Chief Minister Raman Singh on Wednesday made a surprise visit to Peeparchhedi village in Kasdol development block of Balodabazaar-Batapara district as part of the State-wide 'lok Suraj' Mission.
On his arrival, the Chief Minister conducted a 'Choupal' under the shades of tamarind trees on the banks of Pankhatti irrigation canal.
He later reviewed the repair works of the canal under the MGNREGA project in the village.
Singh spoke to the workers at the canal site and inspected the muster roll also.
The villagers informed the Chief Minister that 235 workers are employed in the deepening and widening of the canal on a daily basis.
Singh instructed the Irrigation Department officials to repair the Bhoothai Irrigation diversion canal as soon as possible. The demand had been pending for the past five years.
The Chief Minister sanctioned Rs 7.50 lakh for the construction of sluice gate and for the facility of exit of water from the Pankhatti irrigation canal.
He also sanctioned Rs 6 lakh for the construction of a community hall.
Singh gave permission for the construction of roof at Ramayan Chowk and a cement concrete road.
The Chief Minister also queried about the studies with the school children at the village 'Choupal'.
Sunita, a student of standard Fifth Standard recited the mathematical table 14.
Singh lauded the girl for her recitation. The girl said that she wanted to become a teacher.
It may be mentioned here that a team of 30 senior officers from 8 states held deliberations on the developmental works taken up under MGNREGA in Chhattisgarh in October last year, officials informed.
The officials had arrived from Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Telangana, Bihar, Odisha and Jharkhand.
Joint Secretary, Union Rural Development Ministry Aparajita Shadangi had stated that one can learn something or the other from almost all the States.
The developmental works are being implemented after making a detailed study in Chhattisgarh. After touring the districts here they will implement the successful programmes in other states.
Chhattisgarh Panchayat and Rural Development Department Secretary and MGNREGA Director PC Misra gave a detailed presentation of several developmental projects being implemented in 10,971 Gram Panchayats of 27 districts of the State.
Misra informed that 4.12 lakh works had been sanctioned in the fiscal 2015-16.
He said that the developmental works are completed in close co-ordination with other works in the rural regions- Anganwadi bhawans, Gram Panchayat bhawans, ponds construction, mini stadium, the Chief Minister Rural Roads Projects and PDS go-downs-are being constructed with close co-ordination.
The Inter-State Exchange Programme (ISEP) is being held for three days from October 18 to 20.
Ten senior officers are participating in the programme. They will observe the works at Dhamtari, Bemetara , Kabirdham and Gariabandh districts. Raipur District Panchayat Chief Executive Officer Neelesh Sheersagar and other district officials were also present.
The Union Panchayat and Rural Development Ministry has sanctioned Rs 685 crore under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGA) for Chhattisgarh in 2015-16.
The amount is sanctioned as first installment for the fiscal 2015-16. The wages for unskilled labourers has been hiked to Rs 159 per day.
The officers of Panchayat and Rural Development Department revealed that earlier the wages for unskilled workers was fixed at Rs 157 per day.
They said that labour budget for 1,234 lakh Mandays was sanctioned for the fiscal year April 1, 2015 to March 31, 2016.
The Chhattisgarh government had decided to generate about 2.76 lakh job works under MGNREGS during 2015-16.