RAMANATHAPURAM
Grama sabha meetings were held in all the more than 400 village panchayats in the district, except Uppur, on Independence Day on Wednesday as the villagers pledged to protect children from sexual abuse and extend their cooperation to free the district of plastic items, especially single use carry bags.
The grama sabha meeting in Uppur was ‘postponed’ after the villagers insisted on passing a resolution against establishment of the 1600 MW supercritical thermal power plant. As the officials denied permission for the resolution, the villages boycotted the meeting, sources said.
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Elsewhere in the district, the meetings were held with the full participation of the villagers, officials said. Collector S. Natarajan, accompanied by Assistant Director of Panchayats A. Chelladurai, chaired the grama sabha meeting at Pandiyur village in Nainarkoil panchayat.
After detailed discussions about the ban on plastic items, protection of children from sexual abuse, survey of girl school dropouts below 15 years of age, judicious use of drinking water, use of individual household toilets and selection of beneficiaries under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), the meeting adopted resolutions.
As there were difficulties in selecting the beneficiaries under the PMAY based on the 2011 socioeconomic survey, the grama sabha meetings gave approval for eligible beneficiaries to have houses under the scheme with a subsidy of ₹ 1.70 lakh, the officials said.
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Mr. Natarajan exhorted the people to extend their cooperation to free the district of plastic, especially the single use plastic carry bags. He said the government wanted to provide education to girl school dropouts below 15 years of age and urged the people to inform the officials whenever child marriages were conducted. People should avoid open defecation and help the district administration in managing soil waste by segregating biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste.
In Sivaganga, after Collector G. Latha chaired a grama sabha meeting at Nalukottai village, members of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) organised a human chain, stressing protection of children from sexual abuse.