Chandigarh, December 3: Haryana Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal attended the swearing-in ceremony of the newly elected representatives of the Panchayati Raj Institutions across the state on Saturday. Congratulating all the panches, sarpanches, block samiti members and zilla parishad members, Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal said that all public representatives should do development work in their respective areas for five years without any discrimination. “Consider the entire area as your family and develop the area by fulfilling your responsibility with the spirit of service,” he added. Describing the panchayat as the government of the village, the Chief Minister said that on the lines of Vidhan Sabha and Lok Sabha sessions; one or two days session of Zila Parishad and Panchayat Samiti should be called; so that the public issues can be raised and development can be done.
The swearing-in ceremony was organised today in every district, block and village across the state in which 6,200 sarpanches, 60,133 panches, 3,081 Block Samiti members and 411 Zila Parishad members took oath. Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal joined the ceremony virtually and addressed the representatives, after which the officers present on the occasion administered them oath. Sh. Manohar Lal said that this is the first time that elected people's representatives in Panchayati Raj institutions are individually taking oath. “The Deputy Commissioners of the districts and Gram Sanrakshaks in villages are administering oaths to them. When every public representative will take oath, they will understand the words written in it, the duty, constitution, fear and discrimination. When they will do public work, they will remember this oath,” he added.
60 percent representatives elected unanimously
Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal said that the elections were held for a total of 71,696 seats for Panches, Sarpanches, Block Samiti and Zila Parishad members. For this, 1, 60,192 filed nominations, 2,600 nominations were canceled and 31,900 withdrew their nominations. A total of 40,500 representatives were elected unanimously, which is about 60 percent; whereas 85,127 candidates contested for 29,474 seats. He said that the state government is giving Rs 11 lakh to the unanimously elected panchayats, Rs 5 lakh to a sarpanch, Rs 50,000 to a panch and Rs 2 lakh each to the unanimously elected block samiti member and Zila Parishad member. In this way, the Haryana government is giving Rs 300 crore for the development of the rural areas.
Elections conducted successfully
The Chief Minister said that the elections of the Panchayati Raj Institutions were successfully completed. The Panchayat elections were announced on October 7 and were conducted in three phases. Earlier, the voter had to cast four votes simultaneously for Panch, Sarpanch, Block Samiti and Zila Parishad members; but this time one day for Panch, Sarpanch and one day for Block Samiti and Zilla Parishad members. He urged to maintain unity in every village and work for the development.
Haryana government committed to rural development
The Chief Minister said that Prime Minister, Sh. Narendra Modi and the Haryana government are fully committed to rural development. “The work of the central and the state government reaches the villages only through the elected panchayats,” he added. In 2015, the Haryana government had decided to make an educated panchayat by amending the Panchayati Raj Act and for this, the government fought till the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court legalized it and advised other states to follow this path. The Haryana government gave 50 percent reservation to women in panchayats. After this reservation was also given to Backward Class-A. Now, the money of Central Finance Commission and State Finance Commission is coming directly to the Panchayats. The panchayats are being given 2 percent of stamp duty and 2 percent cess on electricity bill.
Sessions should run in Panchayati Raj Institutions like Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha
Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal said that there should be offices of Panchayati Raj institutions. The government had envisioned village secretariats, which have been set up at few places. Along with this Zila Parishad offices are being built and the work of Panchayat Samiti offices will also be completed. “Like the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha, there should be a session of one or two days in the Panchayati Raj Institutions; so that the people's representatives can raise the problems of their areas and good resolutions can be passed,” he asserted. Sh. Manohar Lal said that a committee of youth and NGOs should be formed in the villages, so that it can improve the village and keep a watch on corruption and other related things.
Government has done many development works in rural areas
The Chief Minister said that the state government has done development works in rural areas through several schemes. “By freeing the villages from Lal Dora, the people have been given the ownership rights of their properties. The facility of the library has also been provided. Libraries are opened at some places with new libraries to come up soon. Parks and gymnasiums are being opened in the villages along with wellness centres for providing health facilities to the people. Shiv Dham Yojana has been prepared for the development of cremation grounds. Pond Authority has also been formed to repair 18,000 ponds in the state,” he added. Sh. Manohar Lal said that any person in the village can convey his problems to the government through the Gram Darshan portal. Along with this, Mukhyamantri Samridhi Yojana and Mukhyamantri Parivar Utthan Yojana have been started for the families with income less than 1.80 lakh through Parivar Pehchan Patra. He said that CHIRAYU scheme has been made for those who were left out in the Ayushman Yojana. Nirogi Haryana scheme has also been started to check the health of poor families, he added.
Camps to be organised for Parivar Pehchan Patra, correcting wrong information
The Chief Minister said that camps would be organised for making of Parivar Pehchan Patra and for correction related to wrong information. For this, camps will be organised on December 10 and 11 and from December 16 to December 18.
Panchayat representatives will fulfill their responsibilities effectively: Devender Singh Babli
Congratulating the newly elected sarpanches, panches, block samiti and zila parishad members, Haryana Development and Panchayat Minister, Sh. Devender Singh Babli said that the people of the villages have reposed trust and confidence in these representatives and they should fulfill their responsibilities effectively. He said that instead of keeping the development of the village limited to electricity, water and roads, they will take forward the all-round development of the villages.
He said that to promote women empowerment, the women have been given 50 percent representation. “This will speed up the efforts of women empowerment. The backward classes are being given 8 percent representation. I have full faith that our educated and capable Panchayati Raj Institutions will ensure full participation in achieving the goal of strong development while implementing the schemes of the central and state government,” he added.
Chief Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Sh. DS Dhesi, Additional Chief Secretary, Sh. Anil Malik, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Sh. V. Umashankar, Additional Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Dr. Amit Agrawal, Political Secretary to Chief Minister, Sh. Bharat Bhushan Bharti were also present on the occasion.