Assam govt to discontinue SOPD schemes; Chief Minister’s Gram Sadak Yojana soon

Guwahati: Assam government decided to discontinue the current State Owned Priority Development (SOPD) schemes in the state and to replace it with new schemes.

On Thursday, chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma reviewing the status of various projects of public works department, PWD (Roads),  with executive engineers and senior officers of the department at PWD Convention and Training Centre at Dispur Last Gate in the city.

During the meeting it was decided in the meeting that SOPD scheme would be discontinued in the state while a scheme envisaged as Chief Minister’s Gram Sadak Yojana (CMGSY), similar to Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), would be implemented in Assam.

Saying that a systematic reform is sought to be brought in with the new initiatives in the department, the Chief Minister announced that from now onwards, roads would mainly be built by PWD(R) under the schemes of Mukhyamantri Path Pakikaran Achoni, Mukhyamantri Unnat Paki Path Nirman Achoni, Asom Mala and Mathauri Paki Path NirmanAchoni.

He also said that contractors would get their bills within 7 days of work completion. Only in April-May every year, new road estimates would be prepared to eliminate the practice of haphazard road planning and proposals throughout the year. This would help in completing road projects on time taking advantage of the period after the rainy season.   

Sarma informed that only those roads in Road Asset Management System (RAMS) would be approved for construction and roads outside the network would not be taken up.

“We are striving towards rapid development of road infrastructure in the State and I urge the department officials to fully dedicate themselves towards achieving this goal” he said.

The chief minister also released the ‘Pocketbook on Quality Control’ published by the department. 

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