IMPHAL, Oct 2: The chief minister Okram Ibobi has said the elected representatives of Gram Panchayat and Zilla Parishad of the state would be given the same salaries and perks which are enjoyed by the members of ADC in view of strengthening the grass-root democratic institutions in the state.
The chief minister disclosed this during the concluding function of the year-long observation of the “Year of Gram Sabha†organized by the department of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, government of Manipur, today at the Panchayat Bhavan, Porompat, Imphal-East.
The chief minster further maintained that the state cannot be developed wholly only through development works in urban areas. The rural areas of the state should also be developed by taking up various developmental projects under the funding of Central and state government, he noted.
The state government would soon convene a joint meeting of all members of Gram Panchayat and Zilla Parishad to chalk out policies and programmes for effective implementation of various projects in the state, Ibobi stated.
He also appealed to the Panchayat members and officials of the state to work dedicatedly to visualize the objectives of MGNREGS which is one of the flagship programmes of Central government for providing 100 days job in a year to the unemployed people of the country.
Delivering the presidential speech, RD & PR minister Md Allauddin stated that a three-tier system of rural governance (Panchayati Raj) will be introduced soon in the state in view of bringing optimum development in rural areas of the state.
He also instructed the elected representatives of Panchayat to organize regular Gram Sabha meetings so as to create more accountability and transparency in the functionaries of rural governance.
Allauddin further appealed to the people to take up various projects under RD & PR department in the real interests of bringing total development in the state.The function was also attended by the Adhyaksha of Imphal East, Imphal West, Bishnupur and Thoubal districts.
The prizes for state level Best Panchayat Competitions were also presented to Kontha Khabam GP of Imphal East Block for the year 2005-06 and Khoijuman Kwasiphai GP of Bishnupur CD Block for the year 2006-07.
