Anand (Guj), Jan 30 (PTI) Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Friday launched the ‘Mukhyamantri Gramotthan Yojana’ (MGY) and virtually laid the foundation stones for new panchayat offices across 2,666 villages to be constructed at a cost of Rs 663 crore.
The event was held at Bhadran village in Anand district.
While laying the foundations stone for the village panchayat offices-cum-talati residences virtually, CM Patel said the new buildings will make it easier for people to avail government services at the local level itself.
Under the first phase of the MGY, villages under 114 taluka headquarters will be covered, while the aim is to expand it to all the village panchayats with a population of more than 10,000 in the near future, an official release said.
Under the scheme, the villages will be provided with modern urban equivalent facilities, including road infrastructure, water, sanitation, solar street lights, e-grams, and community halls, etc, helping reduce the burden on cities, it said.
“As a result, the gap between rural and urban development will be reduced and the mantra of ‘support for all, development for all, trust for all and effort for all’ given by the PM will be realised through comprehensive and balanced development,” the CM said.
“To balance the pressure of increasing urbanisation in cities, special plans are being made keeping rural development at the centre. In this, such a programme focused on the uplift of village panchayats is being organised for the first time in the state,” he said.
Patel said special efforts are being made for rainwater harvesting and groundwater recharge under the “Catch the Rain” campaign for water conservation, with each MLA allocated a special grant of Rs 50 lakh for the purpose.
He appealed to the people to adopt cow-based natural agriculture and asked everyone to take a pledge to improve the health of the soil and give a healthy future to the coming generation.
The CM paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi, who was assassinated on this day in 1948, and said that Gandhiji had shown the way to make villages independent and self-reliant by giving the message of ‘gram swaraj.’ His ideology has become a source of inspiration for nation building even today, the CM said. PTI KA NP
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