‘Issues Related To NH-8 To Be Resolved With Priority’

Jaipur, July 4. The Chief Minister Smt. Vasundhara Raje met Shri Nitin Gadkari, the Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Rural Development & Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water & Sanitation at Transport Bhawan in New Delhi on Friday. Different issues related to rural development, drinking water were discussed in detail along with worrisome situation of the Delhi-Jaipur National Highway-8.

While addressing senior officials of the union and the state governments during the meeting, Smt. Raje suggested for disposal of the pending cases and important issues related to Rajasthan on priority.

Talking about the problem of drinking water availability, the Chief Minister asked for special assistance for Rajasthan. The Union Minister was in agreement with the CM that drinking water was an utmost important matter for her state. This problem was particularly acute in desert, tribal regions and other remote locations, he pointed out.

Shri Gadkari assured Smt. Raje that the union government would attempt to extend the maximum possible support from all available financial resources to Rajasthan. He also agreed upon for development of financial resources at local level using innovative ideas to redress problem of water scarcity.

In the meeting Smt. Raje expressed deep concerns over the prevailing situation at Delhi-Jaipur NH-8 and stated that immediate improvement in the situation was urgently required. Shri Gadkari agreed to this and stated that this National Highway was totally ignored during past 10 years of governance at the centre and 5 years in the state. Almost all national highways were in similar worrying conditions, which was a serious issue for the entire country, he said.

Shri Gadkari assured the CM that problems related to NH-8 and other roads in the state would be resolved by preparing a roadmap in the time-bound manner. He said that Secretary Road Transport of the union government would talk to the Chief Secretary of Rajasthan on every little issue and submit their report after inspecting the sites as per requirement.

In the meeting it was also decided that in order to improve upon operations and better maintenance four National Highways would be handed over to the state along with all the resources.

The Chief Minister Smt. Raje suggested for making the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) to be flexible so that the rural areas could be connected to mainstream of development, employment and skill improvement. She said that the heavy expenditure on MNREGA could be justified with creation of permanent assets, skill development of villagers and most importantly continuous employment to the villagers.

Increase in share of grant by the centre for construction of toilets in rural areas was also agreed upon in this meeting. On this, the Union Minister Shri Gadkari gave in principle agreement to Smt. Raje and said that he would propose to the Union Cabinet to increase the grant of Rs. 4,200 to Rs. 7,200 to Rajasthan government. Then, the beneficiaries would get a sum of Rs 10,000 per toilet including the state’s share.

After the meeting Smt. Raje said that meaningful discussions were held with Shri Gadkari for resolution of the issues of Rajasthan related to the ministries held by him. The Minister also formed a few groups for early disposal of some of the issues, she told. She further hoped that problems related to the National Highway-8 would be redressed soon and this road would be ready for easy operations of transport at the earliest possible.

The Chief Minister further discussed her ambitious project for development and improvisation of roads ranging 20,000 kilometers and linking them to the main roads. Work was under progress on this and the union government’s approach was also positive, she added.

The State PWD Minister Shri Yunus Khan, Chief Secretary Shri Rajiv Mehrishi, Principal Secretary Panchayati Raj Shri Srimat Pandey, Principal Secretary PWD Shri D.B. Gupta, Principal Secretary Water Shri Prem Singh Mehra, Secretary PWD Shri RP Khandelwal and other senior ministers were present in the meeting.