Siliguri, Oct. 30 -- The state government is planning to strengthen rural development initiatives while addressing the concerns of grassroots-level workers, Dilip Ghosh, the minister of Panchayat and Rural Development said during his three-day visit to North Bengal. Accompanied by the Minister of State for Panchayat, Shantanu Pramanik, Ghosh reviewed various development activities and administrative progress across Darjeeling and other parts of North Bengal.
On Friday, addressing the North Bengal convention of the All Bengal Rural Resource Workers' Association at Dinabandhu Mancha in Siliguri, the minister said that the state government had substantially increased the honorarium of Gram Panchayat-level workers since coming to power and was positively considering a further hike. Emphasising accountability, Ghosh said: "Workers must discharge their responsibilities sincerely. Our government will listen to their issues and will try to resolve all of them."
On vacancies in North Bengal, he said steps were being taken to overcome legal and administrative hurdles. "In areas where creation of permanent posts in the hills might take time, we are considering contractual appointments to ensure that work does not suffer," Ghosh said.
Regarding the Awas Yojana, Ghosh said a large number of applications had been received, but some contained false information. All applications would be scrutinised to ensure that genuine and economically weaker beneficiaries were identified and fraudulent claims removed.
Ghosh also launched a sharp attack on MAITC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee over his recent warning that police personnel were being identified and would not be spared if his party returned to power.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.