Union Minister Prahlad Patel blames Mizoram for not implementing central schemes up to the mark

Aizawl, Dec. 5 (PTI): Union Minister Prahlad Patel Monday blamed the Mizoram government for not implementing the Centre’s schemes up to the mark and tht he will look into the implementation of the Centre’s schemes under his ministry.

Patel, who in the union minister of state for food processing industries, said the Centre has already released Rs 45 crore for the Zoram Mega Food Park at Khamrang and although its building and other facilities exist no work has been carried out there till now.

“It is painful to see that the project is not operational even many years after it was launched,” he said at a press conference here.

The union minister had visited the food park, about 40 km from here, soon after his arrival here on Monday.

Zoram Mega Food Park is an integrated project which provides infrastructure and services for food processing across the value chain to maximize value addition and minimise wastage. The Rs 75 crore project is being executed by the ministry of food processing industries.

Patel, who is also holds the charge of Jal Shakti portfolio, said that the implementation of the Centre’s ambitious Jal Jeevan Mission by the Mizo National Front government of Chief Minister Zoramthanga is lagging too.

Quoting from the report submitted by the Mizoram government, Patel said that only 70.46 per cent of the work under the Mission to provide functional household tap connections (FHTC) has been done from 2019 to November this year and the state is planning to acheive its goal to cover all villages in the state by 2023.

The Mission was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Independence Day in 2019 and the Mizoram government aims to provide potable drinking water to every rural household in more than 700 villages of the state through (FHTC) by 2024.

Patel also blamed the Mizoram government for allegedly using plastic barrels as water source against the scheme’s guideline for concrete water tanks. Besides, plastic pipes are being used in many villages instead of metal pipes.

The visibly irked union minister said that he will closely look into the implementation of and review the Centre’s schemes under his ministry.

The state ministers and officials could not be contacted for comment.

During his three-day visit, Patel will hold meetings with officials to review the implementation of the Centre’s schemes under his ministry. He will also visit south Mizoram’s Lawngtlai district near Myanmar border on Tuesday and return to Delhi the next day, officials said.