Thursday, August 30, 2018
  • Chandigarh, August 30: Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Manohar Lal today made several significant announcements to further strengthen the democratic system at the grassroot level in the state by decentralization of powers to the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) and Local Bodies  and also  to ensure their active participation in the development process.
  • Mr Manohar Lal was presiding over the first meeting of Inter District Council at Panchkula today. All Presidents of Zila Parishad, all Mayors of Municipal Corporations, all Presidents of Municipal Councils and Municipal Committees and one Sarpanch from each district of the State participated in the meeting.  
  • Earlier, a two minute silence was observed in the memory of Bharat Ratna former Prime Minister Late  Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee and INLD MLA from Jind Mr Hari Chand Midha.
  • The Chief Minister announced that now every Zila Parishad would have an independent Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to work exclusively for the Zila Parishad. Earlier, Deputy Commissioners, Additional Deputy Commissioners or Sub Divisional Magistrates (SDMs) were given additional charge of CEOs of Zila Parishads.
  • He also announced that ADC and CEO, Zila Parishad would not be a single officer and appointed separately. They would draw their salaries from the account of Zila Parishad. The Chairman, Zila Parishad would write the Annual Confidential Report (ACR) of CEO and it would be accepted by the State Government on the basis of the feedback given by the people.
  • He said that till now, Chairman Zila Parishad is appointed as the Chairman of District Rural Development Authority (DRDA) and ADC as its CEO. Now, ADC would not be appointed as CEO, DRDA. The CEO Zila Parishad would act as CEO, DRDA. Similarly, the Deputy Commissioners would no longer be the Co-Chairman of DRDA. With this, the members of Zila Parishad would be able to prepare schemes in consultation of CEO, he added. He said that an arrangement of Rs 20 crore has been made for the Zila Parishads from today only and they could spend it according to the requirement. Similarly, the State Government is considering appointing a single officer to coordinate with all urban local units in the district.
  • The Chief Minister also announced that Zila Parishads would have their independent offices in the districts. At present, only seven districts have the offices of Zila Parishad. Apart from this, the office of DRDA would also be set up in the same building.
  • He suggested that an Intra District Council comprising the representatives of PRIs and Local Bodies should be set up on the pattern of Inter District Council to resolve various intra-district issues concerning the development works. He also urged the local bodies to work with a sense of bringing uniformity in the development of areas and minimize discretion in allocation of funds. He said that he had visited all 90 assembly constituencies of the State and made announcements as per the requirement of the areas.
  • While describing today as a historic day, the Chief Minister said that the State Government has constituted the Inter District Council to to ensure that the gram panchayats, panchayat samitis and zila parishads work as a ruler and not beggar where they could get required funds and power automatically.
  • He said that the State Government has also decided to transfer selected works of various departments to Zila Parishads for its execution as per their capacity.  He said that though funds for the same would be transferred to Zila Parishads, the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the project would be prepared by the State Government.  Among the works which could be got executed through Zila Parishads included construction of bus queue shelters, construction of passage, boundary wall, sheds and adequate arrangements of water in cremation grounds in the state under the Shivdham Vikas Yojna, erecting  mobile towers and  pavement of streets.  Apart from this, the PRIs would also be involved in social audit system to ensure effective monitoring of various low budget works being undertaken by the government at the grass root level.
  • The Chief Minister said that sufficient staff would be made available by the government so that the PRIs could work efficiently and independently. Each Panchayat Samiti would be provided a sanitary inspector to work on cleanliness. Similarly, engineers would also be made available to them to carryout technical works. He also urged them to promote a sense of voluntarism  and rope in maximum number village youth and Non Government Organizations (NGOs) in this work. Quoting example, the Chief Minister said that he had exhorted the school students of classes 6th to 12th to plant atleast one sapling in the premises of their house. As a result of this, about 16.50 lakh saplings have been planted in the State in only three months that is July, August and September.
  • He said that the Haryana came into existence on November 1, 1966 and the Gram Panchayat Act, 1952 was made applicable to the PRIs in Haryana. He said that Mahatma Gandhi had advocated to strengthen this Act to ensure that benefit of various scheme reach to the last person in the village. The Haryana Panchayati Raj Act was amended in the year 1993- 94 to bring uniformity in the system. Though various states implemented this Act, it could not be implemented in Haryana.  But when we took over the reign of administration in the State, we resolved to decentralize the powers associated with villages and towns. The budget of Zila Parishad had been increased from Rs 1.5 crore to Rs three crore and it was further increased to Rs 10 crore. Similarly, the budget of Urban Local Bodies has also been increased manifold.
  • The Chief Minister said that thought of delegation of powers of PRIs and Local Bodies was conceptualized way earlier when the State Government brought a revolutionary change by introducing the condition of education in the Panchayats election. Though it was a tough task, but due to the strong will of the State Government, we have implemented it.  After the 45 days hearing, the Supreme Court not only put its stamp on this reform but also asked other states to replicate the same.
  • He appreciated the suggestion given by the participants of the meeting during the open discussion and said that some were beyond expectations.  He said that these suggestions would be taken up in the next meeting of the Council which would meet once in every three months atleast for first year.  
  • Speaking on this occasion, Finance Minister, Capt Abhimanyu urged the representatives of PRIs to focus on three Fs- Function, Functionaries and Funds and prepare an atmosphere of cooperation and competition. He said that it is only the present State Government that has taken the initiative towards strengthening and empowering the PRIs. He hoped that the way the State is marching ahead on the path of development, Haryana would become an ideal State of the 21st century.
  • Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister, Mr O.P Dhankar described today as a historical day and said that present State Government has brought about a revolutionary change in the system by setting up the Inter District Council. The State Government has not only provided the State, educated panchayats but also made them more capable and efficient by ensuring their participation in the government, he added.
  • Urban Local Bodies Minister, Mrs Kavita Jain said that in view of the development and rapid urbanization, the State Government has implemented various schemes to provide all necessary infrastructure facilities to the people. She said that more than 100 citizen centric services are being provided to the people in all urban local bodies in the State. She also listed various steps for further strengthening the PRIs and Local Bodies in the State.
  • Among those present in the meeting included MLAs namely Mr Gian Chand Gupta and Mrs Latika Sharma, Chief Secretary Mr D.S Dhesi, Deputy Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Mr Mandeep Brar, Principal Secretary Finance Mr T.V.S.N Prasad,    Principal Secretary Development and Panchayats Mr Sudhir Rajpal , Principal Secretary Urban Local Bodies Mr Anand Mohan Sharan, Director, Swarna Jayanti Haryana Institute of Fiscal Management Mr Vivek Joshi and Deputy Commissioner Panchkula Mr Mukul Kumar.