The Delhi government led by Shri Arvind Kejriwal has started preparations on a war footing for the development of villages of Delhi at the cost of this Rs 900 crore approx, with a special thrust on laying and strengthening of roads in urban villages as well as rural areas.
Addressing the media, Delhi Development Minister Shri Gopal Rai said to accelerate the pace of development in urban villages as well as rural areas of Delhi, the Delhi government has fixed a timeline for the completion of the development work. A short window of time is available as the development work in villages already got delayed due to the Lok Sabha election model code of conduct and is to be completed by October end before GRAP (Graded Response Action Plan) to control air pollution comes into force in the first week of November, he added.
“Due to the Lok Sabha election code of conduct, it was not possible to take decisions on new works for the last two months. Therefore, as soon as the code of conduct ended, the Delhi government has increased its speed to accelerate the pace of development of Delhi. There are many urbanized villages and rural villages in Delhi. For the development of Delhi’s villages, the Kejriwal government has made a provision of Rs 900 crore approx for the first time in its budget for the year 2024 – 2025,” said Shri Gopal Rai. The government has started its preparations on a war footing from today to get the work done for the development of all the villages of Delhi, whether they are urbanized or in rural areas, he added.
Shri Gopal Rai said that under the Village Development Board, two executing agencies, MCD and Irrigation and Flood Control Department, do development work. This year, priority is being given to the development of all the roads in the villages of Delhi. Before the election code of conduct was imposed, we had a meeting of the Village Development Board. In that meeting, many MLAs had placed 1,387 proposals related to their respective assembly in front of the board and the board had passed all 1,387 proposals.
The Development Minister said there is a three-level process to complete these works. First, the board approves it. After this, the executing agencies of the board, MCD and Irrigation and Flood Control Department, do tendering process of these works and get it implemented at the ground level.
Shri Gopal Rai said that today we held a meeting and instructed the Rural Development Board and all the agencies associated with it to set their timeline by June 15. We have time till October to complete these works. Because GRAP comes into force in Delhi in November, which remains in force till December. After this, the code of conduct for the assembly elections will come into force in January. We have only time till October to complete the development works in the financial year 2024-25. “We have the budget for the purpose and the board has also approved all the works. Now it is only left to implement it. We have asked all the agencies to prepare their action plan by June 15. Also, they will make a list of the problems faced by the agencies on the ground,” he said.
Shri Gopal Rai said that a meeting of all the MLAs has been called on June 19. In this, the officers of the departments concerned will present the status report of the proposals coming from different assembly constituencies in front of the MLAs. Also, the problems coming to them on the ground will also be resolved. During this, all the assemblies will be reviewed. The NOC and other papers of different departments are required. Therefore, if any problem remains, then to solve it, we will set up special camps on June 27-28 in the Delhi Secretariat. This will not require the MLAs to run to different offices. Officers of all departments will be present at one place in the special camp on June 27-28. All the pending files will be disposed of at a fast pace, he added.
The Development Minister said our target is to complete all the official file work in the month of June. The tender process for these works will start in July and their work order will be done by August. After this, these works will be completed in September-October. “Chief Minister Shri Arvind Kejriwal has allocated Rs 900 crore for the development of Delhi’s villages. To complete these works on a war footing, in today’s meeting, all the officers of the departments concerned have been instructed to work according to the prescribed timeframe. So that the pace of development in Delhi’s villages can be accelerated. The Delhi government is committed to providing basic facilities to the people living in urban areas as well as to provide facilities to the people living in village areas,” he said.
