Government constitutes 5-member panel to monitor Central Vista project

The govt has formed a five-member Central Vista Oversight committee to monitor and ensure timely completion of the Central Vista Redevelopment project

The Centre has constituted a Central Vista Oversight Committee to directly oversee the Rs 20,000 crore project for a period of two years, informed an official statement issued by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

The order issued on Thursday by the ministry said, "Competent authority has approved the constitution of a Central Vista Oversight Committee for a period of two years or till further orders whichever is earlier."

"Former Finance Secretary Ratan P Watal has been appointed the Chairman of the five-member Central Vista Oversight Committee, PK Tiwari, former Deputy CAG, Shailendra Roy, former Director L & T, Prof Mausam, IIT, Delhi has been appointed as the member of the committee, Joint Secretary, MoHUA will be Convenor of the committee," the statement said.

The Central Vista Oversight Committee shall ensure multi-agency, multi-stakeholder coordination for seamless integration of different project works, and continuous monitoring of the pace of execution of various projects of Central Vista with respect to targeted milestones to ensure their timely completion, it added.

It shall also ensure the available resources are being used optimally during the project execution and necessary due diligence regarding costing is done during procurement and high standards in quality of work are maintained, it further said.

"The Committee will meet regularly as also undertake site inspections for an independent review and will submit its reports or recommendations to MoHUA on a regular basis," the statement said.

In September 2019, the government had announced Central Vista which will have a seating capacity for 900 to 1,200 MPs, which is to be constructed by August 2022 when the country will celebrate its 75th Independence Day. The common Central Secretariat is likely to be built by 2024 under the project that covers a 3-km stretch from Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate in Delhi.

The top court in January this year had held that the grant of environmental clearance and the notification for change in land use for construction of new Parliament building under the project was valid.

The apex court order had come on various pleas challenging several permissions given to the project by authorities including the grant of environmental clearance and the nod to change of land use.