Our Correspondent
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday underlined the need for highest priority to the work under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana for strengthening irrigation network in the country.
Chairing a high-level meeting on infrastructure sectors in New Delhi Saturday, Modi said there is a need to realize the irrigation potential of all reservoir projects to the maximum possible extent.
During the meeting, he reviewed the status of stalled projects in the infrastructure sector and stressed on the need for government departments to work towards initializing spending of the budget, in a focused manner.
The Prime Minister asked for specific data on priority areas such as toilets, affordable housing and smart cities. He said in the urban areas, one of the priorities should be in creation of waste to wealth, and efficient systems for waste water disposal and solid waste management in 500 cities.
In the power sector, Mr. Modi reiterated his emphasis on electrification of the unconnected villages at the earliest. He said public spaces such as railway stations should be priority areas for adopting energy efficient technologies and renewable energy.
During the meeting, the Prime Minister was given a detailed overview of the plans of various Ministries for completion of pending projects within the current financial year. Besides a broad overview of the infrastructure scenario in the country, the meeting focused on the specific sectors of rural infrastructure, power, coal, renewable energy and petroleum and natural gas.
Union Ministers Arun Jaitley, Suresh Prabhu, Nitin Gadkari, Piyush Goyal and Ashok Gajpathi Raju were among those who attended the meeting besides Secretaries of the concerned Ministries.