With the Haryana Government’s ambitious scheme Vidhayak Adarsh Gram Yojna, wherein the MlAs were to adopt a village, receiving tepid response so far, the State Government has now urged the MlAs to come forward to adopt a village in their constituency and also, sought their suggestions on the scheme.
So far, only 43 of the total 90 MlAs have come forward to adopt a village each under the scheme launched a year back in Haryana.
Chief Minister Manohar lal Khattar had floated the VAGY on the lines of the Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojna, which was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in October last year.
The State Government has now decided to organize a one day programme on November 16 to deliberate over the Vidhayak Adarsh Gram Yojna, where all MlAs have been invited to participate and put forth their suggestions on the scheme.
A communiqué has been sent to all the state MlAs in which they have been urged to adopt a village under the scheme and also participate in the one day programme to be held to discuss VAGY.
The programme would be significant as many state MlAs are expected to attend the programme and raise their grievances besides giving their suggestions on the scheme.
The communiqué sent to all the state MlAs reads, “A programme has been organized to discuss various facets of Haryana’s Vidhayak Adarsh Gram Yojna and sought suggestions from MlAs on the scheme. Chief Minister Manohar lal would inaugurate the function on November 16 at Haryana Niwas in Chandigarh.”
It further said, “So far, 43 MlAs have adopted villages in their constituencies and draft plans have been prepared under VAGY.”
Earlier, letters have been sent to all the state MlAs dated November 13, 2014 and October 6, 2015 asking them to adopt a village in their constituencies under VAGY.
Notably, Chief Minister Manohar lal had himself in June this year adopted Keorak village in Kaithal district for development under VAGY.
VAGY aims at achieving holistic, sustainable and inclusive development of villages, encompassing social, human and economic progress along with growth of infrastructure, by instilling a sense of ownership and pride through active participation of village community.
Under VAGY, all the Ministers and MlAs were supposed to identify Gram Panchayats (GPs) to develop so as to ensure development of the villages as Adarsh. As per the ambitious targets fixed by the State Government, VAGY aimed at developing three Gram Panchayats by September 2019 by each MlA. Out of which, the first would be developed by September 2017, the second by March 2018 and the third by March 2019. For this purpose, the first Gram Panchayat shall have to be selected on August 15 and the two others in next two years.
Surprisingly, not even all the 47 BJP MlAs in the 90-member state assembly have adopted a village in their constituency under VAGY. Several MlAs especially in the opposition have alleged that there are no funds at the disposal of the MlAs for the successful implementation of the scheme.
According to the information, under the scheme, Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kanwar Pal has identified village Ariyanwala, Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma has identified Nagal Sirohi in Mahendergarh district, Urban local Bodies Minister Kavita Jain has identified Fazilpur, Rao Narbir Singh has identified Kankrola.
Meanwhile, all 15 Members of Parliament (10 lok Sabha and five Rajya Sabha) from Haryana have selected villages in their concerned areas under Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) in the first year of launch of the scheme.
The village development plans for each Gram Panchayat selected under SAGY have AlSO been prepared in the first year of launch of the scheme and many developmental works have also started in these villages, according to the State Government.