Centre has not released funds for rural roads: Shravan

PATNA: State rural development department minister Shravan Kumar on Monday dismissed the allegations levelled by former deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi that the state government has failed to spend the first installament of money released by the Central government in financial year 2015-16. He said not a single penny has been released to his department by the Centre in the current financial year.
Kumar said not only in 2015-16, the Central government had not released any funds to the rural development department even in the financial year 2014-15.The department had to use its own fund for all development works. "There are 36 roads, which are sponsored by the central agency National Projects Construction Corporation Limited (NPCC), but they are in a dilapidated condition. The old proposals of these roads have been approved by the Central government but work is yet to start as tenders are yet to be passed. But the state government is ready to start the work using its own resources," said Kumar.
The minister said around 20,000 villages with a population of more than 500, which comes under the purview of Paradhanmantri Gram Sadak Yojana , still do not have roads. He said the Central government has only allotted Rs 9,894 crore against an estimated Rs 20,199 crore for construction of the proposed roads under the yojana in Bihar.
"Over 50,000 km roads need to be constructed in the state under Prime Minister Gram Sadak Yojana, but only 30,000 km roads have been made. For the rest 20,000 km, the Central government needs to release Rs 11,000 crore more," the minister said.