With a full-fledged secretariat in State capital Chandigarh and mini-secretariats at district headquarters, the Haryana Government on Tuesday announced that it will set up rural or village secretariats to ensure transparency and good governance in the villages.
A spokesperson of the State Government said, “Haryana Government has decided to set up Gram Sachivalayas (secretariats) in the State to bring Gram Panchayat and village level functionaries of all departments under one roof for better functioning and coordination. This would also ensure efficiency, transparency and accountability in the working of Gram Panchayat and other agencies engaged in the process of rural development.
A proposal to this effect was approved by the Chief Minister Manohar lal on Tuesday. Apart from this, Panchayat Ghar in nearly 3,000 villages will also be upgraded. The State Government has decided to create 803 more posts of Gram Sachivs keeping in view the increasing function of Panchayats.
In the first phase, one Gram Sachivalaya will be set up in each cluster. There are 6645 villages in the state which have been clubbed in 2,294 clusters. Each cluster consists of 3-4 villages. Therefore, one village secretariat in one cluster would be developed in the village having largest population, said the spokesperson.
A new village secretariat building will also be constructed in the village clusters, which do not have a Panchayat Ghar, Accordingly, new construction of 100 Gram Sachivalayas will also be taken up in the village clusters where no such building exists, said he.
As many as 2,294 Gram Sachivalayas will be set up over a period of three years, which constitute 765 Gram Sachivalayas in one year.
The Gram Sachivalaya will be set up over one acre of land at an estimated cost of Rs30 lakh including the cost of furniture and fixture. It will have enough space for housing the office of Panchayat members, Gram Sachiv and data entry operator-cum-accountant. Also, adequate space will be given to the office of village level functionaries of different departments who visit the village such as Revenue, Agriculture, Electricity Board, Public Health, Veterinary among others. The concerned Department will instruct their functionaries to report in the Secretariat when they visit the village.
The secretariat will have notice board displaying the time and date of visit. Besides this, the map of village, grievance board and activity board will also be displayed, said the spokesperson.
The village secretariat complex will also provide space for bank, post office, model ration shops. Apart from this, site and design has also been developed for a community centre with a capacity of 250 to 300 persons. The village secretariat will also provide space for node for internet cables NOFN and space for CSCs so that the citizens can access all sources through internet.
To ensure maintenance of the complex, one of the Safai Karamcharis of Gram Panchayat would be deployed for this purpose by designating him as Sweeper-cum-Chowkidar. One accountant-cum-data entry operator will be provided at each cluster level.
The spokesperson said, “The Gram Sachivalayas will facilitate devolution of functions, functionaries and funds to the Gram Panchayats. It would also help timely redressal of public grievances by Gram Panchayat and other agencies.
The other objectives of Gram Sachivalayas is to facilitate e-connectivity, to provide space for citizen services, to enable the Gram Panchayats to effectively perform its monitoring functions, to strengthen the sub committees of the Gram Panchayats, ensure safe custody of records, strengthen the concept of Gram Sabha, display of public information about villages and of all departments and also, to provide a centre of activity for village community, government and semi-Government agencies.”
“The State Government has also decided to appoint one Gram Sachiv for two Gram Panchayats. For this, 803 more posts of Gram Sachivs will be created keeping in view the increasing functions of Panchayat with the passage of time. An annual provision of over Rs19.27 crore has been made for this purpose,” added the spokesperson.
There are about 6,079 Gram Panchayats in the State and at present, a single Gram Sachiv is looking after 3-4 Gram Panchayats.