Bhubaneswar: One of the longest serving former Secretary of Department of Works and Senior BJD Lawmaker Nalini Kanta Pradhan knows his subject well.
So Shri Pradhan, when stood up to speak on Financial allocations on Department of Works in recently concluded State Legislative Assembly, the House listened attentively.
That is because, Shri Pradhan, a positive minded and aggressively development oriented Ex Engineer In Chief and Secretary Works has presented his mind set in the House.
While he had criticized the Budget Proposals for Department of Works brought by BJP Government he also presented constructive suggestions, which was appreciated in various circle.
While participating in the “Demand for Grants discussion, Shri Pradhan said the Minister Works Prithiviraj Harichandan has presented a budget of Rs 10,750 crore for Works Department, of which Rs 8450 crore earmarked for program expenditure and Rs 2300 crore for administrative expenses.
Though the budget allocation is little more than previous year’s budget, there is nothing new in this year’s budget as no new road or any project has been announced in it, he said.
The fund allocations have been made only to carry out the ongoing projects, which were proposed by the previous BJD government, he said.
The BJD leader lauded former Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for his vision and contribution for the development of road and building projects in the State during his 24 years tenure.
When BJD formed the government in Odisha in 2000, the State didn’t have enough funds to provide salary to its employees, forget about development of infrastructures, he said, adding, at that time, only Rs 117 crore has been allocated to the Works Department.
However, due to the good governance and fiscal management of Naveen Patnaik, the budgetary allocation has been enhanced to Rs 500 crore in 2005-06 and Rs 1171 crore in 2012-13 and Rs 4526 crore during 2016-17. During the last financial year 2023-24, the BJD government had provided a total of Rs 9452 crore, which is nearly 80 times more than the allocation made in 2000-01, Shri Pradhan pointed out.
In the year 2000, there were only 16,000 km of road network under the PWD, which is now enhanced to 35,000 km, he informed the House.
For proper maintenance of public buildings, the BJD government has brought maintenance works of the buildings of all Departments including Forest, Health, Panchayati Raj, Rural Development and Urban Development under the PWD, he stated.
The State Works Department has developed Asset Management Tool, which became a vital tool for preparation of budget in accordance with the need for creation of new roads and bridges in the State. The CRRI has lauded this tool of the Odisha Government, Shri Pradhan pointed out.