To get first hand information about the progress of implementation of various schemes by his Ministries — Urban Development and Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation — Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu, along with a team of senior officials, has decided to visit at least one State each week beginning Friday.
Six major schemes — Smart City Mission, HRIDAY, Swachchh Bharat Mission, AMRUT, PMAY, and DAY-NUlM—have been launched by the Urban Development and the Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Ministries.
The two Ministries have sanctioned projects worth crores of rupees in the last two years and now the focus is more on their implementation.
"To assess implementation of the schemes and get first hand information from the ground level as well as to remove the bottlenecks, the Minister has decided to visit every State in the coming days with touring at least a State in a week," he added.
The Minister's first visit was to Goa with mission directors along with other senior officials accompanying him, the official said, adding Naidu is expected to visit Gujarat on Saturday.
The move is being seen with Modi Government's preparation of report cards to be presented to people of the States which are scheduled to go for Assembly polls in 2017. Goa, Punjab, Manipur, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh are going to next year.
Under the Smart City Mission, the Government has approved investment of Rs1,30,000 crore for 60 cities with central assistance of Rs30,000 crore, while Rs350 crore has been sanctioned for National Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) scheme for 12 cities.
Under the Modi-Government's flagship Swachchh Bharat Mission, a sum of Rs3,500 crore has been released since the launch of the programme on October 2, 2104.
For Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana—Housing for All (PMAY), the Centre has approved investment of Rs59,000 crore for construction of 10.10 lakh houses with central assistance to the tune of Rs14,000 crore.
Similarly, a nod for an investment of Rs45,700 crore has been approved for Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) with central assistance to the tune of Rs20,500 crore.