Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on Sunday decided to constitute flying squads to conduct surprise checks on quality and progress of works taken up in villages during the programme across the State. The flying squads which will hit the road from January 1, will not only conduct surprise checks but also look into complaints from people and submit reports to the State government directly.
The 30-day first phase of Palle Pragathi programme held from September first week received good response with people voluntarily participating in keeping their villages clean and hygienic, besides developing greenary in their surroundings. Thus, the State government decided to conduct a 10-day Palle Pragthi programme commencing from January 2.
Reviewing the progress of works taken up during first phase of Palle Pragathi programme at Pragathi Bhavan here on Sunday, Chandrashekhar Rao pointed out that the State government was releasing Rs 339 crore every month. He said the Panchayat Raj department was strengthened from grassroot level by filling vacancies, providing promotions and salary hikes to employees of all ranks from village secretaries to Chief Executive Officers of Zilla Parishads. The district collectors were empowered under Panchayat Raj Act to take necessary decisions to resolve any operational problems, besides issuing timely instructions from the State headquarters for effective implementation of Palle Pragathi programme.
The Chief Minister reiterated that development of villages was a priority subject for the State government and gave adequate time and resources to the officials and people’s representatives, for setting the works in motion.
“Despite all this, I have been recieving complaints from people against some officials and elected representatives. Works are also not progressing upto the expectations. If we cannot achieve any development in villages with all the resources, it cannot be fulfilled in our lifetime,” he felt.
Chandrashekhar Rao said that as people were voluntarily participaing in the programme in a large scale, the district collector, officials and people’s representatives concerned should take the responsibility in this regard. He stated that surprise checks and corrective measures were needed to make the programme more effective. He also assured that the flying squads were not aimed to trouble anyone.
The flying squads will comprise of officials from IAS, IPS and IFS cadres where each official will be randomly allocated 12 mandals in different districts to conduct surprise checks. Information pertaining to allocation of mandals will be kept confidential with the State government and a monitoring system will be put in place for daily monitoring of their movement. “Action will be initiated against officials and people’s representatives concerned who are negligent towards their duties after reviewing their performance. The government will continue to strive to develop each and every village,” Chandrashekhar Rao added.
Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister S Narsing Rao, Secretary Smita Sabharwal, Special Secretary Rajashekar Reddy, Principal Secretary Municipal Administration Arvind Kumar, director Sridevi, Panchayat Raj commissioner Raghunandan Rao and other senior officials participated.