Aiming to strengthen participatory rural economy and infrastructure, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced the launch of a unique ‘Uttar Pradesh Matrabhumi Yojana’ which will make the common man a direct participant in the development works of the state.
“Under this scheme, every person will get a chance to directly participate in various works of infrastructure development in villages. The state government will bear 50 per cent of the total cost of the project while the remaining amount will be contributed by interested people. In return, the project can be named after relatives of the collaborators as per their wish,” the chief minister said in Lucknow on Wednesday while inaugurating and laying the foundation stones of various roads under the PM Gram Sadak Yojana and district panchayats using hot mix and full depth reclamation (FDR) method.
Uttar Pradesh is the first state to use FDR technology in the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY).
The chief minister also asked the Rural Development and Panchayati Raj departments to submit an action plan for the formal launch of the innovative scheme.
Yogi said that continuous work was being done by the Central and state governments for the overall development of villages. He said the Uttar Pradesh Matrabhumi Yojana could be a good attempt for the establishments of health centres, Anganwadi, library, stadium, gymnasium, open gym, cattle breed improvement centre, fire service station, among others, in villages.
While interacting with the chairpersons and members of gram panchayats, kshetra panchayats and district panchayats, the chief minister said that panchayats needed to be self-reliant and with sufficient available resources, they should make efforts for self-reliance by adopting innovations. He further said that for the betterment of panchayats, a healthy competition should be encouraged and their innovations should be rewarded.
Stressing on rural development, Yogi said that roads were not just a means of transport but also a powerful means of strengthening the rural economy.
“Countries with developed infrastructure are also economically prosperous. In a state like Uttar Pradesh, about 80 per cent of the population lives in rural areas. To strengthen the rural economy, good roads and better connectivity are essential which is being done continuously through PMGSY. The Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, which was started by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2000, is today becoming a medium for progress of villages,” he added.
The chief minister expressed happiness for the construction of roads in Azamgarh and Jaunpur district panchayats through the FDR method as a pilot project.
Citing recent actions against corrupt officers and employees, Yogi warned against delay in payment of dues to contractors without any concrete reason. He also directed zila panchayat chairpersons to make physical verification of construction works.
Rural Development Minister Rajendra Pratap Singh, Panchayati Raj Minister Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary, Minister of State (Independent Charge) Upendra Tiwari and Minister of State Anand Swaroop Shukla also expressed their views in the programme.
BOX:
Projects inaugurated
1: Construction work of 6,208.45 km long 886 rural roads at a cost of Rs 4,130.27 crore under PM Gram Sadak Yojana started.
2: Inauguration of renovation work of 1,930 km-long 692 rural roads at a cost of Rs 155 crore.
3: Inauguration of 537.82 km-long 509 rural roads at a cost of Rs 195.07 crore to be constructed using hot mix method under district panchayats.
4: Foundation stone laid for 14 rural roads of 48.62 km-long at a cost of Rs 33.75 crore to be constructed using hot mix method under district panchayats.
