Tamil Nadu - Salem   

Efforts on to strengthen Panchayati Raj: official

— Photo: P. Goutham

Sharing ideas: Honorary advisor from Ministry of Panchayati Raj V. Narayanan interacting with the local body representatives in Salem on Tuesday.

SALEM: Capacity building and training for the officials and local body representatives is needed to strengthen the Panchayati Raj institutions in the country, said Honorary Advisor from Ministry of Panchayati Raj V. Narayanan.

Many elected representatives in the country are not fully aware of their powers, roles and responsibilities given under the Panchayati Raj Act. The ministry is making efforts to improve the awareness level and build the capacity of the Panchayati raj institutions, he told media persons here on Tuesday.

To a question, Mr. Narayanan said that the funds allotted for the capacity building and training were not fully utilised. This issue would be taken up to the ministry, he added.

When compared to other states, he said, the performance of the Panchayati Raj institutions in Tamil Nadu is better.

The Central government was spending crores of rupees for the development of the rural areas.

Over Rs. 1,74,000 crores was allotted in the last four years for the development of rural areas.

Emphasis is being given for the economic development of the villages.

Earlier, interacting with the elected representatives, Mr. Narayanan insisted them to take wholehearted efforts for the socio-economic development in the villages.

He also discussed about the implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme.

District Panchayat Chairman K. Shanmugam presided. District Rural Development Agency Project Officer D. Jagannathan, Assistant Director (Panchayats) G. Prabhakar and senior officials were present.

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