New Delhi, March 11 (IANS). In the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, the ruling party said that approval was given for the construction of strategic roads to connect the villages on the northern borders of the country. He said that 1,085 km long roads connected many remote areas.
8,49,320 kilometers of roads have been approved through Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana. 93 percent, i.e. about 7,91,270 kilometers of roads have been completed. At the same time, 10,452 bridges have been constructed.
BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP Dr. Anil Sukhdevrao Bonde said this during the discussion on the functioning of the Rural Development Ministry in the Rajya Sabha. He said that today when we discuss rural development, we should also see what kind of comprehensive change has taken place in rural development after 2014.
He said that if we look at the situation before 2014, there was a lack of many basic facilities in the villages. There were no permanent roads to connect the villages. Pure water was not available for drinking. If a person fell ill, health facilities were not available far and wide. There was no permanent house to live in. There was no toilet facility. People’s hands had no work. Farmers did not have water for irrigation. There was no gas to light the stove. Women lacked both respect and facilities.
He said that earlier farmers did not get adequate help. Cheap credit was not available for agriculture. There was no agricultural insurance in case the crop was damaged. There was no protection even against loss of life or property. But after 2014, a big change started appearing in rural development.
Dr. Bonde said that first of all, if we talk about connectivity, unprecedented work has been done through the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana. Till date 8,49,320 km of roads have been approved. Of these, about 93 percent, i.e. about 7,91,270 kilometers of roads have been completed.
The biggest problem in the villages was transportation. Drains, rivers and roads used to be closed during the rainy season. Many children were not able to study simply because there was a school in another village and due to there being a river or drain in between, the road was closed during the rains.
He said that during the rainy season, the villages became so isolated that even if someone had to go for treatment or a woman had to be taken to the hospital for delivery, it was not possible to go out. In view of this problem, construction of bridges across rivers and inaccessible areas was extremely necessary.
Till date 10,452 bridges have been constructed. Apart from this, under PM Janman Yojana, work was especially done to connect the settlements of PVTG i.e. extremely vulnerable tribal groups. Under this scheme, 7,324 kilometers of roads were approved and 2,910 habitations were connected.
Similarly, under the Vibrant Village Programme, special attention has been given to the development of villages in border areas. With this in mind, important roads connecting villages on the northern borders were approved. 1,085 km long strategic roads were sanctioned and 136 remote hamlets were provided road connectivity. Along with this, green technology has also been used in road construction, through which about 1.31 lakh kilometers of roads have been constructed.
–IANS
gcb/dk
