Urban Development Minister C P Singh on Friday counted implementation and execution of Centre’s schemes as major achievement of his ministry in Jharkhand. Addressing here on Friday, Singh talked about the exceptional performance of Jharkhand in Prime Minister’s Awas Yojana (PMAY) and Swachh Bharat Yojana and also assured to achieve more in terms of civic amenities during the remaining four months of the incumbent Government.
“In 2015, only 12801 houses were sanctioned under PMAY in Jharkhand and 12665 were constructed. In the past four and a half years, the count of sanctioned houses under the scheme has gone up to 1,80,078. At least 48567 houses have already been constructed and as many as 44233 houses are under construction,” said Singh.
The ambitious PMAY, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June 2015, aims at providing housing for all by year 2022. Singh on Friday said that the Government aims at giving possession of 15,000 houses to the beneficiaries by September 2019 and lay foundation for 34,333 houses by the same time.
Jharkhand bagged the first position across the country this year in Swachh Sundar Shauchalaya contest. Singh said that by 2015 the State had constructed only 19,356 toilets in households under the scheme and the number increased to 2,17,212 in the past four and a half years. “We have constructed 566 public toilets and 308 modular toilets since 2015. At least 41 Urban Local Bodies have been declared Open Defecation Free (ODF),” he said.
Under Smart City Mission, the State is setting up a green field smart city on 656.30 acre land in Dhurwa. Work in at least 27 schemes worth Rs 2,580 crore under the mission is in progress here, said Singh, adding that a total of 36 schemes were proposed and approved under the scheme. The total cost of these schemes is around Rs 3007 crore. “We expect that at least 70,000 people will get to stay in the smart city and around 80,000 will get employment or means of education in the infrastructure,” said Singh.
The smart city will have an Urban Civic Tower worth Rs 183.76 crore, a Convention Centre worth Rs 406.7 crore, a Command Control and Communication Centre worth Rs 154.24 crore and a Public Bicycle Sharing System, which is already functioning in Ranchi. The Urban Development Department, Singh said, will also construct four smart roads in Ranchi. Roads from Raj Bhawan to Birsa Chowk, Ranchi Airport to Birsa Chowk, Raj Bhawan to Kantatoli and Raj Bhawan to Booty More via Bariatu will be developed as smart roads. These roads will have separate cycle lane, lane for walkers, benches and parks.
As per the 2011 census, at least 24 per cent of Jharkhand’s population lives in urban areas. The population in urban areas, however, has increased in the past eight years and the Government was trying its level best to provide all possible facilities to all the residents of cities here, Singh said.