In a step aimed at ensuring the accountability of the officers while executing the major works pertaining to Rural Drinking water schemes for providing potable water supply to the rural masses, the Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has directed the officers of the Water Supply and Sanitation department to conduct social audit and inspection of every work undertaken under the scheme.Disclosing this here today a spokesperson of the Chief Minister’s Office said that Badal had directed the Financial Commissioner Development (FCD)/ the Principal Secretary Water Supply and Sanitation (PSWSS) to ensure that during this audit and inspections, not only the present status of the schemes including quality of works executed should be checked but the officers should also meet with the Panchayats and GPWSC of villages to ascertain their issues concerning supplies of drinking water and sanitation. The Chief Minister has also said that these issues should thereafter be considered by the Department at appropriate level for timely resolution of all genuine grievances/ issues of the communities/ people.
Deputing the officers to undertake the exercise of social audit and inspection, the Chief Minister has further directed that the Principal Secretary Water Supply and Sanitation (PSWSS) must conduct the social audit and inspection of these works once in a month whereas the Chief Engineers (CE) must ensure it fortnightly (twice in a month). Likewise officers of the level of the Superintendent Engineers (SEs) have been asked to conduct this exercise once in a week whereas the Executive Engineers (XEN) have been asked to perform this action twice a week. Likewise the XEN operations and the DPMC have been asked to jointly conduct such exercises. The spokesperson further said that the Chief Minister has directed that all the officers who conduct the social audit and inspection of schemes should submit a written report to their respective CE through their Circle officers. These reports would be further consolidated by CE/Coordination and put up before the Chief Minister through PSWSS for his information, added the spokesperson.