Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday asked district magistrates to lay stress on rural road connectivity and housing for the poor in the post-lockdown period.

The chief minister expressed dissatisfaction over the progress of two schemes — one for building houses for the poor and the other for constructing roads — in the past few months despite the government laying stress on rural development schemes since May.

Mamata made the comments during a review meeting which she held over video conference from Nabanna for five districts — Bankura, Purulia, East Burdwan, West Burdwan and Birbhum.

“You should focus on Banglar Awas Yojana (known as Prime Minister Awas Yojana) and Banglar Sadak Yojana (Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana)... The panchayat department should appoint nodal officers to look after three important schemes — 100 days’ job, rural roads and Banglar Awas Yojana,” the chief minister said.

Sources said Mamata was upset with the progress of the two schemes — often used as a key political issue to reach out to rural populace as their implementation is visible — even though she had asked officials repeatedly to focus on those projects.

Mamata was unhappy with the progress of housing for poor scheme, too, as the state could construct about 1.2 lakh dwelling units so far even though the target was to build 9 lakh-odd units this year, sources said.

She also expressed her displeasure when she heard that wages for some workers under the 100-day job scheme were pending. Senior officials said 93 per cent of the workers were paid within the stipulated seven days of their work and only 7 per cent were yet to be given wages during the period.

“Make it sure that remaining workers also get their dues as early as possible,” Mamata instructed panchayat and rural development secretary M.V. Rao.

The sources said Mamata was banking heavily on rural development schemes to reach out to rural pockets where the ruling party in Bengal performed poorly in 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

A Trinamul insider said the party performed well in urban areas during the Lok Sabha polls. But it had put up a poor show in rural areas, particularly in the Jungle Mahal and north Bengal.

“So, the chief minister wants to reach out to rural areas through development. But performance of important schemes does not paint a nice picture so far. That is why the chief minister was upset,” said a Trinamul MLA.