The UP Cabinet Thursday passed a proposal allowing Public Works Department (PWD) to procure loan of Rs 6,100 crore from Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) for infrastructure development projects like widening and upgradation of roads, construction of new roads and bridges and railway over bridges (ROB).
As per the proposal, the finance department will give the guarantee for the loan. The loan would be distributed among various government agencies working under PWD. The loan will be taken as additional financial source for infrastructure projects.
Cabinet Minister Shrikant Sharma told reporters that the firms developing the road projects will also ensure guarantee for five years. The state has already made provision of Rs 19,100 crore for PWD in the general budget.
Sharma said that an “appraisal and valuation committee” of officials will be formed in the power department to ensure faster execution of the projects related to electrification in villages and supply of the power as per roster.
The cabinet passed another proposal related to formulation of “State ground water conservation mission programme” to check the fall in ground water level.
Cabinet Minister Siddharth Nath Singh said that the programme would be executed in 271 development blocks in the state and it will be executed in 25 such blocks of Bundelkhand, eastern region and western region in the current financial year.
He further informed that a ground water recharge master plan has been drafted under which new check dams would be development, water bodies would be revived and drip and sprinkler irrigation scheme will be promoted. He said public participation would be promoted in the programme through ‘paani panchayat’ and ‘bhujal sena’. District Magistrate at district and Chief Secretary at state level will monitor the programme.
In another decision, the state government decided to sign MoU with the Centre to adopt the system of Government eMarketplace (GeM), that is an e-market place that enables procurement of common use goods and services in the government departments with minimal human interface. Singh said that such a system would help the state government in making purchase at prices less by 15 to 20 per cent and that with maximum transparency.
