Govt bats for decentralization of powers at grass root level: Sagar

Srinagar, August 24, (Scoop News)-Minister for Rural Development & Panchayati Raj, Ali Mohammad Sagar has said that need based development and creation of durable assets in rural and far flung pockets of the State was one of the priority areas of the present Government. To achieve this object, Government has implemented several welfare schemes on ground.
In order to ensure larger participation of rural people in the development process, the Government also ensured decentralization of powers at the grassroots level. This has helped tremendously to address the basic needs of the rural people according to the merits fixed by them.
Various vested interests are trying to spread false propaganda amongst the masses to negate the achievements registered by the government in various sectors and trying to divide the people on the basis of regionalism and communalism. The people should not pay heed to such concocted stories, said Sagar.
Sagar was addressing mammoth gatherings of people at Buddhal and Kotranka in remote areas of the Rajouri district yesterday after inaugurating Block Development Council building cum community hall at Budhal.
Director Rural Development, Jammu, Shafiq Raina and senior officers of district administration were present on the occasion.
Enumerating the initiatives undertaken by the government for holistic development of the state, the minister said that new 177 CD Blocks have been created to accelerate the pace of development of the rural and far flung areas of the state. “The new administrative units would start functioning from the 1st week of September and in this regard the necessary process has already been set in motion. It would serve as a befitting reply to those parties and forces who were criticizing the government’s move of creating the administrative units”, he maintained.
Implementation of various programmes like MGNREGA, IAY, NBA has been accelerated and these have proved instrumental in changing the socio-economic profile of rural areas besides providing the job opportunities to the people. A vibrant and empowered panchayati raj system has ensured larger participation of rural masses in the governance and local development after fixing the priorities by the people themselves. This has achieved the real objective of Panchayati Raj at the grass root level, said the Minister.
En-route the Minister met several deputations at various places in Pulwama and Shopian districts. Interacting with them, the minister assured that their all genuine grievances would be redressed on priority. He said that the government has put in a place an effective mechanism for monitoring the implementation of various development programmes to ensure expeditious completion of on-going schemes in rural areas, he added.
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