Chandigarh, December 28 - Haryana Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal said that a new system has been formulated to increase the powers of new panchayats.  Whatever grant-in-aid is given to Panchayati Raj institutions, these institutions have the right to spend it, because they are autonomous institutions. 

He said that Panchayat, Block Committee, Zilla Parishad, Municipality, Municipal Council, and Municipal Corporation will also be given more autonomy. 

Now the sarpanch will be able to get the work done at his level based on quotation up to Rs. 2 lakhs.  The works of more than Rs. 2 lakhs, will be done through tender invited on the Haryana Engineering Works portal.

Now, under the new system, only the SDO will be able to approve works ranging from Rs. 2 lakh to Rs. 25 lakh at the sub-divisional level and the sarpanch and Chairman of Block Samiti and Zilla Parishad will be able to give administrative approval for this. Earlier the files regarding approval of works used to come up to the headquarters level, now all approvals will be given at the local level only, said Sh. Manohar Lal while replying on the last day of the winter session of the Haryana Vidhan Sabha held here today.

The Chief Minister said that in this way, the technical sanction for the works ranging from Rs. 25 lakh to Rs. 1 crore will be given by XEN and approval will be given by the CEO, Zilla Parishad. The superintendent engineer can give technical sanction for the work costing from Rs. 1 crore to Rs 2.5 crore and approval will be given by the Director, Panchayat. The technical sanction for work above Rs. 2.5 crore will be given by Engineer-in-Chief, or Chief Engineer and final approval will be given by the concerned Administrative Secretary.

The Chief Minister made it clear that if the budget received by the Panchayati Raj Institutions from the State Finance Commission and the Central Finance Commission falls short, then demand-based funds would be made available from the Rural Development Department and Haryana Rural Development Fund (HRDF) or other Reserve Funds of the State government. For the works which will be done from these funds, the approval of up to Rs. 25 lakhs will be given by the Director, Panchayat, he added.

The  Rural Development Department will get works worth more than Rs. 25 lakhs done.  Approval or sanction will be given by the state government. The approval of work costing Rs 5 to 10 crore will be given by the concerned minister and the approval for work of more than Rs 10 crore will come to the Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal.

The Chief Minister said that no work is possible in the 21st century without using IT.  We are making portals for every work to ensure complete transparency in every work. Earlier the government work used to crawl because of the age-old manual system, but today in this era of Information Technology, we have increased this speed multiple times and with these radical IT changes, Haryana's reputation has changed, said Sh. Manohar Lal.

He said that the present state government has also started the system of social audit.  If there is public participation, there is transparency in the work, and quality is also ensured.

Clarifying the issue of recognition of private schools, the Chief Minister said that according to the rules of 2003, recognition has been given for one year.  This practice has been going on for 19 years. In 2016, we raised the issue of giving permanent recognition to such schools.  But, last year only, we had directed all such schools not to enroll students in the academic session 2022-23, but still, admission in around 1380 such schools was done. Now keeping in view the future of the students, the government will find a way so that they get a chance to give their final examination, said Sh. Manohar Lal.

He has given strict directions to such private schools that they should not admit any child in the academic session 2023-24.  Only schools fulfilling the criteria will be recognized.

Sh. Manohar Lal further clarified that outstanding sportspersons and eligible sports persons will be given jobs in 4 departments under a 3 percent sports quota.  This 3 percent will be of the total vacancies in all the departments.

The amount of compensation given for non-sowing of crops due to waterlogging has been increased from Rs 6000 to 7500 per acre

The Chief Minister said that the amount given as compensation to those farmers whose land could not be sown due to water logging has been increased from Rs 6,000 per acre to Rs 7,500 per acre. But the farmers who get the soil of their fields lifted for the commercial benefit for brick kilns and for any construction works and if they face water logging issues in their field, then no compensation will be awarded to them. Such farmers should move towards adopting fisheries, Sh. Manohar Lal.

He said that the Pond Authority has been formed for the renovation of the ponds. Now the work of renovation of 1762 ponds has started. The work of 663 has also been completed.

The Chief Minister said that the matter of resignation of the ASHA workers who have been elected in the panchayats is pending in the court. He said that if the child of a poor family wishes to study in a private school, then the government will pay the fees of the children of all such families having an annual income of Rs. 1.80 lakh. There is a separate scheme for this. Provided the schools agree to admit the students. So far, 1881 children have been enrolled in classes from II to XII standard in 381 private schools. As per the fixed fees, the government has so far, reimbursed the fees amounting to Rs 15,64,995, informed the Chief Minister.

Sh. Manohar Lal said that Punjabi is the second language of the state. For Punjabi Teacher, 1203 posts have been created, 946 posts are filled, and the process for filing up 256 is going on.

He said that as per the order of the court, the guest teachers are included in the transfer drive, after the drive of regular teachers. The guest teachers are adjusted as per the vacant post. Only 650 guest teachers have got faraway stations.

The Chief Minister said that the MLA repeatedly raised the demand of opening a girls' college in Beri after Pandit Bhagwat Dayal Sharma's name, but more colleges were opened in the Jhajjar district during the previous government's time.  He asked the MLA to suggest some other name for the educational institution which can be named after Pandit Bhagwat Dayal Sharma.

The Chief Minister said that the matter related to the nuclear power plant at the village of Gorakhpur in Fatehabad district is sub judicious, but a solution to this issue will be found within 6 months.