- Concerned enforcement officers will be responsible for bad roads
- Study and compliance of departmental circulars will be reviewed by Chief Engineers
- 100% verification of bitumen payments will be mandatory, recovery of irregular payments will be
- made Displeasure over pending action of blacklisting of contractors
- Conference of Public Works Department Engineers was held
Public Works Minister Shri Rakesh Singh has said that quality , financial discipline and accountability will not be compromised at any level in departmental construction works. It is the responsibility of every officer to follow the instructions given by the Minister and Chief Secretary level within the prescribed time limits. Strict action will be taken against officials who ignore the instructions , keep the cases unnecessarily pending and are negligent.
Minister Shri Singh said that the responsibility will be fixed in the area where the road is found to be damaged . The primary responsibility for maintenance , timely repair and quality assurance of the roads will be that of the respective enforcement officers. If the road is damaged due to negligence or if the damaged road is not repaired on time during the year, action will be taken against the concerned enforcement officer.
In the chief engineer conference held at Vallabh Bhavan under the chairmanship of Public Works Minister Shri Singh, departmental construction works , action taken on surprise inspections , verification of bitumen supply and payments , quality of roads , public welfare lakes , training arrangements and compliance with departmental instructions were reviewed in detail. In the meeting Principal Secretary Public Works Mr. Sukhveer Singh , Project Director of MPRDC Mr. Bharat Yadav , Project Director of MPBDC Mr. CB Chakraborty M. , Chief Engineer and all Chief Engineers were present.
Minister Shri Singh while reviewing the action taken on the irregularities found during surprise inspections asked how many contractors found guilty have been blacklisted so far. Some Chief Engineers expressed displeasure over the pending blacklisting of contractors.
Minister Shri Singh said that surprise inspection is not a formal process of merely identifying deficiencies. Timely and effective action should be taken on the irregularities found in the inspection. In the cases of contractors against whom blacklisting instructions have been given , immediate action should be taken as per rules and compliance report should be submitted. The accountability of the officials who kept the action pending will also be fixed. He said that ENC should also go for surprise inspection.
Minister Shri Singh directed that all payments related to bitumen received from government refineries should be 100% verified. No payment shall be made without complete reconciliation of the actual supply , invoice , quantity , usage and payment records of bitumen . He clarified that if even a single payment is found without verification, disciplinary action will be taken against the concerned officer. If the amount has been paid without verification , its recovery will also be done from the concerned authority. Availability of bitumen from government refineries , supply arrangements and its use at construction sites were also reviewed in the meeting.
Minister Shri Singh directed that the Chief Engineer should regularly monitor the roads in the area. Damaged roads , bridges and water-logged places should be marked on priority and repair work should be carried out as soon as possible due to rain . Our citizens should not face any kind of inconvenience or accident due to the bad condition of the road.
Minister Shri Singh directed all Chief Engineers to prepare proposals regarding rationalization of road categories by August 3 , 2026 and submit them to the Chief Secretary and the Minister. Current traffic , regional needs , industrial and agricultural activities , tourism and future development prospects should be kept in mind while preparing the proposal . He reviewed the progress of public welfare lakes and directed the Chief Engineers to self-inspect the under-construction lakes in their respective areas. He said that the Chief Engineer should ensure that the lake is built in accordance with the prescribed parameters and issued guidelines.
Minister Shri Singh directed to make public welfare lakes more useful and useful to the public and said that special attention should be given to site selection , water storage capacity , water conservation , ground water conservation , beautification and usability of the surrounding area . A target of construction of 510 Lok Kalyan lakes in the state has been set in the year 2026.
While reviewing the departmental training programmes, Minister Shri Singh said that training should not be a mere formality of registering attendance or obtaining certificates. Every officer and engineer in training should learn something new and use the acquired knowledge in their field of work. He directed to link training subjects with field requirements , new construction techniques , quality control and practical problem solving. After the training, participants were also asked to take feedback and review the field application of the techniques learned. Batch mix plant should be used in road construction. Drum mix plant should be used only for patch repair work. Accordingly S.O.R. I also directed the research
Minister Shri Singh said that the questionnaire will be filled by the chief engineers in the upcoming meeting regarding the various circulars and guidelines issued by the department. Through this it will be seen whether the officers read , understand and follow the departmental circulars or not. He said that departmental directives should not be limited to office records only , but their impact should also be clearly visible in the quality and functioning of construction works. Minister Shri Singh said that priority should be given to outstanding work, innovation, quality, timeliness and effective work done in public interest in the selection of awards.
Audit , record keeping , financial procedures and office functioning of the divisional offices were reviewed in the conference. Instructions were given to resolve the pending audit objections in a timely manner and to ensure complete transparency in the examination of payments , acceptances and financial records. The meeting also reviewed progress on green building standards and the MoU with the Home Council. Instructions have been given to ensure adherence to parameters of energy efficiency , water conservation , natural lighting , eco-friendly construction materials and waste management in new government buildings. While discussing the creation and implementation of the road network master plan of the region, emphasis was placed on providing better road connectivity to industrial areas , agricultural production centers , tourist destinations and urban areas as per future requirements.
The progress of Incident Reporting System , Budget Module and DPR Module being developed in collaboration with Bhaskaracharya Institute was also reviewed. Suggestions were sought from Chief Engineers regarding timely entry of information in these digital systems and ensuring effective monitoring of projects.
The meeting also reviewed the resolution of road potholes and other road related complaints received through the Lokpath app. It was informed that any citizen of the state can file a complaint through Lokpath app from his mobile phone , which is ensured to be resolved within 4 days as per the time limit set by the department. During the review, it was informed that more than 99 percent of the complaints received through the app have been successfully resolved.
The conference also discussed the nomination , selection process and use of People Welfare Index for the Public Works Awards to be given on Engineers Day (September 15 , 2026).
