‘Certainly our duty to keep roads in good condition': Gujarat CM asks officials to not take media coverage in negative manner

Indian Express

5 days ago

When the Gujarat government has increased the road network in the state, it is certainly its duty to keep those roads in good condition, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel said on Tuesday.
The CM made the remark while addressing a public gathering — Sampurnata Abhiyan Samman Samaroh — at Mahatma Mandir Convention Centre in Gandhinagar where two aspirational districts and 11 aspirational talukas of Gujarat who performed well on different indicators were felicitated.
On the occasion, the CM talked about the issue of complaints of damaged roads during monsoon. He said that earlier, there were not many complaints related to conditions of roads since there were very limited roads. But now, the CM said, there is an extensive road network.
'Now, it won't do… that the roads are damaged after people start using them,' he said.
The CM asked officials not to take media coverage about bad condition of roads negatively and to move on by repairing those roads.
'…now when we have increased the proportion of roads, then it is certainly our duty to keep those roads in good condition,' the CM said.
The CM also asked the officials to maintain quality in any work being done by them in the state.
The function was also attended by Speaker of Gujarat Assembly Shankar Chaudhary and Additional Secretary and Mission Director of Aspirational Districts and Blocks Programme at Niti Aayog Rohit Kumar, among others.
The two aspirational districts from Gujarat, which were felicitated on the occasion, include Dahod and Narmada. The 11 aspirational talukas that were felicitated for their performance on the six indicators include Lakhpat, Rapar, Kukarmunda, Nizar, Tharad, Ghoghamba, Sayla, Garbada, Nandod, Santalpur and Subir.
Performance of the districts and talukas were assessed on the basis of six indicators on issues like antenatal care, supplementary nutrition for pregnant women, generation of soil health cards, screening for people with diabetes and hypertension, and self-help groups receiving revolving fund.
Launched in January 2018, the Aspirational Districts Programme (ADP) aims to quickly and effectively transform 112 most under-developed districts across the country, according to the website of Niti Aayog. The programme focuses on the strength of each district, identifying low-hanging fruits for immediate improvement and measuring progress by ranking districts on a monthly basis, it added.