Deputy Chief Minister K. Narayanaswamy on Thursday described the sarpanches as the change agent in development of rural areas and lauded their role in effective grounding of welfare schemes. With more youths getting elected as sarpanches, it would pave the way for a corruption-free administration at the grassroots level.
Inaugurating the three-day training programme for the newly elected sarpanches at the DRDA Hall here, the Deputy Chief Minister said that the State government had been focussing on the development of rural areas and agrarian reforms.
“The role of sarpanches is vital in taking the schemes to the doorstep of the people in villages and promote the benefits,” he said. Mr. Narayanaswamy said that at a time when the coronavirus infection was spreading to rural areas, the sarpanches were instrumental in educating the people on COVID-appropriate behaviour.
“The same spirit should continue. The training session will guide sarpanches about the protocols to be followed in view of the threat of the third wave,” he said.
Participating in the programme, Collector M. Hari Narayanan wanted sarpanches to take an active part in implementation of the housing scheme meant for the poor.
“In the first phase, the construction of 1.8 lakh housing units is in progress. The sarpanches should bring to the notice of the district administration whenever they face any difficulty in implemention of the welfare schemes,” said Mr. Narayanan and stressed the importance of coordination between sarpanches and the village secretariats and gram volunteers.
Senior officials of the Panchayat Raj and its allied departments took part in the training sessions that were launched in six places covering Madanapalle, Chittoor and Tirupati revenue divisions. The sessions will continue till August 14.
