What measures is Bihar’s PHED minister taking on pending projects and dues recovery?
Synopsis
Key Takeaways
- Accountability measures for contractors with unpaid dues.
- One-month deadline for clearing outstanding bills.
- Salary withholding for officers failing to recover dues.
- Stalled projects must be completed within one month.
- Focus on transparency and discipline in operations.
Patna, Dec 17 (NationPress) The Minister for Bihar’s Public Health Engineering Department (PHED), Sanjay Kumar Singh, conducted a press briefing on Wednesday, where he introduced several significant initiatives aimed at fostering accountability, ensuring the timely completion of projects, and recovering pending dues within the department.
The minister emphasized that contractors linked with the PHED who have unpaid electricity bills will be barred from participating in future tender opportunities.
These contractors are provided a one-month grace period to settle their outstanding dues.
During the departmental review meeting held earlier that day, the accountability of officers across all levels was scrutinized.
Singh warned that the salaries of officers who do not achieve the recovery of overdue amounts within the one-month deadline will face withholding.
Additionally, it was resolved that stalled projects will receive the necessary approvals to be completed within a month.
“The Chief Engineer will closely supervise all ongoing projects, and strict actions will be taken against any officers found absent from their offices or job sites,” Singh declared.
The minister further stated that officers in districts where work remains incomplete — including Nawada, Biharsharif, and Sasaram — have been assigned a final deadline of one month. Non-compliance with this timeline will result in salary withholding for the concerned officers.
Sanjay Singh highlighted that all issues were meticulously reviewed on a zone-wise basis during the meeting and stressed the implementation of strict measures to guarantee transparency, discipline, and accountability within departmental operations.
Sanjay Kumar Singh, representing the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), secured victory in the Mahua Assembly seat during the latest elections, defeating RJD’s Mukesh Roshan and JJD's Tej Pratap Yadav.
He garnered 87,641 votes in Mahua, achieving a notable margin of 44,997 votes over the incumbent RJD MLA, Mukesh Roshan, who received only 42,644 votes. Lalu Yadav's elder son, Tej Pratap Yadav, also faced rejection from the electorate.