PHOTO: SUBIR ROY

DIRECT ACTION: Congress president Sonia Gandhi at Bachrawan in Rae Bareli constituency on Saturday.

RAE BARELI: Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday expressed dissatisfaction with the quality of road works and the slow pace of development schemes in Rae Bareli.

Presiding over a meeting of the district-level vigilance and monitoring committee at the Collectorate here, Ms. Gandhi pulled up district and Public Works Department officials for the poor quality of road works. A Central team was likely to visit Rae Bareli soon to inspect the quality of road repairs, informed sources said.

The committee, headed by the local member of Parliament and comprising MLAs, the district magistrate and other district officials, is responsible for the proper and speedy implementation of development projects in the district. The 90-minute in camera meeting dwelt on road construction, delay in beautification of the ghats on the Ganga in Dalmau and the progress of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (NREGP). Rae Bareli is among the 22 districts of Uttar Pradesh included in the NREGP.

According to the sources, Ms. Gandhi was particularly dissatisfied with road laying works being executed under the Prime Minister Gramin Sadak Yojana (PMGRY), for which funds are allotted by the Centre.

The sources said the Rae Bareli-Lalganj road, relaid about two months ago, developed potholes and broken patches.

Work on beautifying the ghats on the Ganga in Dalmau was yet to begin though the Centre had sanctioned the funds about six months ago.

Nor was restoration of an ancient temple in Dalmau taken up, the sources said. Ms. Gandhi directed the district and tourism officials to start the work soon.

On the NREGP, the sources said the officials' attention was drawn to the tardy progress in distribution of job cards to beneficiaries; as a result, there was little or no generation of rural employment. Rae Bareli Congressmen pointed to a political angle in the Uttar Pradesh Government's approach to implementing the NREGP.

Meets partymen

Later Ms. Gandhi, who is on a two-day visit to her constituency, held a meeting with district Congress office-bearers, zilla panchayat members, block pramukhs and former MLAs and MLCs at the National Thermal Power Corporation guesthouse at Unchahar. Local bodies polls and selection of candidates for the Vidhan Sabha elections figured at the meeting, it is said.

Earlier in the morning, on reaching Lucknow's Amausi airport, Ms. Gandhi drove to Bachrawan, where she unveiled a statue of freedom fighter Munshi Chandrika Prasad (Guruji).

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