E-Paper
Funds fail to pave road to improvement
CONGRESS CHIEF Sonia Gandhi?s comments about rampant corruption in developmental activities in Rae Bareli set alarm bells ringing in the State Government. The PWD swung into action to lodge FIRs against several engineers and contractors who allegedly gobbled up huge funds earmarked for roads in the district.
CONGRESS CHIEF Sonia Gandhi’s comments about rampant corruption in developmental activities in Rae Bareli set alarm bells ringing in the State Government. The PWD swung into action to lodge FIRs against several engineers and contractors who allegedly gobbled up huge funds earmarked for roads in the district.
The situation in Rae Bareli is just the tip of the iceberg. In fact, such corruption is a UP phenomenon.
The PWD has been making tall claims about release of huge funds for roads in the State, but the situation on the ground does not reflect this, as there is no effective monitoring of work.
People are “not interested in money released and spent, but on the outcome of that expenditure,”says a senior IAS officer who has documented the district-wise PWD expenditure in the State.
He says, “It doesn’t make sense to say so many crores have been spent on maintenance of roads, if, at the end of the day, roads remain full of potholes, the riding quality is not good and the road is washed away by a single downpour.”
There was no paucity of funds in the PWD in the last fiscal. In fact, there was a massive jump in the budgetary allocation. “From Rs 1,000 crore in the past, it has gone up to Rs 5,000 crore now,” says PWD Minister Shivpal Singh Yadav.
“But it is not reflected at the ground level,” says the IAS officer. In the last fiscal, Rs 5091.03 crore was spent on construction of roads and their maintenance. The PWD is responsible for maintenance of 8,546 km of State highways and 7,274 km of major district roads for which funds are received from the State budget and the Central Road Fund. Similarly, the PWD is responsible for maintaining 28,400 km other district roads and 77,363 km rural roads. Funds are flowing from various heads, including the Centrally sponsored Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), MP/MLA local area development funds, special component scheme, Adarsh and Twarit Arthic Vikas Yojana among others.
From Rs 17,60 crore in 2003-04, the PWD’s expenditure went up to Rs 5,000 crore in 2005-06. In the current fiscal, it is likely to touch Rs 6,000 crore. The minister claims it amply reflects the performance of the department. But information available from the districts indicated that without a proper monitoring agency, there is massive pilferage of funds. There are reports that some districts like Mainpuri, Lucknow, Faizabad, Gautam Buddha Nagar and Kanpur City have spent much more than the norms fixed for each works division by the PWD. Similarly, large-scale expenditure was noticed in March 2006 in Gonda, Gorakhpur, Jaunpur, Kanpur City, Mainpuri, Mathura, Shajehanpur and Varanasi. “Moreover, how many roads were constructed and habitation connected by all-weather roads during 2005-06 under various schemes in the districts and roads taken up for maintenance must be made public,” the IAS officer said and added, “Just making and re-making of roads in Lucknow will not serve the purpose.”
In Lucknow, Rs 791.70 crore was spent on roads and bridges in the last fiscal. But, the poor condition of roads in the Old City tells a different story. The situation was similar in Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav’s hometown Etawah where Rs 147.75 crore was spent.
While Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) president Chaudhary Ajit Singh’s hometown Baghpat received just Rs 8.16 crore, Gautam Buddha Nagar Rs 223.75 crore, Badaun Rs 204.77 crore, Mainpuri Rs 186.27 crore, Faizabad Rs 182.10 crore, Azamgarh Rs 145.29 crore and Kanpur city Rs. 115.89 crore.
The rest of the districts received less than Rs 100 crore in 2005-06. Nearly, 60 per cent of funds released under the MP/MLA fund were spent on roads and bridges. But there was no visible impact in the field. Principal secretary, PWD, SK Agarwal has been holding dual charge as he is also the Home Department chief. “This is unprecedented,” commented a senior bureaucrat.
