The panchayati raj institutions (PRIs) would work as mini-Government in the villages of Haryana. Chief Minister Manohar lal on Wednesday anounced to transfer development works and schemes of various departments to panchayat samitis and zila parishads for their effective implementation and monitoring.
“These included schemes of Forest, Education, Irrigation and Health Departments. The schemes of these departments would be transferred in a bid to further strengthen the panchayati raj institutions (PRIs) and increase their participation in the development process of Haryana,” said Manohar lal, while speaking at the State-level ‘Sankalp Se Siddhi’ programme in Panchkula near here.
The Chief Minister also announced that adequate arrangement of funds would be made for panchayat samitis and zila parishads to carry out these works in their respective villages.
Apart from this, he announced that arrangements of independent offices would be made for those zila parishads who do not have its own buildings. Similarly, separate offices of block samitis would be set up at the block level, he said.
While referring to the works which would be transferred to the PRIs, he said that two schemes of Forest Department namely ‘Har Ghar Hariyali’ and ‘Har Gaon Ped Ki Chaon’ would be transferred to the panchayat samitis to carry out maximum plantation in the villages. Adequate funds and saplings would be provided by the department.
Besides plantation, the panchayat samitis would also be responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of trees. There are more than 6,500 villages in the State and the department alone could not cover such large number of villages, he added.
The Chief Minister said that yoga and vyayamshalas are to be constructed in all villages of the State on two acres of land each. Initially, the panchayat samitis have been assigned the work for the setting up of such vyayamshalas in 600 villages of the State, he said.
As far as zila parishad is concerned, Manohar lal said that the work for the construction of new building of anganwadis and maintenance of existing buildings would be given to the zila parishads. It has also been decided to hand over the mid-day-meal scheme of the school Education Department to zila parishads for its effective implementation.
He said that the Vidyalaya Saundrayakaran Yojna for the beautification of schools and the work for the desilting and de-weeding of minors of Irrigation Department in their concerned districts would also be transferred to zila parishads. Also, they would be assigned the work for the construction of bus queue shelters in the villages wherever required. The zila parishads would also be responsible for the maintenance of all sub health centres in the villages, added Manohar lal.
The Chief Minister said that fund for these works would be provided by the Departments concerned.
For the first year, the budget for the small and big districts have been allocated on the basis of rural population. For instance, the district with a population of 10 lakh would be provided a budget of Rs 10 crore, whereas district with 20 lakh population would be provided budget of Rs 20 crore and Rs 5 crore for district having population of five lakh. This way, the zila parishads and panchayat samitis would get budget of Rs 1.75 crore each, added he.
He further said that the State Government wants the PRIs to work as mini Government in the villages where proposals were approved, budget was passed and also the audit was done.
The Government has planned to implement social audit system in the villages as without the active participation of the society, all round development of villages could not be ensured, said he.
The Chief Minister informed that Gram Sachivalayas has so far been set up in 1,537 villages in the State to provide various citizen centric services to the people under one roof. The State Government has a target to set up such Sachivalayas in all villages of the State, he added.
Reiterating that there is no dearth of funds with the government for development works, the Chief Minister said that there is a need to check the corruption in the system. He urged the PRIs to work in coordination with the CEOs (HCS officers) in zila parishads to ensure effective implementation of development works at village level.
Manohar lal also exhorted the representatives of PRIs to cooperate with the government in the effective implementation of central programmes so that the maximum people could get the benefit of the same.
On this occasion, the Chief Minister also administered ‘Sankalp Se Siddhi’ pledge to the representatives of PRIs for building a new India by 2022.
Speaking on this occasion, Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister, OP Dhankar said that the State Government would soon implement a scheme under which the villages would be given stars of different colours on the basis of their performance in the field of education, cleanliness and good governance.