Naidu to review progress of urban schemes in NE states

New Delhi: Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu will review the progress of urban schemes in the eight states of North-Eastern region in Guwahati tomorrow.

He will also chair a meeting of ‘Joint Hindi Advisory Committee’ of Urban Development and Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (HUPA) ministries to review the use of Hindi language in official works in both the ministries and their offices.

The meeting is being held in the North-East for the first time. The minister will also release a compendium of 2,500 frequently used words in both the ministries translated from English to Hindi to promote the use of language, an official release said.

The urban schemes to be reviewed include Prime Minister’s Awas Yojana (Urban), Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and Smart City Mission and Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban).

The schemes relates to two ministries of Urban Development and HUPA in states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura.

Under PMAY (Urban), HUPA ministry has approved construction of 99,940 affordable houses for urban poor in the eight states of North-Eastern region during the last two years.

As many as 12 towns of North-Eastern states have been included in the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation for Urban Transformation (AMRUT) scheme.

The scheme aims to provide water taps to all urban households, besides expanding sewerage and drainage networks, and promoting non-motorised transport, among others.

Eight towns of North-Eastern states have been included under Smart City Mission under which central assistance of Rs 500 crore is provided to each smart city over a period of five years.

—PTI