DW BUREAU / Chandigarh

Mr Vijay Inder Singla formally took charge of PWD and Information Technology (IT) Minister and assumed his office in Punjab Civil Secretariat here on Monday in the presence of Punjab Congress Affairs Incharge Asha Kumari and Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar.

Interacting with media on this occasion, Mr Singla thanked Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh and entire leadership and workers of Congress party for reposing faith in him. He said that state government has been committed to fulfill all the promises made with the people of the state and the government has already implemented the bold decisions in that direction.

“I can say with full confidence that whenever party has given me any kind of responsibility I have tried to serve with full sincerity, dedication, honesty, and now too I will not leave any stone unturned to work for the welfare of the state”, he added.

Revealing his plans as PWD and IT Minister, Mr Singla said “My prime focus will be on bringing the transparency in the work and ensuring its quality. People with credible background will be given responsible positions for execution of works. A monitoring mechanism will be there to check the quality of the work being done by any organization or company to ensure the quality of the work besides ensuring that every penny allocated for that project is invested in a justified manner”.

Replying to a query regarding development projects, the Minister said that a NABARD project of Rs 300 crore would be implemented for strengthening and upgradation of rural roads besides spending Rs 810 crore on the repair of link roads in next two years. He further said that 80 per cent work on the 1345 km long project under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sarak Yojna (PMGSY-II) has been completed and project for PMGSY-III would be submitted soon, whereas, World Bank funded new road upgradation project worth Rs 2000 crore will be completed in the next five years.

He gave clear signal to all those who have adopted corrupt practices in the past to mend their ways. “I will not tolerate any corruption in my departments. All with tainted past will have to mend their ways as I will not succumb to any pressure,” he said.

(editor@dailyworld.in)