280 highway projects to be completed before Lok Sabha elections: Gadkari
New Delhi, June 14: Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday announced that he had expedited 280 national highway projects which would now be completed before the Lok Sabha elections next year.
These include 127 National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) projects and 153 ministry projects, which were scheduled for completion by June 2019.
"All these projects are now targeted for expedited completion by March 2019 before the Model Code of Conduct is imposed in the country for the (Lok Sabha) elections," Gadkari told reporters here.
In addition, there are about 100 projects that are going to be completed by December 2018, he added.
The Minister said the construction target of NHAI for 2018-19 has also been revised upwards from 5,058 km to 6,000 km. He expressed confidence that the organisation would surpass this target.
However, he added, the projects of Maharashtra and the Northeastern states remain to be reviewed, and the meeting for this will be held soon.
Gadkari's remarks came after an extensive, state-wise review of over 700 ongoing national highway projects in the country across 20 states.
"During the marathon two-day review held in Goa earlier this week, it was realised that delay in land acquisition, utility shifting, environment clearance and permission for cutting of trees are some of the main reasons for delay of highways projects," he said.
The Minister lauded the performance of Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh in sorting out these issues and helping expedite the highways projects. States like Bihar and Odisha on the other hand, need to greatly improve their performance in this regard, he said.
Following the Goa review meeting, Chief Secretaries of all states have been asked to hold monthly review meetings to sort out problems at their ends.
Gadkari added that faulty Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) have been found to be another reason for delay.
"Very often DPRs are made without taking actual ground realities into consideration. It has been decided to compile a list of projects that have been delayed for this reason. The consultants making faulty DPRs will be penalized and black listed," he said.
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Centre spent Rs 76.13 lakh on print media ads for RSS centenary, reveals RTI
New Delhi: The Union Ministry of Culture allegedly spent Rs 76.13 lakh on print advertisements marking the 100-year celebrations of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), according to a Right to Information (RTI) reply.
The information was sought by RTI activist Ajay Basudev Bose, who filed an application seeking details on expenditure incurred by the ministry for advertisements commemorating the RSS centenary.
Bose shared a picture of the reply from the ministry on his official ‘X’ handle.
“It is informed that an amount of Rs 76,13,129 has been spent on advertisement given in various print media by the Ministry of Culture on the occasion of the completion of 100 years of RSS,” the government’s reply stated.
RTI reply shows Min of Culture Govt of India spent a Whopping Rs 76L,13K,129 on Advertisement in Print Media on occasion of 100 yrs of #RSS
— AJAY Basudev Bose (@AjayBos93388306) April 16, 2026
When Everyone knows RSS is Not Registered & Does not Pay any Tax is it justified to spend Tax Payers Money on such Private event??@RSSorg… pic.twitter.com/dW4IUtdNCg
Bose questioned the expenditure in the post X, “when Everyone knows RSS is Not Registered & Does not Pay any Tax is it justified to spend Tax Payers Money on such Private event??”
Reacting to the development, Karnataka’s IT-BT and Panchayat Raj Minister Priyank Kharge also criticised the spending.
In a post on X, he asked why public money was being used for what he described as a “private ideological project.”
"Modi Sarkar spent Rs 76,13,129 of public money on newspaper advertisements to celebrate 100 years of the RSS. Why is Government spending taxpayers money on an unregistered, non-tax-paying organisation to celebrate their centenary?," he added.
Why is public money being used to serve a private ideological project?
— Priyank Kharge / ಪ್ರಿಯಾಂಕ್ ಖರ್ಗೆ (@PriyankKharge) April 16, 2026
Modi Sarkar spent ₹76,13,129 of public money on newspaper advertisements to celebrate 100 years of the RSS.
Why is Government spending taxpayers money on an unregistered, non-tax-paying organisation to… pic.twitter.com/EoZ6Pim3IM
According to reports, the RSS describes itself as a volunteer-based organisation and has stated that it functions as a body of individuals rather than a registered entity.
Founded by Keshav Baliram Hedgewar in 1925, the organisation is marking its centenary year beginning from Vijaydashami in 2025, with the milestone observed on October 2.
