New Delhi, Sep 18 : In a move aimed at curbing corruption, cost escalation and delays in execution of civil works in various Delhi government departments, Lieutenant Governor (L-G) V.K. Saxena has made it mandatory to geo-tag each and every project on an online portal developed by the IT Department of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD). The L-G office said that from now on, it will also be mandatory to upload before and after colour photographs of all such projects for evaluation and any payment to the contractors will only be made after their verification by the authorities. "This initiative would not only bring transparency, but will also be effective in checking misuse of funds, corruption, and ensure quality and timely completion of the projects/ works. Regular uploads in the form of photographs on the portal will also help in regular and timely monitoring of the projects by the concerned authorities," the L-G office said. While approving the proposal of Directorate of Vigilance to this effect, the L-G noted that the IT Department of the GNCTD has developed a portal for monitoring of the projects, but most of the departments are not using it for monitoring of their projects/works. The L-G further directed that all head of the departments of the GNCTD shall ensure geo-tagging of all projects and works along with uploading of progress report with colour photographs, mandatorily on online portal developed by the IT Department in this regard (https://delhiemonitoring.calibrewebsol.com/), before release of any payment for any project/work. This, he noted, apart from serving the requirements of vigilance, will also enable the use of IT in monitoring of progress of works and related expenditure, which will help keep a strict vigil on the spending of government money. It may be noted that at present, geo-tagging and uploading of project status online has been made mandatory by several state governments for their respective schemes. Arunachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, as well as Union ministries/departments for their schemes like Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, MGNREGA, Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakram etc. have been using the technology of geo-tagging. /IANS