Bihar Minister dismisses allegation of estimate scam
Patna, March 17 (UNI) Bihar Road Construction Minister Nitin Naveen on Thursday dismissed the allegation of an estimate scam in construction of roads and bridges in the state.
While replying to debate in the Assembly on budgetary demand of Road Construction Department of Rs 5819.02 Crores for the financial year 2022-23, Naveen said the allegation of estimate scam levelled by the opposition in construction of roads and bridges in the state was “baseless”.Those days are gone when work used to be done only on paper, he stated while making an oblique reference to the RJD regime from 1990 to 2005, rocked by several scams.
The Minister said the estimates for construction of roads and bridges in Bihar were being prepared by well-qualified engineers and certified by experts of premier technical institutions like Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and National Institute of Technology (NIT).There was no question of any irregularity in preparations of estimates, he stressed.
The Minister said single-lane roads in Bihar before 2005 when the NDA government took over was 91 percent which has come down to 41 percent in the last 16 years. Similarly, Intermediate lane roads in Bihar were 6.25 percent which has increased to 42 percent, he added.
Naveen said four to six lanes roads were not in existence in the state before 2005. Network of four to six-lane roads was now two percent in Bihar, he added.
The Minister said with the assistance of Central Government, 903 KMs of roads were constructed in the Naxalite-affected areas of Bihar during the first phase. Similarly, 509 KMs of roads were constructed in the Naxalite-affected areas during the phase two, he added. He further said the Bihar government had taken loan from Asian Development Bank (ADB) and 1683-km State Highways were constructed.
The Minister said the Centre had approved a proposal of upgrading Ram Janaki Road to four lane roads in Bihar. With the assistance of the Centre, 240 KMs of Ram Janaki Roads would be upgraded to four lanes, he informed.
Dissatisfied with the Minister’s reply, opposition parties staged a walkout from the House. Later, budgetary demand of Road Construction Department of Rs 5819.02 Crores was passed by voice vote in the House. UNI KKS SSP
