South Odisha Road Connectivity to Improve; Vigilance Cracks Down on Corruption

The rest... will be expanded... Road connectivity will improve. There will be average development in South Odisha. Development will accelerate especially in Gajapati, Rayagada and Koraput districts, Union Minister Ashwini Baishnab said after the meeting. This project will facilitate the transportation of goods to Gopalpur port and nearby industrial estates. Connectivity to Jaipur airport and other railway stations will be easy. Travel time will be reduced by about 3 hours. Road safety will be ensured. Along with this, industry, education, tourism and socio-economic development in this region will get a boost. Improved road connectivity will increase access to markets, healthcare, education and accelerate employment. As a result, the local community and industry will benefit. The certificate was asked earlier. But keeping in mind the harassment of drivers, we have decided to give another 2 months. Complaints of fraud were received from all over the state regarding fake pollution certificates. The State Transport Authority (SAT) has issued instructions to all RTOs for strict inspection. So far, the licenses of 42 centers have been canceled. In addition, the Transport Department is giving priority to opening new centers. If anyone applies, the center will be approved to open within 24 hours. As the day progresses, the crowd at the pollution inspection centers is increasing. People are standing at the centers for hours and returning. Every day, many pictures of pollution certificates are coming to the fore from all over the state. Paying multiple fines is becoming an additional burden. Due to which dissatisfaction is increasing among vehicle owners. It is hoped that this hardship will be eased to a large extent in another 2 months. This will also increase tourism. This is a big step towards progress in Odisha, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said. Meanwhile, state Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari for approving the project. He said that this project will improve connectivity in the tribal-affected areas of South Odisha. On the other hand, the 374-km Nashik-Solapur (Aktilkot) corridor will cost Rs 19,142 crore. A 6-lane axle-controlled greenfield highway will be constructed under this project. It is a part of the Surat-Chennai high-speed corridor, which connects western India with the southern region. The corridor will pass through Nashik, Ahalyanagar, Dharashiv and Solapur districts. The construction period will be 2 years. This project is being billed as the highest-value BOT (Bill-Operate-Transfer) project so far. It is expected to accelerate private investment. 212 government... rupees were received in the year. In 2025, the vigilance registered 97 cases of bribery. 114 people were arrested by the vigilance. Out of these, 105 were government employees. 25 lakh 27 thousand rupees of bribe was seized from the arrested persons. The highest bribe was seized from IAS Dhiman Chakham of the 2021 batch. When he was the Deputy Commissioner of Kandhamal, the Vigilance was caught taking a bribe of Rs 10,000. The biggest thing was that Rs 47 lakh was found during a raid on his house. In 2025, the Vigilance seized a total of 153 houses, 18 kg 300 grams of gold, 714 plots, 12 farm houses, and bank deposits worth Rs 18.36 crore 69 lakh in various cases. This year, the government dismissed 23 people from their jobs and stopped the pension of 50 people. The Vigilance Special Court punished 108 people. It continued till March 31. Regarding the ongoing controversy over the green sticker, the minister said that putting the green sticker is not mandatory. It will act as an indicator while filling up the petrol pump. If no one puts a green sticker on the vehicle, no action will be taken. In future, all RTOs will be given green stickers. Those who have done PUCC can collect the green sticker from the RTO office. He said that the general public will be directly benefited by giving it. It is worth mentioning that the full name of PRAGATI is Pro-Active Governance and Time Implementation. This is a digital platform. Here, the central, state governments and individual ministries and departments review the stalled plans. Modi described it as a symbol of a profound change in India's governance culture. According to him, when timely action is taken and accountability is established, the speed of government automatically picks up. In this important meeting of PRAGATI, projects related to roads, railways, electricity, water resources, and coal sectors of various states were reviewed. In addition, the Prime Minister also gave important instructions regarding the PM Shri School Yojana. He said that this scheme should not be limited to building construction alone, but should be made a national standard of education prepared for the future. From village to city... half the term will be over. And without delay, the leaders who worked for the organization