Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Sunday directed the State’s Water Supply and Sanitation Department to conduct social audit and inspection of every work undertaken under the rural drinking water schemes.
Fixing the officials accountability and to keep a tab, Badal has also directed the officers from the rank of Principal Secretary to XEN, entrusted with the task to conduct this exercise, to report to him.
Badal directed the officers of the department to ensure that during this audit and inspections, not only the present status of the schemes, including quality of works executed should be checked, but they should also meet the village panchayats to ascertain their issues concerning supplies of drinking water and sanitation.
The Chief Minister said that these issues should thereafter be considered by the Department at appropriate level for timely resolution of all grievances of the people. He directed that the Principal Secretary Water Supply and Sanitation must conduct the social audit and inspection of these works once in a month whereas the chief engineers must ensure it fortnightly, or twice in a month.
likewise, officers of the level of Superintendent Engineers (SEs) have been asked to conduct this exercise once in a week whereas the Executive Engineers (XEN) have been asked to perform this action twice a week. Badal directed all the officers should submit a written report to their respective CE through their Circle officers, which would further be consolidated by CE (Coordination) and put up before the Chief Minister through PSWSS for his information.