PM Modi pressed for accountability to improve telecom services

Clearly unhappy over poor telecom services, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday pressed for efficiency and accountability at all levels to bring about a visible change in the situation at the earliest.

He reviewed the progress towards handling and resolution of grievances related to the telecom sector while chairing a meeting of Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation (PRAGATI), an ICT-based multi-modal platform for interacting with various departments and states.

"Most of the grievances are related to issues of poor service quality, connectivity and non-functioning of landline connections," a PMO statement said.

During the meeting, Secretary, Department of Telecom, outlined the steps taken so far in this regard, it said.

"The Prime Minister emphasised the need for improving efficiency, and fixing accountability at all levels to bring about a visible change in the situation at the earliest," the statement said.

Modi recalled his review of the sector in April 2015 and said all available and existing technological solutions should be used to address the problems being faced by the people.

Reviewing the progress of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) in this monthly meeting, the Prime Minister underlined the Union government's commitment to provide Housing for All by 2022.

He urged the states to come up with strategies, time- bound action plans and roadmap, and a monitoring mechanism to follow up on this goal, the PMO said.

He called for the use of latest technology inputs to improve the pace and quality of work, the statement added.

The Prime Minister also asked all Secretaries of Government of India and Chief Secretaries to review the situation with regard to 'Ease of Doing Business'.

Referring to the World Bank's 'Ease of Doing Business' Report, he asked the officials to assess the progress based on the parameters used in it, the statement said.

He also asked senior officials in the Union Government to review the progress on a weekly basis.

Modi also reviewed the progress of vital infrastructure projects in the railway, road, port, power and natural gas sectors, spread over several states including Telangana, Odisha, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Haryana, Bihar, West Bengal, and Meghalaya.

The Prime Minister reiterated the importance of completing projects in time, so that cost overruns could be avoided, and the benefits of projects could reach the people, as originally envisaged, the statement said.

Among the projects reviewed today were: Birnihat-Shillong Railway Line; Jogbani-Biratnagar (Nepal) Railway Line; Surat- Dahisar Highway; Gurgaon-Jaipur Highway; Chennai and Ennore Port connectivity project; Cochin Shipyard dry-dock construction; and the East Coast to West Coast Mallavaram- Bhopal-Bhilwara-Vijayapur Natural Gas Pipeline.