Deputy chief minister and Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan on Thursday said that the NDA government in Andhra Pradesh would strengthen the village panchayats. He said that the NDA government is working to give a facelift to the village panchayats unlike the previous YSR Congress government.
Pawan Kalyan held a meeting with the members of the sarpanches association and AP Panchayat Raj Chamber at his camp office in Mangalagiri on the day. Addressing them, the Jana Sena chief alleged that the previous government had diverted the Central government funds for the local bodies. The gram panchayats were weakened during the YSR Congress government. The sarpanches had no powers or work to do in the village during the previous government, he alleged.
The Jana Sena chief said that 70 percent of the people live in villages. The NDA government had done some exercise even before the elections to strengthen the village panchayats. A lot of thought was put into the issue and action plan was prepared, he said. He said that the government was solving every issue one after the other. The government is strictly following the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi in strengthening the villages, Pawan Kalyan said.
He said that the Panchayat Raj system in Kerala has become the strongest in the country. It was for this reason, IAS officer Krishna Teja was brought from Kerala to Andhra Pradesh on deputation, he said. He further added that the NDA government is working hard on developing and strengthening the gram panchayats.
This government had taken up laying of roads in the villages, the deputy chief minister said. He further added that the government had given funds to the gram panchayats to celebrate Palle Panduga last month. The government would also give funds to the gram panchayats to celebrate Pongal next year, he said.
He wanted the sarpanches to hold grama sabhas seriously. The grama sabhas should be held on regular intervals, he said. The decisions to be taken at the grama sabhas and implemented for the overall development of the villages, the deputy chief minister said. He wanted the sarpanches to take lead at the grama sabhasas and take the decisions to develop the villages.
Referring to the volunteers system in the state, the deputy chief minister said that the previous YSR Congress government had done a lot of injustice to the volunteers. The system is not in the records and there are no GOs to identify the volunteers, he said. This NDA government is committed to help the volunteers, but they are not part of the system, he said.
The deputy chief minister said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is taking Jal Jeevan Mission seriously across the country. However, it was neglected in Andhra Pradesh in the last five years, he said. This time, the government is very serious on implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission, the deputy chief minister said. He felt the need to protect the water bodies in the villages on priority. He said that the government would also resolve if there are any issues in the drinking water pipelines in the villages.
