Hyderabad, Sep 2 (FN Representative) Union Minister of State for Panchayati Raj Kapil Moreshwar Patil on Thursday said that the Government of India is investing about Rs 4 lakh crore on rural development programs. Mr Patil who visited to the National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (NIRDPR), Rajendra Nagar, here on Thursday raised some of the very pertinent issues with regard to the implementation of these programs. He mentioned that in PMGSY contractors are quoting about 30 per cent less and after signing the agreement the works are not getting off the ground for months together. Further, the Union Minister said there is no quality monitoring of PMGSY road works. He requested the Director-General to design a monitoring system for all PMGSY works.
The Union Minister also suggested the NIRDPR can engage aand deploy at the states for third-party inspection of these works. Pointing out that there is no provision for enhancement of the cost of PMAY housing, on account of price escalation and due to which many houses sanctioned to the beneficiaries are still incomplete, he mentioned the Ayushman Bharat Scheme of GoI and suggested to explore the possibility of connecting the scheme with SHGs for better coverage. Mr Patil gave importance on holding of training for the Elected Representatives on all the schemes of Central and State governments so that they can prepare development plans by converging all the schemes. He suggested NIRDPR to work out a system where the capacity building and training programs of Panchayati Raj institutions can be outsourced to other professional agencies. He requested the joint secretary MoPR to identify potential sources for local revenue mobilization by the Panchayats across different geographical areas.