In order to give impetus to the infrastructuredevelopment in the rural areas of the state, the Punjab Government on Tuesdayprioritized the projects to the tune of Rs 911 crore for seeking assistancefrom NABARD under the RIDF-XXVII during the current financial year.
A decision to this effect was taken at a high-poweredcommittee meeting, chaired by the Chief Secretary, Ms. Vini Mahajan, to reviewthe progress of the ongoing NABARD-funded projects in the state, here onTuesday.
Lauding the efforts of NABARD, implementing departmentsand Finance department for doubling the availability of the RuralInfrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) assistance to Rs 600 crore during2020-21 registering 100 percent year-on-year growth over the previous year byobtaining additional borrowing power for the first time, the Chief Secretarydirected the departments concerned to complete all the ongoing infrastructureand development projects in time.
Sharing the major highlights of 2020-21, Rajiv Siwach,CGM NABARD apprised the Chief Secretary that the RIDF assistance of Rs 563.63crore was sanctioned during 2020-21 which was 112.73 percent of the normativeallocation of Rs 500 crore.
He assured that the NABARD would provide enhancedallocation of Rs 700 crore for the rural infrastructure in the state during thecurrent financial year looking at the performance of the state last year.
The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary WaterResources Sarvjit Singh, Principal Secretary Finance KAP Sinha, FinancialCommissioner Cooperation K Siva Prasad, Principal Secretary PWD Vikas Pratap,Principal Secretary Water Supply and Sanitation Jaspreet Talwar, PrincipalSecretary Health Hussan Lal and Secretary School Education Krishan Kumar.