Jammu Nov 24: The Committee on Estimates (COE) met here today under the chairmanship of Ch. Muhammad Ramzan and deliberated upon the functioning of R&B department.  The committee discussed threadbare important issues of allocation of funds for construction and up-gradation of roads under centrally sponsored schemes like R&B, PMGSY, CRF  across the state.
 The meeting, according to an official statement, among others was attended by legislators   Harsh Dev Singh,,   Rafiq Ahmad Mir,   Zulfkar Ali,   Krishan Chander Bhagat,   Durga Dass,   Murtaza Khan and   Javaid Ahmad Rana, besides Commissioner Secretary, R&B,   K.B.Aggarwal, Director General, Accounts and Treasuries,   Wali Muhammad, Chief Engineers of R&B, PMGSY, MED, Project Organization of the State, MD, JKPCC and SE, R&B Jammu.
 The Committee took strong exception to the issue of those contractors who failed to complete the projects allotted to them in stipulated time frame. It was unanimously decided that such contractors should not only be penalized but also debarred from allotting any further work in order to check such lapse in future. The members were of the opinion that such contractors need to be discouraged and delisted.
 The members also raised the issue of allocation of funds to the constituencies, under state and district sectors and demanded that proper criteria need to be adopted so that equal development of all the areas is ensured. The Committee recommended for taking up more schemes under district sector to meet all the local public demands effectively. While expressing displeasure over unnecessary interference of the contractors in the procedural formalities laid down for taking up projects, the members asked the officers to discourage such elements as the move will help  in further improving  the functioning of the department.
 The Committee also asked the Commissioner Secretary R&B to streamline the funds distribution system and ensure that all unconnected areas get road connectivity. The meeting was informed that 10 Project Implementation Officers (PIOs) are being nominated shortly to monitor the progress of the road projects coming up under PMGSY and other schemes in the State.

Lastupdate on : Wed, 24 Nov 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Wed, 24 Nov 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Thu, 25 Nov 2010 00:00:00 IST