Govt will fund ZPs: Virbhadra

Tribune News Service

Shimla, March 24

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today said though the 14th Finance Commission had withheld grants to zila parishads and panchayat samitis, the state government would fund them out of its own resources and a budget of Rs 42 crore had been proposed for this fiscal.

At a party meeting in Swarghat of Bilaspur district, he said: “I would certainly take up the matter with the Union government to amend the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission to pave the way for devolution of funds to panchayat samitis and zila parishads.”

He said the Mukhya Mantri Sadak Yojana had been started to connect left-out habitations with roads. A sum of Rs 16.68 crore had been sanctioned for the construction of Baghchal bridge on which the work had been started, fulfilling the demand of the people and connecting Kotdhar in Jhanduta constituency of Bilaspur district.

Chairman, Twenty-Point Programme Implementation Committee, Ram Lal Thakur said the sitting MLA from the area was misguiding the people on development. He said not only tehsil, but the construction of SDM office too was awarded by the Congress government.

The BJP government didn’t even spend a penny for the SDM office. He said the Timber depot, trauma unit, Mid-Himalayan office and DFO office were sanctioned by the Congress government, but the BJP always ignored the welfare of the people of the area.

Thakur urged the Chief Minister for expediting the process of transferring the Kehloor sports complex comprising to the Sports Department. He said with the change in government in 2003, the Luhnu sports complex which was constructed by HIMUDA was not handed over to the department.

Projects worth Rs17 crore dedicated

Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today dedicated development projects worth Rs 17 crore in Naina Devi constituency of Bilaspur district. He inaugurated the Rs 3.72-crore Lift Water Supply Scheme for Kuthela, Tanbol and Taali (Zagatkhana), benefitting a population of about 12,000. He laid the foundation stone of augmentation and improvement of the drinking water supply scheme Kuthela, Tanbol and Zagatkhana, costing Rs 2.68 crore. T he Chief Minister also inaugurated the trauma centre of Community Health Centre (CHC), Swarghat, completed with an outlay of Rs 80 lakh besides inaugurating the SDM office. He laid the foundation stone of BDO’s office at Swarghat and a building of Industrial Training Institute (ITI), Naaliyan (Dadwal), at Swarghat.