BHUBANESWAR: The State Government has reiterated its demand to relax the norms of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) to connect more tribal villages in the State.Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik drew the attention of Union Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh to the issue at a meeting here on Sunday. The norms of the PMGSY should be relaxed so that it connects tribal villages having a population of 250 each, Naveen said. At present, PMGSY covers villages with a population of 500.The State Government maintained that population criterion would have to be eased to connect all the tribal villages as these are less populated than villages in other areas of the State. According to a release issued by the Chief Minister’s Office, Ramesh lauded the State Government for proper implementation of the PMGSY.The Chief Minister also requested Jairam to sanction more drinking water projects. Besides, Naveen said the criteria for release of allowance for differentlyabled persons should also be relaxed. Other demands included release of more pension for the tribal-dominated districts.Implementation of MGNREGS was also discussed. The issue of delay in payment of wages to the beneficiaries in the tribal districts, where the number of banks and post offices is less, was also raised in the meeting.Execution of Integrated Action Plan (IAP) in the Left-wing extremist (LWE) affected districts and National Rural Livelihood Mission were also discussed.Chief Secretary Bijay Kumar Patnaik, Development Commissioner RN Senapati and senior officials attended the meeting.
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