NEW DELHI: According to a news statement from the Prime Minister’s Office, Prime Minister Narendra Modi presided over the 43rd PRAGATI meeting on Wednesday to assess the status of eight important projects spanning seven states and costing a total of almost Rs 31,000 crore. PRAGATI is a central and state government-led, multi-modal, ICT-based platform for proactive governance and prompt execution.In all, eight projects were reviewed during the meeting. Four of these projects were with irrigation and water supply, two with increasing national highways and connectivity, and two with rail and metro train connectivity.According to the statement, these projects, which span seven states—Bihar, Jharkhand, Haryana, Odisha, West Bengal, Gujarat, and Maharashtra—have a total estimated cost of about Rs. 31,000 crore. The Prime Minister underscored that the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan Portal, when combined with cutting-edge technologies like satellite imagery, can effectively tackle a range of implementation and planning concerns concerning project location and land requirements. In order to improve coordination, he further directed all parties involved in projects being carried out in densely populated metropolitan regions to designate nodal officials and create teams.The Prime Minister suggested that stakeholders be invited to irrigation projects where effective reconstruction and rehabilitation work has been completed.These initiatives’ transformative effects might also be demonstrated. This could encourage parties to start working on projects sooner,” the announcement said. ‘Mobile Towers and 4G Coverage under USOF Projects’ was another topic the Prime Minister discussed during the meeting. 33,573 villages with 24,149 mobile towers are to be covered for saturation of mobile coverage under the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF). The Prime Minister requested that, during this fiscal year, all undeveloped villages have cell towers installed, and that regular meetings with all relevant parties be held. Even in the most isolated places, cell coverage will be saturated as a result. According to the statement, 348 projects totaling Rs. 17.36 lakh crore have been reviewed up to the 43rd PRAGATI meeting.
