In order to facilitate the uplift of villages as espoused by Mahatma Gandhi, all officials in the State will tour villages till October 31 spending at least two days in a village. From joint secretary to the chief secretary and village development officer to the district magistrate, all will tour villages. While touring the villages, the officials will inspect the condition of schools, hospitals, roads, water and power supply among other basic facilities. After returning from their tours the officials will report to the State administration on the actual situation in the rural areas. The Government will base its developmental planning on this feedback, said chief secretary Rakesh Sharma. He was speaking at a meet held in secretariat to mark the birth anniversaries of Mahatma Gandhi and former prime minister lal Bahadur Shastri.
Sharma exhorted the officials to make their village tour programme as per their convenience added that they will be dropped by helicopter if they wish to tour remote and inaccessible places. The officials should inform the district magistrate, sub divisional magistrate and Tehsildar concerned about their tour programme. Meanwhile, principal secretary (chief minister) Om Prakash stated that in line with Gandhi’s beliefs on rural self-reliance and development, chief minister Harish Rawat expects all officers from village development/Panchayat officer to chief secretary, to spend at least two days-including two night halts- in any revenue village of the State during the current month. After detailed interaction with villagers and site inspections, the officers will submit a brief report on the problems and developmental requirements of the villages. The CM expects these reports to prove helpful in the future planning and development of the villages. The officers will be the nodal officers for the villages they select. They will once again visit the selected villages for two days in November this year so that they can review the efforts made so far. The Government order issued states that the officials are also expected to make a qualitative review of schemes presently being implemented. An outcome analysis of the schemes should also be incorporated in report. The principal secretary further said the report of the October tour should be submitted by November 5 and the report of the November tour should be submitted by December 5 for compilation.