C’garh govt cancels tenders for new Assembly building
Amid mounting pressure by the Congress on the Union government to suspend the Central Vista project, Chhattisgarh government on Thursday announced that it was suspending all major projects, including the construction of a new Raj Bhavan, state legislative Assembly and the official residence of chief minister in Nava Raipur.
The tenders for two projects worth `363 crore for the construction of a new state legislative Assembly building have been cancelled with immediate effect by the Congress state government led by chief minister Bhupesh Baghel.
To focus the state’s resources and manpower
in managing the raging Coronavirus pandemic, the state government has also decided to take stringent austerity measures while announcing free education and scholarships for children who lost their parents due to the coronavirus pandemic in Chhattisgarh.
“Our citizens — our priority. Foundation stone for the construction of the new Assembly building, Raj Bhavan, chief minister’s residence, residence of ministers and senior officials, and a new circuit house was laid before the start of Corona. Today, all these construction works have been stopped in these times of crisis,” Mr Baghel tweeted.
Chhattisgarh has 1,22,798 active Covid-19 cases, while the cumulative number of deaths in the state stands at 11,094, according to the Union health ministry.
“In view of the circumstances arising in the state due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Chhattisgarh government has stopped construction works of all major projects with immediate effect and also decided to take even more stringent measures for austerity,” a press release issued by the
Chhattisgarh government said.
Accordingly, ongoing works on construction of new Raj Bhavan, state legislative Assembly, official residences of CM, other ministers and senior officers in Nava Raipur have been suspended, the press release said. The foundation stone-laying ceremony for these projects was performed on November 25, 2019.
“The chief engineer of the PWD has issued orders to the concerned contractors to stop the construction work of the new Raj Bhavan, new CM house, new houses of ministers and officers and new circuit house in Nava Raipur,” the press release said.
The state government has instructed all the departments that, like the previous year, austerity should be exercised in the financial year 2021. Mr Baghel also announced that his government will provide free education and scholarship to children who lost their parents due to the coronavirus pandemic in Chhattisgarh.
“The Chhattisgarh government will now bear the entire expenditure of the education of children who have lost their parents due to coronavirus during this financial year.
Also a scholarship of `500 per month will be given to such children studying from standard first to eighth and `1,000 per month for children from standard ninth to 12th,” a separate press release issued by the state government said.