To give a facelift to Punjab’s villages, the Central Government has hiked the allocation for rural development sector by 140 per cent.The Centre has enhanced the allocation of funds under 14th Finance Commission to Rs4,091 crore against Rs1,700 crore sanctioned during 13th Finance Commission, said Union Minister of State for Panchayati Raj Nihal Chand.Chand, who called on Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal at his official residence on Thursday, said that the Centre has enhanced the State’s share for its glorious track record of optimum utilisation of funds to carry out rural development works in the State.He said that the State would get a major chunk of funds to the tune ofRs4,091 crore under the 14th Finance Commission during next five years — from 2015 to 2020 — and Rs700 crore would be disbursed to the State during current fiscal.
Chand assured the Chief Minister that the NDA Government would give fulsome support and cooperation to the state to transform the rural scene in the State by providing the best basic civic amenities for improving their quality of life.The Union Minister, who visited Singhpura village in Ropar district, expressed satisfaction over the development activities being carried out by the state government for ensuring its holistic growth.Seeking Centre’s whole hearted assistance for giving further fillip to the development of rural areas, Badal envisaged a proven technology for cleaning of villages’ ponds across the state which had posed a major challenge to the health of residents.
Chief Minister also solicited Chand’s support for relaxing norms under NREGA scheme to allow Panchayats and other public representatives to contribute funds in the development works. The funds allocated for material under NREGA was too meager so the need of the hour was to allow the Panchayats to contribute in order to overcome the scarcity of funds, he said.Responding to Badal’s request, Chand assured that he would soon send a team of senior officers from his ministry headed by NREGA director to interact with the Deputy Commissioners so as to make them understand the intricacies of various ongoing schemes run by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj.