Capt assures Naidu to bring centrally-aided projects back on track

Wednesday, 17/05/2017

http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/capt-assures-naidu-to-bring-centrally-aided-projects-back-on-track/408463.html

New Delhi : Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh has assured the Centre of his government’s commitment to implement the Real Estate Regulation Act (RERA), in letter and in spirit, and to ensure that the central government aided poverty alleviation and housing projects funded during the previous government in the state are brought back on track and executed at the earliest.

The issues came for discussion during the Chief Minister’s meeting here with Union Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation M Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday.

Amarinder apprised the minister of the progress made by his government, since taking over just two months ago, on the implementation of the various central schemes and projects for which the Centre had released funds in the past but which had not reached the intended beneficiaries.

The Chief Minister assured the Union Minister that his government had initiated the process for the implementation of RERA, without diluting the spirit of the legislation in any way. To a suggestion from the Chief Minister on the adoption of certain rules from other states to strengthen RERA, Naidu said the Centre had no objection as long as there was no dilution of the spirit of the law, according to a spokesperson in the Punjab Chief Minister’s Office.

Naidu, who is planning to visit Punjab in July to review the progress of the central projects, noted that the central government funds released to the state had not been transferred to the beneficiaries. The Chief Minister assured the minister of his government’s all-out efforts to bring things on track on this front at the earliest. The Union Minister promised full support to ensure early implementation of the various projects in the interest of the people of Punjab.

The Chief Minister said his government was cognizant of the fact that the central funds were lying un-utilised as the previous dispensation had failed to transfer these to the beneficiaries. His government, Amarinder said, had started the process of verifying the beneficiaries, especially for the affordable housing scheme of the Centre.

The Chief Minister further assured the Union Minister that his government was working on policies and programmes for taking forward key projects, including the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana (PMAY) and the Housing for All mission. An action plan had been drawn by his government to launch the necessary reforms in the housing and real estate sector, the Chief Minister said, adding that he was hopeful of implementing these with the Centre’s support.