• Prime Minister Narendra Modi reviewed eight projects, worth about Rs 20,000 crore, of seven states as he chaired the 39th PRAGATI meeting.

• At the meeting, nine agendas were taken for review, including eight projects and one scheme.

• Among the eight projects, three were from the railways ministry, two each from the ministry of road transport and highways and the ministry of power. One project was of the ministry of petroleum and natural gas.

• These eight projects, having a cumulative cost of about Rs 20,000 crore, are concerning seven states — Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and West Bengal.

• During the interaction, the PM also reviewed the ‘Poshan Abhiyan’. 

• In the 38 editions of PRAGATI meetings, 303 projects having a total cost of Rs 14.64 lakh crore have been reviewed. 

What is PRAGATI?

• PRAGATI is the acronym for the ICT-based multi-modal platform for Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation.

• It is a three-tier system consisting of the PMO, Union government secretaries and chief secretaries of the states.

• The system has been designed by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) with the help of National Informatics Center (NIC). 

• The platform is aimed at addressing the common man’s grievances, and simultaneously monitoring and reviewing important programmes and projects of the central as well as state governments.

Its objectives are:

• Grievance redressal

• Programme implementation

• Project monitoring.

The PRAGATI platform bundles three technologies: 

1) Digital data management

2) Video-conferencing

3) Geo-spatial technology. 

• It offers a unique combination in the direction of cooperative federalism since it brings on one stage the secretaries of government of India and the chief secretaries of the states. 

• With this, the Prime Minister is able to discuss the issues with the concerned central and state officials with full information and latest visuals of the ground level situation.

• It is a robust system for bringing e-transparency and e-accountability with real-time presence and exchange among the key stakeholders. It is also an innovative project in e-governance and good governance. 

• The first meeting was held on March 25, 2015.

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