Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday honoured Chhattisgarh State by giving ‘e-Panchayat’ National Award. Chhattisgarh Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Ajay Chandrakar received the prestigious award on behalf of the State at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi.
Union Panchayat Raj Minister Choudhary Veerendra Singh, Union Minister of State for Panchayat Raj Nihal Chandra, Chhattisgarh State Additional Chief Secretary for Panchayat and Rural Development MK Raut, Panchayat Ministers from various States and a number of Panchayat representatives were present at the National Panchayat Raj Day in New Delhi.
Modi congratulated Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh, State Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Ajay Chandrakar and Panchayat representatives and wished them well in future. Singh expressed his happiness on Chhattisgarh bagging e-Panchayat award on Panchayat Raj Day at the hands of the Prime Minister.
The Chief Minister congratulated Panchayat Raj representatives and State Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Ajay Chandrakar Ajay Chandrakar. officers and employees on being bestowed with the National Award.
It may be mentioned here that Chhattisgarh bagged e-Panchayat National Award for linking almost all the panchayats with Information Technology network. Chandrakar said that in spite of Chhattisgarh being a new State it has revolutionised the Information Technology network. Three-tier Panchayat Raj institutions have been empowered in the State.
Women have been empowered by providing 50 % reservation in Panchayat Raj institutions. About 10,971 elected women representatives are doing great job in three-tier Panchayat Raj. ‘Swachchta’ ( Cleanliness) campaign has been launched vigorously in rural areas and it is mandatory to construct toilets in pachayats. The representatives have been empowered to recruit at the local-level.
Chandrakar revealed that Anganwaadis provide Mid-Day meals, operate ration shops and most of them are run by women. The five programmes have been integrated into ‘Chief Minister Integrated Rural Development Scheme’. Rajnandgaon zilla panchayat president Chitralekha Verma, zilla panchayat member Rajnandgaon Vibha Sahu, Janpad Panchayat Rajnandgaon President Sarita Kannauj, Janpad Panchayat Khairagarh President Vikrant Singh Shatri and Gram Panchayat Gujra Panchayat Arang in Raipur district Sarpanch Sanjay Sharma and a number of panchayat representatives were present at the function.