Panchayats to get supervisory powers soon: CM

Shimla, May 31 (UNI) Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has said panchayats in the state will soon have supervisory powers over village level functionaries to improve their functioning and fix their responsibility.

Addressing a public meeting at Rathal in Jubbal Kotkhaiu area of the district here yesterday, he said the step would revolutionise the pace of development in the state besides improving their functioning.

Mr Singh said water supply schemes would also function under the supervision of the panchayats and they would be responsible for their maintenance and collecting service charges from consumers.

The step would help additional income to them besides maintaining transparency in their functioning, he said.

He said Himachal was one of those states that had implemented the 73 rd Constitutional Amendment, which aimed at devolution of power PRIs, adding that the government was committed to realise the dream of the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi who wanted the transfer of powers to the panchayats.

The Chief Minister said the state had adopted the three-tier system in Panchayati Raj besides reserving some seats for women in the panchayats.

The state government had decided to allocate only two projects to a contractor at a time to ensure timely completion of the work, he said.

Mr Singh said his government had also enhanced the tendering limit of the contractors and now A class contractors were eligible for projects over one crore while less than on crore to B class, Rs 40 lakh for C class and Rs 10 lakh for D class contractors.

Earlier, he laid down the foundation stones of Girls Hostel at Lal Bhahadur Shastri Government Degree College, Saraswatinagar to be constructed at a cost of Rs 1.63 crore, residence for doctors to be constructed at a cost of Rs 35 lakh and Dhadhi-Ghunsa Water Supply Scheme to be constructed at a cost of Rs 40 lakh.

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