Yogi govt’s push to rural economy

In a major push to the rural economy of Uttar Pradesh, the Yogi Adityanath government announced an investment package of Rs 1,000 crore which is likely to create self-employment opportunities in the villages of the state.
The government will procure material worth more than Rs 1,000 crore at the local level through 58,189 gram panchayats and the Panchayati Raj department has already issued necessary instructions in this regard. These gram panchayats have been asked to conduct work from the village secretariat, which will be equipped with furniture, computers, internet powered by solar energy and other facilities.

The state government has approved a budget of Rs 1.75 lakh each for equipping and furnishing village secretariats with necessary facilities, including Rs 25,000 for chairs, Rs 6,000 for computer tables, Rs 17,000 for racks and cupboards, Rs 38,000 for solar panel set-up, Rs 3,000 for carpets, Rs 6,000 for fans, Rs 60,000 for computers and Rs 20,000 for CCTV cameras. The government will spend a total of Rs 1018.30 crore for the 58,189 gram panchayats.

As per Panchayati Raj department officials, panchayat buildings were being constructed in 33,577 villages of the state while construction of 24,617 panchayat bhawans is on the cards. Of these, 2,088 panchayat buildings are to be constructed under RGSA and 22,529 under the Finance Commission and MNREGA. All 24,617 under-construction panchayat buildings are to be completed in the next three months. An amount of about Rs 1.75 lakh each will be admissible for office furnishing and computer etc.

Meanwhile, the state government clarified that the purchase of furniture and equipment for village secretariats will be done by gram panchayats at the local level, ruling out pooling of any kind at the block or district levels. The rural body will also ensure compliance with financial rules during procurement.