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UP tourism & culture minister pulls up agencies over low construction quality
Expressing displeasure over the substandard works done at Ayodhya, Kapilvastu, Shravasti and Kushinagar, the minister said the construction agencies should bring reform in their working else it should be ready to face strict action
UP tourism and culture minister Jaiveer Singh said, the closure report of the works done under the Ramayana circuit in Ayodhya under the Swadesh Darshan scheme should be submitted by June 20 else the construction agency, Rajkiya Nirman Nigam, would be blacklisted.
Reviewing the progress of various projects launched by the tourism department in various districts on Wednesday, Singh said, there should be no compromise on the quality of the construction work. The construction agencies should complete the work as per schedule according to the standard and norms fixed by the department. Legal action would be taken against the construction agencies and FIR would be lodged against the contractors if substandard work was detected during inspection. The department would slap penalty over the erring agencies, he said.
Expressing displeasure over the substandard works done at Ayodhya, Kapilvastu, Shravasti and Kushinagar, Singh said the construction agencies should bring reform in their working else it should be ready to face strict action. Ayodhya, Kapilvastu, Kushinagar, Shravasti are world famous religious and tourist places. Large national and international tourists visit the spots. The poor construction works will make adverse impact on the image of the state and the country, he said.
Singh further directed the officers to conduct third party quality check of all the construction works. Strict action should be taken against the agencies for poor quality construction work, he said.
Singh said, the closure report of the works done in Gorakhnath temple and Varanasi should be submitted by June 25, else action would be taken against the agencies. He reviewed the work being done under the Swadesh Darshan scheme, PRASAD scheme and spiritual circuit launched by the Ministry of Tourism.
The tourism minister reviewed the progress of various projects launched under public private partnership (PPP) scheme. He nominated the Tourism Corporation as the construction agency for various projects. He reviewed the action plan for the utilization of the fund in the financial year 2022-23 and the upcoming plan for branding-marketing of UP tourism. Discussion was also held on the plan of the Tourism Department to give its properties on rent contract.
Director general and principal secretary Tourism, Mukesh Meshram, directed the regional tourism officers to conduct regular inspections to ensure quality. Along with construction agencies, action will be taken against the regional tourism officers if laxity in the construction works was detected, he said.
Discount for some
The members of Parliament, members of the legislative assembly and council will get 50% discount in the tourist bungalows run by the UP tourism department.
Minister Jaiveer Singh said, the department has decided to provide residential facilities at concessional rates to the public representatives in the tourist bungalows of the tourism department. Instructions have been given to the managing director, Uttar Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation Limited for the implementation of the order, he said.
