In order to give impetus to the development of the villages of the state, the Rural Development department will hold a ‘Gram Chaupal’ every Friday from this month to solve the grievances of the villagers.
Local public representatives will be invited to the village chaupal so that the government can be made aware of the actual issues there. To make the gram chaupal a grand success, it is being widely publicised so that a large number of villagers become part of it.
Five days before each gram chaupal, a massive cleanliness drive with public participation will be conducted in each gram panchayat.
"Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is trying to bring the villages of the state into the mainstream and is giving focus on the development of villages as the state's growth engine, the effect of which is visible on the ground. Gram chaupal is part of the series of initiatives being undertaken by the Yogi government for development of the rural areas of the state," said Rural Development Commissioner GS Priyadarshi.
He said gram chaupal was being organised in three gram panchayats of each development block every Friday beginning January, and it is commanded by the district development officer, project director, district rural development agency, and deputy commissioner.
To organise it on a large scale, MPs, former MPs, MLAs, former MLAs, MLCs, former MLCs, zila panchayat chairpersons, former district panchayat chairpersons, members of zila panchayat, kshetra panchayat chiefs, former chiefs of kshetra panchayat, present and former gram pradhans, kshetra panchayat members and gram panchayat members will be invited to the chaupal.
Gram Chaupal will begin with the inspection of the works done in the village panchayat, including MGNREGA works, wage payment, women mates, group formation, BO, CLF, BC Sakhi, Vidyut Sakhi, Lakhpati Mahila, and review of all the works done by Panchayatiraj department using the Finance Commission funds.
During the gram chaupal, inspection of village panchayat lights, community toilets, panchayat building, drainage channel, road, link road, cow shelter, school building, school operation, MDM, irrigation system (canal/tube well), communicable diseases, vaccination, ration distribution in chaupal, Ujjwala gas connection, tap water supply to every household, inspection of Anganwadi and ANM centres, verification of old age, widow and disabled pensions and scholarships will also be done.
"In-depth discussions with the villagers will take place on schemes like Ayushman Bharat, Kisan Samman Nidhi, themes pertaining to agriculture and agriculture protection, natural and organic farming, and Har Ghar Nal," he said.
He said apart from the Rural Development department, officers of Panchayatiraj, Health, Agriculture, Revenue, Education, Irrigation, Animal Husbandry, Social Welfare and Backward Classes Welfare departments would also be present in the chaupal.
As per the intentions of Chief Minister Yogi, public representatives and employees (including contractual employees) who have done good work would be honored by giving them certificates. Along with this, they would also be motivated to make their panchayat an ideal gram panchayat.
The chaupal will feature programmes on topics related to women, health, education and agriculture. Along with this, once in 19 months, a meeting will be held under the chairmanship of the Rural Development department on behalf of the deputy chief minister and minister to review the programmes at the state level.
"A digital diary of every chaupal will be prepared, consisting of photographs of the programme along with agenda points. The diary will be preserved at the district level and used as per the requirement," Priyadarshi said.