Mamata asks departments to earmark land before submitting DPR

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has directed all departments to earmark land for any project before submitting the Detailed Project Report (DPR) in order to get quick clearance from the finance department, official sources confirmed on Wednesday.

From now on, proposals of new projects would require a "clearance" from the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) before it is moved to the finance department for the final approval, the source said.

The direction came from the CMO after it surfaced that several departments, primarily the Public Works Department (PWD), are submitting proposals for projects without earmarking any land delaying the entire process.

"There are departments that are submitting proposals without making any groundwork. That is the reason even after the clearance of the finance department, several projects are not getting implemented because of land problems," a senior official at the state secretariat said on Wednesday.

Incidentally, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had expressed her concern over the matter at a recently-held state level administrative meeting.

The chief minister has directed the officials to solve land-related problems first before preparing the DPR, he said.

The CMO also directed departments to submit a detailed report about the availability of land which could be used for different projects in the future.