CM fast-tracks projects of Rae Bareli, Amethi

During Mayawati regime, Sonia and Rahul Gandhi’s constituencies had been relegated to the ‘deprived’ category. HT reports.

The expected tie-up between the SP and the Congress might not have worked out in Uttar Pradesh, but the goodwill between the two is apparent from the state government’s speedy clearance to projects for Amethi and Rae Bareli.

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During the Mayawati regime, development work in the state had the unhurried gait of an elephant. But even so, the constituencies of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul had virtually been relegated to the “deprived” slot.

But now, the SP government is making an obvious effort to clear the backlog.

“The chief minister has given directives to clear all pending projects, in sharp contrast to the orders of the previous regime,” said a senior official. On Wednesday, chief secretary Javed Usmani reviewed the various pending projects and asked the officers to take prompt action.

“About 21 issues including 14 concerning Rae Bareli came up for discussion at the meeting,” the official said. “The officers were asked to clear all pending issues to expedite implementation of the projects (see box).”

About Amethi’s pending projects, another official said there was a need to allot around 125 acres of land to set up a National Training and Research Infrastructure Project.

Other issues that came up for discussion included the expansion of Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology and land for a pharmaceutical institute.