· JAIRAM RAMESH PROMISES TO CONSIDER PUNJAB’S PLEA
· Rs. 800 CRORE SANCTIONED FOR VILLAGE LINK ROADS WOULD BE EQUITABLEY SPENT IN ALL DISTRICTS
· PROMISES TO COVER ALL VILLAGES OF PUNJAB UNDER ‘NIRMAL GRAM YOJANA’
MOHAR JAMSHER (INDO-PAK BORDER), MAY 11(Bharatsandesh news): The Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal today sought a ‘Special Development Package’ from Union Rural Development Minister mr. Jairam Ramesh, who today made visit to this unaccessible border village circled by Pakistan border on three sides and river on the fourth side. He said that this package must cover the areas of rural roads, village sanitation, ponds desiltation, rural water supply, EWS housing and disposal of sullage in villages that was imperative to bring them at par with other villages.
The Union Minister, who is on two day visit to Punjab, after meeting the Panchayat Members in village Mouzam, was totally surprised to see the hard life of villagers on the border and promised to sanction a ‘Special Border Area Package’ for Punjab. He said that people of this area have suffered the most as they have been uprooted every time there was a war with the neigbouring country and development in these villages could not get the required focus due to their inaccessibility. He thanked Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal for making him tour to such an inaccessible villages to witness the hardships being faced by them. He said that he had visited these villages on the direction of Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, who was worried about the lack of development in border villages.
Announcing the sanction of Rs. 800 crore for Rural Link Roads of Punjab, Mr. Ramesh said that he would ensure it this money was equitably spent in all districts of Punjab. He said that it would be ensured that quality of link roads constructed under this scheme was world class and most remote villages were given priorities in sanctioning funds under this scheme.
Promising to cover every village of Punjab under Nirmal Gram Yojana’, Mr. Ramesh said that performance of Punjab on accomplishments of targets under Rural Sanitation and Rural Drinking Water schemes had been exceptional as Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal had personally taken interest in the monitoring these schemes. He announced to cover all the 12,500 villages of Punjab under this scheme to provide each household toilet facility in next three years
Seeking the cooperation of village panchayats in monitoring the quality control of all rural development works, the Union Minister said that without the active cooperation of village panchayats, no village can prosper.
Thanking Mr. Jairam Ramesh for taking special interest in the development of border villages, Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal, Deputy Chief Minister said that Punjab has paid very dearly for being a border state. He said that besides lack of development in the border villages, investors had always shied away from these area and there could not be any industrial development in this area . He said that problem of unemployment was acute in this area due to lack of employable industry. Mr. Badal said that besides Rural Development Package, Union Government must sanction industrial incentive package especially for border districts, so that industrial house could be lured to set-up industrial units in this area.
.
Earlier, gram panchayats of Mauzam and Mohar Jamsher led by their sarpanches namely Des Singh and Kulwant Singh submitted detailed memorandums regarding their problems and demands to Mr. Jairam Ramesh in the presence of Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal. Both the leaders have interaction with Panchayat members and assured every possible help for the border villages to create quality infrastructure besides providing civic amenities. The Deputy Chief Minister briefed the Union Minister about the woes of Mohar Jamsher village during monsoon season.
Prominent amongst those who were present on the occasion included Mr. Sher Singh Ghubaya, Member Parliament, Mr. Surjit Kumar Jyani, Mr. Sharanjit Singh Dhillon and Mr. Surjit Singh Rakhra, all Cabinet Ministers and Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi, MLA.
