Punjab Public Works and Power Minister Harbhajan Singh ETO on Monday said that the Public Works Department (PWD) has been working on 206 government building projects worth Rs 2280 Crore in the current fiscal year and out of these 53 projects have been completed as of October 2023. Giving detail of these projects, the PWD Minister said that these 206 projects include the construction of Government Buildings including that of Judiciary, IKGPTU and of Higher Education, School Education, Tourism and Cultural Affairs, Medical Education and research, Revenue, Sports, Transport and Civil Aviation Department etc.
“The department has also a target of Rs. 150 crore expenditure on Deposit and Judicial works during the fiscal year 2023-2024”, said ETO while adding that an expenditure of Rs. 43.60 Crore has been incurred so far on these works. Revealing further, the PWD minister said that the PWD had undertaken a total of 196 projects worth Rs. 2700 crore regarding the construction of government buildings of various departments in FY 2022-23 and out of these 45 projects were completed as of March 2023, and remaining are under progress.
“In addition to it, 255 Primary Health Centers have been upgraded to Aam Aadmi Clinics in FY 2022-23”, he added. The minister said that out of the target of 17 schools set up by the department under Phase 1 to realize the Punjab government's vision of improving school education, 15 schools are nearing completion, and work on 25 more schools to be completed under Phase 3.
Harbhajan Singh ETO said that the department has been following a fair and transparent bidding system while allocating all the development works, and the PWD officers were also directed to ensure that all the projects should be completed in a time-bound manner at the most economical costs adhering to the specifications.
Reiterating the commitment of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on putting the state back on the higher trajectory of development and prosperity, the PWD Minister Harbhajan Singh ETO said that the department has been putting in tireless efforts to develop quality infrastructure in the state.