All villages in Haryana would be linked through internet and each village would have its own website through which information about various development works would be made available to the people, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar lal Khattar said on Saturday.
He said to begin with, broadband facility would be provided in 2,500 villages this year and to all remaining villages during the next three-and-a-half years.
Addressing “Haryana Swaran Jayanti Panchayat Sammelan” at Gohana in which representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions from about 6,907 villages participated, Khattar made a number of announcements for further strengthening the rural infrastructure.
He said that village streets would be constructed at a cost of Rs5,000 crore under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA). He said that the State Government has made adequate arrangement for supply of drinking water in the State, especially in the month of April, May and June.
The Chief Minister also announced those village, block samiti and district which would achieve the target of hundred per cent household toilets, under the Nirmal Gram Yojana by November 1, 2016, would be honoured with a cash award of Rs1 lakh, Rs5 lakh, and Rs20 lakh respectively. Apart from this, concerned additional Deputy Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner and Block Development and Panchayat Officer concerned would also be honoured by the Government.
Referring to the budget of the State Government, Khattar said that earlier an increase of eight to ten per cent used to be made in the budget every year, but the present Government has made an increase of 28 per cent in the State’s budget. He said that this year budget of Rs88,000 core has been presented as against the previous budget of Rs69,000 crore. Apart from this, additional Rs200 crore would be spent on the development projects, he added.
The Chief Minister said that the villages having population of more than 10,000 were being given the name of Maha Gram Panchayats and would be provided with sewerage and drainage facilities. At present the number of such villages is 120.
He said that with a view to provide all people centric services in all villages online, village secretariat were being constructed. The village secretariates would be constructed in 1,000 villages this year and the remaining villages would be covered during the next three-and-a-half years.
Khattar said that as the State is completing 50 years of its existence this year, various new schemes would be implemented for providing employment opportunities to the youth. He said that 359 MoUs signed during the Happening Haryana Global Investors’ Summit at Gurgaon with investment proposals of Rs5.84 lakh crore would also generate employment opportunities for the youth.
Speaking at the function, Union Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Birender Singh said that to ensure rural development in the State, while Rs2 lakh crore would be directly transferred to the bank accounts of concerned panchayats, Rs2 lakh crore would be given for undertaking various development works under MGNREGA in the next five years.
Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Krishan Pal Gurjar said that both the Central and the State Governments are working for the welfare of the poor, farmers and labourers.
Haryana Agriculture Minister OP Dhankar said that for the first time educated youth including women have made way to the Panchayati Raj Institutions. He said that Pradhan Mantri Krishi Bima Yojna has been implemented and he urged the representatives of the PRIs to work for the success of this scheme.
Haryana Finance Minister Capt Abhimanyu said that the Gram Uday se Bharat Udey has certainly boosted the confidence of the newly elected representatives of PRIs. He said that a target has been fixed to double the income of farmers by 2022. He said various schemes for the welfare of farmers and development of villages would be implemented and he assured that there would be no dearth of funds for the same.