Centre to approve road projects in LWE dists soon: CM

Bhubaneswar: The Centre has agreed to approve road projects in the two Maoist prone districts of Malkangiri and Koraput very soon, said chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday.

Briefing newsmen after arriving at Naveen Niwas this evening after his week-long tour to New Delhi, Patnaik said during his meeting with Union Rural Development and Panchayati Raj minister, the latter assured him that he would convene a meeting of the Expenditure Finance Committee at the earliest to approve 24 road projects covering 375 km in the left wing extremism (LWE) districts of Malkangiri and Koraput.

“The Union minister also said about 4035 unconnected left out habitations will be included immediately in the core network under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY). Besides, he also gave assurance on the release of the sanctioned amount for repair of over 3000 km of roads damaged by Cyclone Phailin within a week. This apart, additional assistance will also be provided under National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) and National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM),” Patnaik informed.

Apart from this, the Union minister also promised to immediately release Rs 285 crore under Indira Awas Yojana (IAY) and release the balance amount due to the state under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) by the end of this month, Patnaik said.