Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya reviewed the progress of the schemes being run by the Rural Development department in Varanasi and Vindhyachal (Mirzapur) divisions here on Thursday and gave necessary guidelines to the officials. Interacting with the kshetra panchayat pramukhs (heads) and block development officers (BDOs) of both the divisions, Maurya laid special emphasis on the implementation of public welfare schemes with quality and timeliness as per the intention of the government to help the public get their benefits properly and quickly.
He stressed the need for better coordination between the BDOs and block pramukhs so that the projects can progress well. “The work of MNREGA should be ensured through the blocks in any case. Gram Pradhans, Gram Vikas Adhikaris and Gram Panchayat Adhikaris regularly sit jointly and review the progress of works among themselves,” he said, adding that now there should be talk of smart village, so that the development of the villages can be done with the schemes of the government on the basis of priority.
“Corruption-free governance and development of the last person are the aims of the present government,” he said, asking the concerned officers to ensure availability of water in Amrit Sarovars. “By identifying100 backward blocks deprived of development in the state, the government will pay full attention to them so that they too can be brought up in terms of development,” Maurya said. Regarding the problems of paucity of funds in small gram sabhas, the CDOs and BDOs were asked to suggest measures so that their development could be ensured.
While interacting with the kshetra panchayat pramukhs, many apprised Maurya of the problems in their areas apart from raising demands of some development works. Maurya said that after the formation of our government at the centre in 2014 and in the state in 2017, there has been rapid progress in development. “No obstacle in development will be accepted. The government will make efforts in this direction that the elections of district panchayat and kshetra panchayat pramukhs should also be held directly through the public,” he said. On the occasion, UP Minister of State (Independent Charge) Ravindra Jaiswal, Zila Panchayat Chairperson Poonam Maurya, Mayor Ashok Tiwari, MLAs Saurabh Srivastava, Dr Awadhesh Singh, Tribhuvan Ram and Sunil Patel, MLC Hansraj Vishwakarma, District Magistrate S Rajalingam, senior officers of the Rural Development department were present along with the kshetra panchayat pramukhs of both the divisions. The programme was coordinated by Chief Development Officer (CDO) Himanshu Nagpal.