Former soldiers will guard against leaks in social welfare schemes in Punjab by keeping a close vigil at the village level, in a first of its kind scheme by any state government in India.To implement the welfare schemes of the state and centre governments in a more effective manner under Guardians of Governance Scheme of the Punjab Government and to ensure to reach out to the eligible people to avoid misuse of the schemes, the ex-servicemen at the village and panchayat level will work as ‘watchdogs of prosperity’.Capt Amarinder Singh, Chief Minister, has entrusted this responsibility to ex-servicemen, keeping in view of their honesty and sentiments to fulfil the responsibility entrusted to them towards the nation. Capt Amarinder Singh himself is the State Level Chairman and leadership of Lt Gen (Retd.) T.S.Shergil while at Ferozepur Maj General (Retd.) S.S.Cnauhar and Col (Retd) Kashmir Singh.Maj Gen (Retd.) S.S.Chauhan said, the main purpose of the scheme is to ensure that besides keeping an eye on various government schemes like MNREGA, Ata-Dal, Shagun, Prime Minister's housing scheme, Sarv Sikhya Abhiyan etc. through ex-servicemen, to ensure that the benefits of these schemes reach to the right beneficiaries and there is no mismanagement at any level.He said a mobile app – GOG – has also been started for monitoring and implementation of ‘Watchdog of Prosperity’ move in toto on which the feedback will be uploaded and this information will go at three levels – SDM, ADC and concerned department.
Besides, the information collected at the district level in the control room set for the purpose will be passed on to the Chief Minister. In the first phase, under the scheme, 57 ex-servicemen are being deputed and in the next phase, this scheme will be implemented at the village level. The right benefits of the schemes offered by them should be properly accessed and it is not abused anywhere. He said that a mobile app "GOG" has also been started for implementing and monitoring the 'watchdog's watchman' in-in-bin, on which feedback/information will be uploaded by the watchdogs of prosperity and The information will be three stages which in the first phase the SDM, at the second stage, the DC And at the third stage, the secretary of the concerned department will go. Apart from this, the information collected at the control room created at the provincial level will be brought to the Chief Minister. Under this scheme, 57 ex-servicemen are being set up at a district level and tehsil level in the first phase and in the next phase this scheme will be implemented from every village.On this occasion, Deputy Commissioner Ramveer said that this is an important step for the government to raise the poorest sections of society and bring them the true value. He said that with the implementation of his scheme, the district administration will also be able to scrutinize the welfare schemes and its benefits will reach to the right beneficiaries. He said that the government would fully cooperate to implement this scheme in the district in a holistic manner.Present among others on this occasion were Additional Deputy Commissioner Vineet Kumar, Naman Maran G.A., Gurmeet Singh Dhillon Secretary, Zila Parishad, Balraj Singh DFSC, Joginder Singh Supervisor and officers of various departments.