Pala said this after attending a day-long review meeting here on Tuesday which was attended by senior government officials of various departments. Except for Ri Bhoi district, public representatives from most other districts attended the meet.
"All schemes are progressing well and there is a marked improvement in the implementation. Though East Khasi Hills is doing exceedingly well, other districts are not far behind," Pala added. "There is a huge progress in program implementation and all departments are performing better than before," he said.
He attributed the slow progress made till to the non-release of funds by the Centre which resulted in the state government's failure to furnish utilization certificates on time.
He also brought to fore the problems faced by the state PWD in implementation of the PMGSY scheme to shortage of manpower. "I will take up the matter with the state government so that necessary steps are initiated to ensure expeditious implementation of the scheme for the benefit of people," he said. "It is important for the state PWD to gear itself up especially with adequate funds that are pouring in now," Pala added citing that the Asian Development Bank's (ADB) has allotted Rs 1,500 crore to the state for several road projects. One of the main reasons for slow progress by the PWD was the lack of qualified contractors to execute the work, Pala said.
"Centrally-funded schemes also come with strict guidelines which cannot be relaxed, hence this is one area which the department needs to address in due course of time," he said.