Gandhinagar, Wednesday: Chief Minister Shri Bhupendra Patel has clearly expressed that no work of basic amenities facility in the municipal-municipal areas of the state will be stopped due to lack of funds.
In this regard, he said that development work under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendrabhai has not stopped even during the Corona period and considering the needs of every human being, he has not allowed any shortage of funds for free vaccinations, free rations etc.
The Chief Minister was addressing various cheque distribution ceremonies worth a total of Rs. 1184 crore for all-round development works of towns-metros and urban development authorities under the Azadi ka Amrut Mahotsav organized by the Urban Development and Urban Housing Department of the state.
In this ceremony, for state’s 8 municipal corporations a total of Rs. 958.50 crore, A category’s 22 Municipalities-each gets Rs. 2.50 crore so total Rs. 55 crore, B category’s 30 municipalities- each gets Rs. 1.50 crore so total Rs. 45 crore and C category’s 60 municipalities- get Rs. 1 crore 12 lakh each so total Rs. 67.50 crore, D category’s 44 municipalities- each gets Rs. 50 lakh so total Rs. 22 crore so total Rs. 189.50 crore cheques were distributed for developmental works.
Shri Arjun Singh Chauhan, Minister for Rural Development, Shri Vinodbhai Mordiya, Minister of State for Urban Development, Shri Pankaj Desai, Dandak of the State Government and the Mayor, Deputy Mayor, Standing Committee Chairmen of the metros were present on the occasion.
Shri Bhupendra Patel also called upon the Prime Minister to take the development of the state to a higher level than the public interest works inspired by the day and night work for the holistic development of the poorest human beings, the poor Antyodaya.
He added that the funds for the development works would be deposited directly in the bank account of the city authority through DBT. The Prime Minister has developed this transparent and fast working procedure and as a result there has been more speed, quality in the development works.
The Chief Minister also requested that coordination be maintained between the elected wing office bearers and the chief officer and officers of these bodies of local self-government to speed up the work in providing optimal well-being to the citizens.
Minister of State for Urban Development Shri Vinodbhai Mordiya said that the then Chief Minister and the present Prime Minister Shri Narendrabhai Modi has been in the forefront of providing development grants for basic amenities like roads, water, sewerage, electricity, health and sanitation in corporations and municipalities since 2009.
As a part of which, highest amount of Rs. 1184 crore so far has been given to the towns and metros for various development works by Chief Minister Shri Bhupendrabhai Patel.
The present Chief Minister Shri Bhupendrabhai Patel has also given special instructions to approve the development works of corporations and municipalities immediately so that the fruits of development reach the last human being and no one is left behind in the path of development, said Minister Mordia.
Mr. Mukesh Kumar, Principal Secretary, Department of Urban Development and Urban Housing, in his welcome address, said that more than Rs. 22,000 crore has been allocated for development works under the Department of Urban Development since 2009. Apart from this, the Gujarat government has allocated Rs. 2242 crore in the year 2020-21, Rs. 3083 crore in the year 2021-22 and Rs. 3805 crore for the development of cities in the current year’s budget.
He said that so far in the cities, personal toilets have been installed in a total of 5.60 lakh households, solid waste disposal in 1250 out of 1374 wards, under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. Out of 8.61 lakh sanctioned dwellings, 5.88 lakh dwellings have been constructed. 50% subsidy of buses under urban bus transport scheme, 11 facilities have been made online under e-nagar portal. The state government has allocated 100 TPs for urban development this year. He added that so far 36 have been sanctioned against the target of no.
Shri Rajkumar Beniwal, Commissioner, Municipal Administration, gave the vote of thanks.
It may be mentioned here that under the Swarnim jayanti Mukhyamantri Shaheri Vikas Yojana, Rs. 354.85 crore has been given to Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, Rs. 289.66 crore to Surat Municipal Corporation, Rs. 108.61 crore to Vadodara Municipal Corporation, Rs. 86.90 crore to Rajkot Municipal Corporation, Rs. 38.01 crore to Jamnagar Municipal Corporation, Rs. 3.01 crore, Junagadh Municipal Corporation Rs. 19.92 crore and Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation Rs. 20.44 crore while cheques of Rs. 36 crore were issued for 8 authorities.
On the occasion of this cheque distribution ceremony, mayors of various corporations, deputy mayors, chairmen of standing committees, Additional Chief Secretary to the Chief Minister Shri Pankaj Joshi, Principal Secretary of the Finance Department Shri J. P. Gupta, Mr. Rakesh Shankar, Secretary, Housing Department, Municipal Commissioners of Municipal Corporations, office bearers and officials of Municipal Corporations and Municipalities were present.
