Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday chaired a meeting of the 45th edition of PRAGATI, the ICT-based multi-modal platform for Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation, involving Centre and state governments.

In the meeting, eight significant projects were reviewed, which included six metro projects of urban transport and one project each relating to road connectivity and thermal power. The combined cost of these projects, spread across different states/UTs, is more than Rs 1 lakh crore. Up to the 45th edition of PRAGATI meetings, 363 projects having a total cost of around Rs 19.12 lakh crore have been reviewed.

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Chairing the meeting ,Mr Modi stressed that all government officials, both at the Central and state levels, must recognise that project delays not only escalate costs but also hinder the public from receiving the intended benefits.

During the interaction, he also also reviewed public grievances related to the banking and insurance sector. While the PM noted the reduction in the time taken for disposal, he also emphasised on the quality of disposal of the grievances.

Considering more and more cities are coming up with metro projects as one of the preferred public transport systems, he advised conducting workshops for experience sharing for cities where projects are under implementation or in the pipeline, to capture the best practices and learnings from experiences.

During the review, Mr Modi stressed on the importance of timely rehabilitation and resettlement of families affected during implementation of projects. He further asked to ensure ease of living for such families by providing quality amenities at the new place. He also reviewed PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana. He directed to enhance the capacity of installations of rooftops in the states/UTs by developing a quality vendor ecosystem.

The PM further directed to reduce the time required in the process, starting from demand generation to operationalisation of rooftop solar. He further directed states to adopt a saturation approach for villages, towns and cities in a phased manner.