According to an assessment by government officials, the port, housing and transport sectors have performed better in the last four years than they did under the previous Congress led UPA dispensation at the Centre.
In the rural housing sector, over one crore houses have been constructed in the period from 2014 to 2018, as compared to about 25 lakh houses in the preceding four-year period, key officials of the concerned department said at a review meeting held this week in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi and NITI Aayog head were present.
Giving details, a PMO press release quoting officials stated that average road length constructed per day in Financial Year (FY) 17-18 was 26.93 km, against 11.67 km in FY 13-14 (the period Congress was in power).
The Prime minister was informed about 24 lakh RFID tags issued so far and 22 per cent of toll revenue collected through digital means besides one lakh downloads of “Sukhad Yatra” App, which provides information about road conditions, and facilitates lodging of complaints.
The Prime Minister however stressed on the need for “faster progress in electronic toll collection”. The government claimed that more rural areas had been connected by roads than during the previous Congress led UPA rule.
Under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, more than 44,000 villages have been connect from 2014 to 2018 against 35,000 in the preceding four year period, the PMO release said, quoting officials.
“Additions in new lines, doubling and gauge conversion between 2014 and 2018, was to the extent of 9528 kilometres, which is 56 per cent higher than the preceding four year period,” the government officials said.
The government also said it had performed better than its predecessor in the aviation and port sectors. “The passenger traffic has grown by over 62 per cent in the period between 2014 and 2018, as against 18 per cent in the preceding four year period. Under the UDAN scheme, 27 airports are now operational in tier 2 and tier 3 cities,” the government press note stated, adding that in the port sector “traffic volume in major ports increased by 17 per cent in the period between 2014 and 2018”.