Lucknow, June 28 (IANS). Uttar Pradesh’s Panchayati Raj, Minority Welfare and Muslim Waqf Minister Omprakash Rajbhar, in a high-level review meeting of the Panchayati Raj Department on Sunday, gave instructions to give top priority to drinking water, sanitation and basic facilities in rural areas in view of the rainy season. He made the officers accountable for immediate repair of damaged hand pumps, water logging in Amrit Sarovars, pending projects of Jal Jeevan Mission, repair of rural roads, digital libraries and completion of all ongoing development schemes in Gram Panchayats in a quality manner within the stipulated time.
In accordance with the priorities of the Chief Minister’s Office, in the meeting held in the main building of the Secretariat, the Minister reviewed the schemes run in 57,694 Gram Panchayats of the state point by point. He said that the government’s top priority is to ensure that the benefits of the schemes reach the last person in a timely, transparent and effective manner and negligence in this will not be accepted at any level. In the meeting, considering the prevention of drinking water crisis during monsoon as the most important issue, the Minister directed to get all the damaged and sand-laden hand pumps repaired immediately on priority basis.
He also asked to provide district-wise updated report of construction of Amrit Sarovars, waterlogging situation in them and transfer to Panchayats soon. Rajbhar reviewed the overhead drinking water tanks constructed under Jal Jeevan Mission (Rural), pipeline expansion and assets transferred to Panchayats and directed to complete the remaining works soon. He also stressed on completing the repair of rural roads damaged during the laying of pipelines on priority basis.
Reviewing the Swachh Bharat Mission (Rural), the Minister gave instructions for regular cleaning of community toilets, timely payment of honorarium to cleaning workers and transparent disposal of pending and canceled applications for individual toilets. He said that there should not be any laxity in the cleanliness system. Fecal Sludge Treatment Plant (FSTP), geo-tagging of all hand pumps and water quality testing, digital libraries in Gram Panchayats, Aadhaar Seva Kendras in Village Secretariats, digitization of family registers and Information, Education and Communication (IEC) activities were also reviewed in detail in the meeting.
The Minister gave instructions to ensure timely implementation by making a clear action plan for all these schemes. Omprakash Rajbhar told the officials that all the Panchayat level schemes of the Central and State Government should be monitored regularly and the construction works of digital libraries, procession houses and festival buildings in Gram Panchayats should be expedited. He also called for the updated report of compliance with the instructions given in the previous review meetings and made it clear that there will be no compromise on the quality and timeliness of the development works.
–IANS
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