister’s Office mentioned in one line that “The Prime Minister stressed on the significance of timely completion” of eight projects that were reviewed that day.
PM Bothered by Delayed Projects
On August 25, the PM was said to be upset about the delay in the prestigious Western Dedicated Freight Corridor project and targets were fixed for Maharashtra and Gujarat governments to complete the project. The PM on August 25 also asked the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to begin work on Delhi’s Urban Extension Road by September 15, 2021. “The Ministry should start the work in ‘Mission Mode’ and complete the project before 15 August, 2023 in light of Amrut Mahotsava (75 years of Independence),” the PM directed, as per the minutes.
In the recent past, Prime Minister Modi has been bothered by delays in infrastructure projects and the loss caused to the same given escalation in costs. In a meeting in February this year, he had asked the cabinet secretary to prepare a methodology to operationalise infrastructure projects in phases as and when ready, rather than waiting for the completion of the entire work.
The PM then said all infrastructure projects “should be redesigned to adopt a pragmatic and a commercial approach”. Modi had earlier also asked for regular reports on long-delayed projects to be sent to PMO and such projects be expedited by the states.
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