Bhubaneswar: Even as the Central government headed by the BJP today complimented the State government for the successful implementation of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), the party's state unit has pilloried the state government dubbing it 'inactive and inefficient'.
Additional secretary, Union Ministry of Rural Development, Amarjit Sinha, who reviewed the progress of PMGSY and PMAY in the State, lauded the State's efforts in implementing these two flagship programmes of the Centre.
"Odisha has done remarkably well in the housing programme. It's a big success story. A large number of houses have been completed. The progress in Housing programme is outstanding in the State. Even in the PMGSY, the work has been very good," Sinha said.
The State has targeted to cover 19,000 kms of rural road under PMGSY and nine lakh pucca houses under PMAY in the next three years, chief secretary AP Padhi said.
"We have targeted to complete a stretch of 19,000 km road under PMGSY in the next three years. The Centre has granted funds for nine lakh houses under Indira Awas Yojana (IAY), which has been renamed as Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY)," said Padhi, who attended the review meeting.
He added that of the around Rs 1.25 lakh to be spent on each house, the Centre would bear 60 per cent while the rest of the amount would be provided by the State.
The Centre has decided to complete construction of all earmarked rural roads by 2019.
But the state BJP is not impressed by the certificate handed out by its own government at the Centre.
"We feel the people of Odisha are losing out on their legitimate demand due to the State government's inaction and inefficiency. The State has failed miserably to expedite the tender process in many works and is unable to produce the utilisation certificate in time," BJP leader Lekhasri Samantsinghar told OTV.