E-Paper
UPA falters on progress reports
The UPA government’s promise to bring out quarterly progress reports of pro-poor schemes has fallen flat. Aurangzeb Naqshbandi reports.
The UPA government’s promise to bring out quarterly progress reports of pro-poor schemes has fallen flat.
The ministries involved in implementation of Bharat Nirman programmes have so far failed to bring out the second quarterly reports. The reports were to be made public by the first week of January.
The UPA-II had promised to bring out “suitably institutionalised quarterly progress reports on flagship programmes” in the Presidential address on June 4 last year.
The first quarter also saw reluctance on the part of ministries to come out with such reports until Prime Minister Manmohan Singh intervened in the matter following criticism from various quarters.
Singh had then summoned the ministers of Rural Development, Human Resources Development, Health, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and Urban Development and directed them to present their report cards before the people.
The reports on flagship schemes such as National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, and four other schemes were also kept in public domain.
The Prime Minister’s Office has set up a delivery monitoring unit to oversee fast-track implementation of Bharat Nirman programmes, new initiatives and projects.
In UPA-I, the PMO monitored 101 items, which have been reduced to 18 under UPA II.
