Thane, Jun 7 (PTI) The Thane collectorate held a ‘ghongadi baithak’ or blanket meeting in a remote tribal hamlet in Shahapur taluka to get residents to discuss issues in the comfort of their own surroundings rather than in imposing offices and winding corridors of the district administration’s headquarters, an official said on Sunday.
Collector Shrikrishna Panchal and additional collector Harishchandra Patil sat on the floor through the night at one such meeting on Friday in Dolkhamb village as residents spoke of various civic issues they were facing, including drinking water scarcity, dilapidated roads, erratic power supply, complex land disputes, and delayed forest rights claims, he said.
“An administration must read the expressions on people’s faces rather than the dry letters in files. Understanding the expectations in their eyes and their real hardships on the ground is what truly strengthens democracy. This public welfare campaign aims to shatter the distance between the system and the grassroots,” a release quoted Panchal as saying.
A tribal man who took part in the meeting said usually he and others travelled to Thane city and waited in line for hours to meet officials.
However, under this initiative, the collector is coming to them and getting a first-hand feel of issues in these remote parts, he added. PTI COR BNM
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