Union minister Puri seeks progress reports on urban missions

Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri has decided to review the progress of various urban schemes, including the Clean India and Smart City Missions, once every 15 days to accelerate their implementation, a senior official said.
Puri, who was named the Housing and Urban Affairs minister a month ago in the Cabinet reshuffle, told senior officials of his ministry yesterday that a day-long review with them will be undertaken on every first and third Tuesday of a month, the official added.
"Anything that can be measured can be changed. It implies that if we don't monitor and measure the outcomes, the intended change may not come through," he quoted Puri as saying.

The minister also prioritised the outcomes to be monitored under each mission like the number of Waste-to- Wealth projects made functional and toilets built during the fortnight under Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) against the targets.
Similarly, the number of water supply connections provided under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), projects completed in each of the first batch of 20 smart cities, and affordable houses sanctioned and built under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) will be reviewed.
Puri stressed that the progress report should highlight the efforts made by the central and state governments to speed up execution, implementation hurdles resolved during the last fifteen days, and reasons for delay, if any, the official said.

The minister also stated that Rs 5 lakh crore investments has been approved so far under new urban missions.
He also directed finalisation of the National Rental Housing Policy and the Model Tenancy Act soon, besides highlighting the need for the DDA to immediately notify the Land Pooling Policy already cleared by the Ministry, the official said.
Puri referred to his first month in office as "quite eventful", he added.