Anandiben Patel-PMO hotline speeds up approvals for Gujarat

Be it the Ahmedabad Metro, land for Gujarat Bhavan in New Delhi or funds for projects, Gujarat chief minister Anandiben Patel mostly bypasses the usual ministry route to directly write to prime minister Narendra Modi to expedite approvals. And the prime minister, it appears, obliges by taking a personal interest in clearing projects for Gujarat, documents available with dna suggest.

Be it the Ahmedabad Metro, land for Gujarat Bhavan in New Delhi or funds for projects, Gujarat chief minister Anandiben Patel mostly bypasses the usual ministry route to directly write to prime minister Narendra Modi to expedite approvals. And the prime minister, it appears, obliges by taking a personal interest in clearing projects for Gujarat, documents available with dna suggest.

Unlike other chief ministers who communicate with the ministry concerned for their projects, Patel prefers to deal directly with the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) to cut the red tape.

In response to a Right to Information (RTI) application filed by dna, the urban development ministry revealed that Patel wrote to PMO in June complaining that the ministry had been idling on the Ahmedabad Metro project since April. The prime minister, who was Gujarat chief minister before Patel, intervened and the project got a final go-ahead in August.

Acquisition of land for Gujarat Bhavan in the national capital was also made possible with Modi's intervention. According to the documents, the PMO made a reference to Patel's complaints and got land allotted to the state government in July this year.

Patel and PMO walked the same path to get funds for projects sanctioned under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).

The RTI reply from various departments within the ministry reveals that the Gujarat government has made the most number of requests to the PMO.

The only other chief minister to write to the prime minister has been former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa for construction of phase II of Chennai Metro.

"When it comes to Gujarat, the PMO not just writes to the urban development ministry an official from PMO closely monitors issues pertaining to his home state," said a ministry official.

Clearly, the prime minister's heart still beats for Gujarat.

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Anandiben Patel-PMO hotline speeds up approvals for Gujarat