Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has assured the Centre of his government’s commitment to implement RERA, in letter and in spirit, and to ensure that the central government aided poverty alleviation and housing projects funded during the previous regime in the state are brought on track and executed at the earliest.The issues came for discussion during the Chief Minister’s meeting here with Union Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, M. Venkaiah Naidu, on Wednesday.Captain Amarinder apprised the minister of the progress made by his government, since taking over just two months ago, on the implementation of the various central schemes and projects for which the Union Government had released funds in the past but which had not reached the intended beneficiaries.The Chief Minister assured the Union Minister that his government had already initiated the process for the implementation of RERA, without diluting the spirit of the legislation in any way. To a suggestion from the Chief Minister on the adoption of certain rules from other states to strengthen RERA, Naidu said the central government had no objection as long as there was no dilution of the spirit of the law, according to a spokesperson in the Punjab Chief Minister’s Office.
Naidu, who is planning to visit Punjab in July to review the progress of the central projects, noted that the central government funds released to the state had not been transferred to the beneficiaries. The Chief Minister assured the minister of his government’s all-out efforts to bring things on track on this front at the earliest. The Union Minister promised full support to ensure early implementation of the various projects in the interest of the people of Punjab.The Chief Minister said his government was cognizant of the fact that the central funds were lying un-utilized as the previous dispensation had failed to transfer the same to the concerned beneficiaries. His government, said Captain Amarinder, had started the process of verifying the beneficiaries, especially for the affordable housing scheme of the central government.The Chief Minister further assured the union minister that his government was working on policies and programs for taking forward key projects, including the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) and the `Housing for All’ mission. An action plan had been drawn out by his government to launch the necessary reforms in the housing and real estate sector, said the Chief Minister, adding that he was hopeful of implementing the same with the Centre’s support.Prominent amongst others who were present in the meeting included Media Advisor to CM Raveen Thukral, Chief Secretary Karan Avtar Singh, ACS Local Government Satish Chandra, ACS Urban & Housing Development Vinni Mahajan, Principal Secretary to CM Tejveer Singh, Secretary Local Governmnt G. Balamurgam and Resident Commissioner Punjab Bhawan New Delhi Rahul Bhandari.