The Punjab Rural Development and Panchayat Minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa today launched a campaign for the cleaning of village ponds in the state through video conference. The Minister appealed to the officers of the department and Panchayats to complete the work of cleaning the ponds by June 10 before the start of paddy season. He said that the cleaning of ponds was closely related to the cleanliness of the villages and the health of the people, hence this work should be done on priority basis.Mr. Bajwa said that Senior Officers of the Rural Development Department and Mr. Kahan Singh Pannu, Director Mission Tandrust Punjab would visit various districts of Punjab from next week to advise the Panchayats and field staff of the department and to solve their problems regarding this task.The Rural Development Minister further said that MGNREGA workers should be given maximum employment through this work. At the same time, he said that minimum machines should be engaged for this work and no unnecessary expenditure should be incurred.Mr. Bajwa said that due to corona virus poor people across the country have no employment these days and they do not have any other source of income therefore maximum MGNREGA workers should be engaged for this work.
This income would help them meet daily livelihood needs. He also directed the officials that the payment to the MGNREGA workers should be ensured without any delay.Mrs. Seema Jain, Financial Commissioner, Rural Development and Panchayats Department said that besides cleaning the ponds, silt would also be removed and wherever possible the cleaning and renovation of ponds would be done as per the Seechewal model approved by Thapar University. She also said that daily report of pond cleaning work would be sent to the head office by posting photos and videos in WhatsApp groups.Mr. Kahan Singh Pannu, Director, Mission Tandrust Punjab said that the Panchayats of the state have set a great example of mutual brotherhood in the villages to prevent the spread of Corona virus. In the same way, all should work together in this campaign to keep the villages clean.The meeting was also attended by DPS Kharbanda Director Rural Development, Vipul Ujjwal Joint Development Commissioner and Additional Deputy Commissioners of all the districts, District Development Officers and Block Development Officers of the Rural Development Department participated through video conferencing.