Law, Works and Excise Minister Prithviraj Harichandan has issued a clear directive to officials — complete all ongoing road, building, and bridge projects within the stipulated time frame to accelerate Odisha’s development.
Chairing a high-level review meeting on project expenditure and progress at the Convention Centre of Lokseva Bhavan here today, the Minister expressed concern over delays and stressed that inter-departmental coordination must be strengthened immediately to resolve land acquisition, forest clearance, and utility shifting issues.
“Many big projects have been completed in the last two years due to the hard work of engineers and officers. Several others are in the final stages. Now we need to move even faster. There should be no compromise on quality and no extension of deadlines,” Harichandan said.
The Minister directed Chief Engineers and Superintending Engineers to conduct regular field visits and hold monthly review meetings to monitor progress and sort out problems on the spot. He also suggested holding regular coordination meetings at the district level to ensure smoother execution of projects.
Highlighting the importance of financial discipline, the Minister said project funds must be utilised within the given time period. He asked officials to adopt modern technology and make full use of software like OSWAS and WAMIS for better monitoring and transparency.
Principal Secretary Sanjay Kumar Singh presented a detailed division-wise report on expenditure, physical progress, and pending issues.
Senior officials, including EIC & Special Secretary Engineer Laxmikanta Padhi, Finance Advisor Ratikanta Mohapatra, EIC (Civil) Engineer Satyabrata Behera, EIC (Roads) Engineer Dhyanachand Nayak, and Chief Construction Engineer Engineer Manoj Mahananda, were present in the meeting.
The review meeting is seen as a strong signal from the government that infrastructure projects will now be monitored more strictly to ensure Odisha’s development story moves at a faster pace.
