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Cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba heads EGoS to monitor PM Gati Shakti NMP
PM Narendra Modi last month said PM Gati Shakti Master Plan will not only bring together governmental processes and various stakeholders but also help connect different modes of transportation.
NEW DELHI: The Centre has constituted an empowered group of secretaries (EGoS) headed by cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba to track the development and implementation of the government’s ₹100 crore holistic and integrated approach in infrastructure construction, PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan (NMP).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who announced the ambitious plan last month to create employment and make local manufacturers globally competitive, said Gati Shakti will lay the foundation of holistic infrastructure. “Right now, there is no coordination among our means of transport. Gati Shakti will break the silos, and will remove all these obstacles,” PM Modi said on the integrated approach to develop modern railways, roadways, waterways and airways.
An October 30 order by the Union ministry of commerce and industry said the 20-member EGoS will set out a procedure and a definitive time-frame for synchronisation of various activities for construction of road, rail etc. along with all utilities in an area-based approach for development of infrastructure on pilot basis apart from review and monitor the implementation of the plan to ensure logistics efficiency.
The EGoS will issue appropriate directions for achieving the objectives and for compliance to guiding principles of the PM Gati Shakti NMP and in addressing demand side requirements of the ministries concerned, the notification said.
The EGoS has the mandate to adopt a framework and norms for undertaking any amendment in the NMP and will also look at interventions needed to meet the “demand side, in efficiently transporting bulk goods based on the requirement of various ministries’’.
The EGoS, which will have secretaries of 18 ministries as members and head of the logistics division as member convenor, is part of the Centre’s three-tier system to monitor the plan. The three-tier monitoring system will have EGoS at the top followed by Network Planning Group (NPG) and Technical Support Unit (TSU).
Last month, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved PM Gati Shakti NMP, including institutional framework for rolling out, implementation, monitoring and support mechanism for providing multi-modal connectivity. The EGoS will align various initiatives on development of a common integrated portal which serves the needs of all stakeholders, as per the notification.
The EGoS will be assisted by NPG, which will have heads of network planning wing of respective infrastructure ministries. The TSU, which will have domain experts from various infrastructure sectors, will play an important role in avoiding duplication of work of any region and also reduce logistics costs through micro-plan detailing.
“PM Gati Shakti Master Plan not only brings together governmental processes and various stakeholders, but also helps to connect different modes of transportation. This is an extension of holistic governance,” PM Modi said at the launch last month.
