Following the Communications Ministry’s almost complete initiative for connecting villages in Rae Bareli district on the mobile phone network, it’s now the turn of the Civil Aviation ministry and the Railways to do their bit for Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s constituency.Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel recently visited the Indira Gandhi Aviation Academy and held a meeting with the director, K Gohain, for improving the institution. Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav is also expected to visit the Rae Bareli and Amethi stations on December 18 for an inspection and may issue necessary directives for upgrading the two railway stations. ‘‘The Railway Minister will be visiting Rae Bareli within the next few days but an official communication is yet to reach here,’’ said station superintendent (Lucknow) B.S. Lali.Former Congress MP Satish Sharma had also been pursuing the case of the Indira Gandhi Aviation Academy but could not get things moving during the NDA regime.‘‘Now we have got an opportunity to go ahead with pending projects and the betterment of the academy was one of the major projects which the former MP wanted to complete,’’ said Akhilesh Pratap Singh, the Congress spokesman.Soon after the Congress-led government assumed command at the Centre, BSNL launched a major project for connecting villages in the district using mobile phones. With 11 operational towers 600 to 800 SIM cards being distributed every day, the job seems almost complete.Before embarking on the development of her constituency, Sonia had called for a proper survey of the district. The job was handed over to Centre for Rural Development at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). A multi-page report titled Development Priorities and Strategy in Rae Bareli was submitted to the Congress chief after a team completed the survey.The survey also suggested that going by the present infrastructure, it would not be possible to ensure round-the-clock power supply for the district. ‘‘It is suggested that the district be linked with a direct line from NTPC to ensure uninterrupted power supply,’’ said the report.Another major project initiated after it was suggested by the report is rural electrification. ‘‘A total of 266 villages in the district have no electricity,’’ the report highlighted. Work has started in 85 villages in the first phase.
