"No compromise on quality of roads; accountability will be fixed": UP CM Adityanath directs officials

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], November 17 : Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday directed officials not to compromise with the quality of the roads and timeliness and warned them that accountability will be fixed if irregularities are found in the works.
CM Yogi further instructed that each newly constructed road must come with a 5-year guarantee.
"If the road gets damaged, the construction agency should reconstruct it," he said.
He reviewed ongoing, pending, and future projects of the Public Works Department, and issued guidelines asking the departmental ministers to review projects at regular intervals and conduct field visits.
"The government of India appreciated Uttar Pradesh's FDR technology for road construction and it should be implemented in the Public Works Department also," a statement from the CMO said, quoting CM Yogi.
It further said that the CM has asked for GIS mapping of all rural roads, including all state roads, district roads, and other district roads of the Public Works Department.
"Delay in projects of public interest not only increases the cost but also causes inconvenience to the common people as they do not get the benefit of the services on time. Emphasis must be placed on ensuring timeliness. The Public Works Department is undertaking significant projects, such as medical colleges and universities. It is imperative to ensure that every task is executed with the utmost quality and completed within the stipulated timeframe. Accountability for pending works should be fixed," Yogi said.
He also instructed officials to address any manpower shortages by outsourcing qualified youth until regular appointments are finalized.
"A preliminary assessment of their ability can be done by taking a national examination like GATE as the basis. Such youth should be given weightage in regular service. Formulate and present a policy/guideline in this regard. Ensure that people with mafia/criminal tendencies do not get contracts for any project related to public interest. Additionally, ensure that their close relatives and associates within the criminal network are excluded from contract engagements," he added.
CM Yogi also asked to ensure road-building agencies and contractors take responsibility for maintaining roads for the next five years post-construction, with terms and conditions clearly outlined.
"Widen rural roads based on traffic and other relevant factors. Prepare necessary proposals in this regard. The tender process should be simplified. Give preference to qualification, experience, and loyalty. State-wide single unified schedule rates based on the Central Public Works Department should be adopted for the construction of buildings. This should be duly considered," he added.
The CM has further directed to implement of the interconnectivity scheme to connect villages more than 1 kilometer apart.
"E-Office has been successfully piloted in the department. Now the head of the department's office and administration mail movement should be done completely through digital medium. This will increase timeliness and transparency," CM Yogi said.