The inaugural function of the three-day Bharat Nirman public information campaign organised at St. Mary's Church Auditorium in Paingalam here on Monday, attracted a wide audience.
The campaign, being organised by the Press Information Bureau (PIB) in Thiruvananthapuram, was inaugurated by Jose K. Mani M.P. In his address, Mr. Mani said that the extensive publicity given to the rules and regulations of the development projects undertaken by the Central government is a necessity for their successful implementation.
“The projects and their advantages should be explained to the public so as to ensure the benefits of their implementation,” he said. He also said that the Central government is mulling over a proposal to extend the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) to the private sector. “The onus would fall on public representatives to identify and implement the projects,” he said.
Lalam Block panchayat president Aniamma Jose presided over the function and K.M. Ravindran, Additional Director General, PIB Chennai, made the introductory remarks.
Later, a workshop highlighting the various facets of MGNREGS and watershed management was led by K.M. Sivadasan, Deputy Development Commissioner and Project Director, Poverty Alleviation Unit (Kottayam division).
The keynote address of a seminar on ‘Nation building and minority welfare' was delivered by Fr. Mathew Chandrankunnel. He said that while human resource was the wealth of the nation, it was the duty of every citizen to bring the marginalised towards mainstream society.
A cultural programme was staged in the evening and it included a display of ‘singari melam', which brought an end to the proceedings of the inaugural day of the campaign.
