Over 90 per cent population of the State lives in rural areas and it was not possible to think of development of the state without development of the rural areas, Himachal Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said on Tuesday.
Presiding over the state level function on National Panchayat Day at Mandi to commemorate the Panchayati Raj Diwas, Thakur said the main focus of the state government was development of the rural areas for which best infrastructure in health, education and related field was being strengthened.
Over 3500 elected representatives of 3226 panchayats and other municipalities participated in this function. The speech of Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Mandla district of Madhya Pradesh was telecast live on the occasion.
The Chief Minister said the migration of the people from rural areas towards cities would not only create unnecessary burden on basic amenities but would also shatter our rural economy. He said the state government was promoting zero budget farming in the state for which a budget provision of Rs 25 crore had been allocated in the current year.
"This would not only strengthen rural economy of the State but also encourage the youth to adopt natural farming," Thakur said, urging the elected representatives of the PRIs to promote zero budget farming in their respective panchayats in a big way. He also exhorted them to work with dedication to come up to the expectations of the people of their respective panchayats.
He said that provision of Rs 45 crore had been made for Zila Parishads and Panchayat Samities for carrying out developmental works. He announced to increase the honorarium of Panchayat Samiti Members to Rs 4,000 per month and removing an anomaly in the honorarium of Members of Zila Parishad.