Himachal Pradesh Public Works Minister, Vikramaditya Singh informed here on Thursday that the Central government has approved Rs 2,643.01 crore for the upgradation of 254 roads in rural areas for the year 2023-24 under Batch-1 of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY-III).
The minister expressed gratitude to the Central Government and especially to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Rural Development Minister Giriraj Singh and also thanked the Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu for constantly raising the issues of state interests before the Centre.
Singh said under PMGSY-III, Batch-I, the upgradation work of 254 roads in rural areas of the state, with a total length of around 2683 km, will be done.
He said that the Centre’s share of the sanctioned amount would be Rs. 2372.59 crore, while the State’s share would be Rs. 270.42 crore.
The Public Works Minister said that the state government under the able leadership of Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu was effectively raising the issues of state’s interest before the Union government.
He said that recently, he also met the Union Rural Development Minister twice and once, along with MP Lok Sabha and State Congress President, Pratibha Singh and urged the Union Minister to approve this amount at the earliest.
He said that the proposal sent by Himachal Pradesh was considered in the meeting of the Empowered Committee held on 12 June, 2023.
Based on the recommendation of the committee and the compliance report submitted by the state government, the Union Ministry has now approved the same, he added.
He said that due to heavy rains, road infrastructure has suffered the most in the state.
“The state government and the Public Works Department were working on a war footing to restore all the main roads and clear the blocked ones. PMGSY-III would help in upgrading and improving roads at the village level,” Singh.