Shillong: Union Minister of State for the Ministries of Jal Shakti and Tribal Affairs, Bishweswar Tudu on Friday walked out of the review meeting at the State Convention Centre here in Meghalaya, saying that he was ‘not happy’ with the ways the state government officials projecting the status of implementation of central sponsored schemes in the state.
“The officials were not prepared for the review meeting of central schemes. They (state government officials) have only power point presentation and papers were not ready. I am not happy with the presentation and without papers how can we review. I have to submit my reports to the concerned department and this is very essential to provide me with the hard copies of the presentation,” a visibly upset Tudu told reporters.
The Union Minister went to his room at Hotel Pinewood. Later the state government officials rushed to his room and requested him to return for the review meeting.
Tudu, who is on a two-day maiden visit to Shillong, later chaired a review meeting of the implementation status of the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) and Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) schemes and other flagship programs under the two departments in Meghalaya.
“The department officials have shown in details the implementation and achievements under various schemes like JJM, SBM and PMKSY,” the Union Minister said after reviewing in details the ongoing programmes under his Ministry.
Reacting to a query that the state government has been able to complete only ” 40 per cent of JJM ” project so far, Tudu said, “The target is to achieve 100 per cent implementation by March, 2024. The national average is around 50 per cent but the aim is to achieve 100 per cent by March, 2024.”
He said that steps are being taken in order to accomplish the goal and urged the State government to work in coordination with the Centre to achieve the target.
Tudu said that to get an idea of the actual implementation on the ground level he will undertake visits to different sites of programme implementation on Saturday morning.
Acknowledging that Meghalaya being a hilly state, the inherent challenges of communication and transportation are always associated with it, the Union Minister said that there have been some delays in the implementation of few projects because of these inherent challenges.
“The Central government is very empathetic to the concerns of the states and that it is always welcoming measures so that the inherent challenges of the states can be dealt with. I have suggested to them to follow the procedures and if possible we will relax some of the guidelines so that the work could be done on time,” Tudu said.
