Ministry of Public Works Department (Chhattisgarh)

The Public Works Department (Hindi: Lok Nirmāṇ Vibhāg), commonly abbreviated as PWD, is a premier technical ministry of the Government of Chhattisgarh. It is the principal authority responsible for the planning, design, construction, and maintenance of public infrastructure in the state, including roads, bridges, and government buildings.

The department is currently headed by the Minister of Public Works, Arun Sao, who also serves as the Deputy Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh.

Functions and responsibilities

The PWD plays a critical role in the socio-economic development of Chhattisgarh by ensuring connectivity and building institutional assets:

• Road Connectivity: Construction and maintenance of State Highways (SH) and Major District Roads (MDR).
• Public Buildings: Designing and constructing government offices, hospitals, schools, and residential quarters.
• Bridge Engineering: Construction of culverts, major bridges, and flyovers to improve logistics and travel safety.
• Technical Consultancy: Providing technical approvals and quality control for other government departments' civil works.

Organizational structure

The department is administratively headed by a Secretary-rank Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, while the technical wing is led by the Engineer-in-Chief (E-in-C).

• Engineer-in-Chief (E-in-C): The highest technical authority.
• Chief Engineers (CE): Oversee specific zones (Raipur, Bilaspur, Durg, Bastar, etc.).
• Superintending Engineers (SE): Manage district-level circles.
• Executive Engineers (EE): Responsible for project implementation at the divisional level.

List of Ministers

The following is the list of ministers who have held the Public Works portfolio in Chhattisgarh:

No.	Portrait	Name	Term	Party	Ref.
1	Tarun Chatterjee	2000–2003	INC
2	Brijmohan Agrawal	2003–2008	BJP
3	Rajesh Munat	2008–2018	BJP
4	Tamradhwaj Sahu	2018-2023	INC
5		Arun Sao	2023–Present	BJP