Road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday cautioned NHAI officials that he has “an independent intelligence gathering system” and he gets first hand information about the working of staff posted at the headquarters and in the field.
Stating that he is not happy with the performance of NHAI, with it building just 2,000 or 2,500 km annually despite having huge staff, finance and power, Gadkari said now he will set the target for the agency. “Don’t waste your time convincing me how my target is tough to achieve. There is no discussion on this issue, rather spend time to find ways to meet the targets,” the minister said, according to sources.
Officials said Gadkari was of the view that the organisation should be lean and must focus on performance, adding that more officials should be posted at local levels to expedite works. Asking the staff to work or leave, the minister also urged officials to use technology for better monitoring and faster completion of projects.
Meanwhile, the highway ministry has started preparations to revamp the processes and monitoring of projects since inception. A massive exercise has been started to use GIS technology for mapping all projects, monitoring construction and status of land acquisition.
Soon after taking charge, Gadkari had introduced systemic changes using IT in the port sector, due to which all the 12 major ports registered profit. The shipping ministry expects the profit of major ports to touch Rs 6,000 crore this year.
