Kolkata: The state Panchayat & Rural Development department has directed all rural bodies to submit reports on the overall development and status of various ongoing projects by February 15, 2019.
The department wants to have a comprehensive idea of the pace of development work in all the areas, thereby speeding up work ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
The department has further directed the heads of various bodies to connect to the masses on issues of development and infrastructure.
"The Gram Panchayat representatives should interact with villages at the ground level, learn about problems if any that are being faced by them about the condition of roads, lighting and availability of drinking water," said a senior official of the department.
The department wants to ensure that there is no slackness in the pace of development work. This year the Panchayat election process was quite a long drawn one and there was delay in formation of rural boards.
This had delayed work for a number of rural projects.
"The report prepared by the rural bodies will point out the loopholes which can be handled accordingly. Thus, work will automatically run as per schedule," the official said. It will help the Panchayat boards to prioritise work as per the demands of the people. There are a total of 3,207 Gram Panchayats that have been entrusted to prepare the reports.
It may be mentioned that Bengal has again emerged as the frontrunner in the 100 Days' Work scheme. The state has nearly achieved the target for the year, three months before the deadline.
The target for the state for the 2018-19 financial year set by the Central government, was creating 25 crore man-days by March 31, 2019. Till Thursday, December 6, the number of man-days created was 23 crore 22 lakh 87 thousand. The state Panchayat department is confident of achieving the target considerably in advance.
The target set by the Union Ministry for Rural Development for the last financial year (2017-18) was 23 crore man-days. Bengal had overtaken the target by creating 31.25 crore man-days instead.
The average number of working days in the 2017-18 financial year was 60. This financial year, the number will already touch 59 by the end of December.
In the 2017-18 fiscal, Rs 7,000 crore was spent to give salaries to 52 lakh families. This year, Rs 7,000 crore has already been spent for 49.53 lakh families, as of December 6.