UPA Ministry’s grand plan of forming a road regulatory body to address financial woes hindering growth in the road sector has been trashed by the NDA Government.
Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has rejected the idea of having a “regulator” on the grounds that it would only lead to multiplicity of authorities, leading to more complications.In the meeting with the Ministry officials, Minister for Roads and Highways Nitin Gadkari said that he did not favour any regulator to oversee financial stresses in the sector.
“The Minister (Gadkari) has completely flayed the idea of having a regulator to address financial problems hounding the sector. He said that the Ministry by itself is capable of handling financial complications and would hire consultants if required but the need for a regulator should not arise,” said an official from the Ministry.
“According to the Minister, multiple authorities will not only add to financial burden on the State exchequer but also lead to more problems and infighting. There is also an overlapping as the job, the regulator is prescribed to do, is already assigned to sections within the Ministry,” he said.The official said that the Ministry is now focusing on bringing in e-governance in the sector, where every financial transaction, including the tendering processes will be made electronic, which will only lead to better accountability and more transparency.
In the last annual Budget, former Finance Minister P Chidambaram had announced the formation of a new regulatory authority to deal with financial stress, enhanced construction risk and contract management issues in the road sector.The Ministry, which favoured the decision, had also circulated a Cabinet note detailing the provisions despite Plan panel’s reservations. The Plan panel favoured setting up a tribunal for dispute resolution, as they resisted the adjudicatory powers which were to be given to the regulator.
Finally, in February 2014, the Finance Ministry gave its go-ahead to a three-member body but it was never constituted. And now, with the present Government rejecting the idea completely, the “road regulator” will never see the light of the day.