Mumbai, July 15 (IANS) Maharashtra Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Jaykumar Gore, said on Tuesday in the Assembly that to make the roads in rural areas sustainable, the roads under the Mukhyamantri Gram Sadak Yojana will therefore be made of cement concrete.

The Minister said that these roads are currently constructed in rural areas through the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana and Mukhyamantri Gram Sadak Yojana.

He was replying to a calling attention motion moved by an Assembly member Shivaji Patil regarding rural roads in Chandgad Assembly constituency of Kolhapur district.

Minister Gore said that the width of rural roads is currently 5, 3 and 3.5 metres.

A positive decision will be taken to increase the width of these roads as per the requirement, he added.

“If there is a proposal from the Zilla Parishad to transfer the roads to the State Public Works Department, it will be examined and a decision will be taken. In the past, the state has constructed the largest number of rural roads in history under the Mukhyamantri Gram Sadak Yojana. Under this initiative, 11,697 works were approved, the length of which is 46,106 km. A proposal has been prepared by the Rural Development Department for the construction of Pandan roads (farm roads) in rural areas. This proposal will soon go before the Cabinet. Out of this, many non-planned rural roads will be constructed through Pandan roads,” the Minister said.

“In Chandgad Assembly constituency of Kolhapur district, 120 km of roads have been repaired in the years 2023-24 and 2024-25. Also, 53.86 km of length have been approved in this area under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, of which 45.92 km have been completed. Also, 162.95 km of length have been approved under the Mukhyamantri Gram Sadak Yojana, of which 106.51 km of roads have been completed,” he added.

Meanwhile, the State School Education Minister Dadaji Bhuse told the Assembly that a complaint regarding the recruitment of fake teachers and non-teaching staff in Amravati taluka was received on April 4 and an order has been given to the Education Commissioner Sachindra Pratap Singh to investigate the matter.

He was replying to a calling attention motion moved by Assembly member Pravin Tayade.

During the tenure of the then Deputy Director of Education of Amravati, Shivling Patve, hundreds of teachers and non-teaching staff were recruited with fake approval, and financial corruption worth crores of rupees was involved in this matter, as Tayade raised the issue in the Assembly.

Claiming that a relative of a former Minister of State was also involved in this scam, Tayade demanded that the state Education Department take action in this matter.

Responding to the allegations, Minister Bhuse said that the investigation into this teacher and non-teaching recruitment will be completed within a month and action will be taken as per the findings of the investigation.

Earlier, it has been decided to form a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the state-wide scam in the Education department.

An SIT comprising a civil servant, an Indian Police Service officer and a senior officer of the Education department will be formed soon and this investigation will also be conducted through it, the Minister added.

He said that the investigation into the scam in the state will be completed in three to four months.

–IANS

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