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Bhubaneswar, May 4: Though the state had demanded Rs 1,800 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) during the 2015-16 financial year, the Centre released only Rs 395 crore to the state government recently, a senior official of rural development told Orissa POST.
“We asked for Rs 1,800 crore under the Centrally-sponsored PMGSY scheme, but they (Centre) released only Rs 395 crore in the first instalment,” said the official, wishing to remain unnamed.
The state has sought to construct roads in rural areas at an estimated cost of Rs 1,800 crore but with the implementation of the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission, things have changed drastically, the official said. “I hope they provide another Rs 1,000 crore under the scheme this fiscal,” he added.
The rural development department has urged the finance department to release at least Rs 400 crore for development of rural roads, the official stated.
In the last fiscal, the Union government had agreed to provide Rs 1,800 crore under PMGSY for the state, of which it sanctioned only Rs 1,178 crore which the state managed to spend before the end of the fiscal.
