Palli village in Jammu’s Samba district has become the country’s first panchayat to become carbon neutral, fully powered by solar energy and with all its records digitised and saturation of benefits of all the Central schemes.
Inaugurating the 500 KW solar plant at the country’s first carbon-neutral panchayat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said it would take three weeks to move a ‘sarkari’ file from Delhi to Jammu and Kashmir but this project with the help of villagers was completed in a record time of three weeks.
Referring to the Glasgow Climate Change Conference attended by him last year, Mr. Modi said he was witness to speeches and statements being made during the conference on reducing carbon generation.
“It’s India that has come up with a living example in the form of Palli village to the Glasgow pledge. Palli village, with its enthusiastic and dedicated elected representatives full of dreams, has shown how to implement the Glasgow pledge,” Mr. Modi said.
Palli was a major step towards the Glasgow goal of making India carbon-neutral. “With the inauguration of a 500 KW solar power plant at Palli, it is the first panchayat to become carbon-neutral,” the PM said.
Palli village was also an example of the slogan ‘sab ka prayas’ (Everyone’s efforts). “Every household in Pall offered ‘rotis’ to workers who completed the solar power plant,” he added.
He described Palli as a model panchayat, which is bound to motivate other panchayats in Jammu and Kashmir and the country to become carbon-neutral.
Underlining the role of Panchayats and Gram Panchayats in the country, Mr. Modi said panchayats had to play a central role in decision-making of a village. “Now a villager can check his mobile to know the status of a scheme and the money spent on it.”
He said the government was pushing for major technology-related measures, e-swaraj and mode of payments to make Panchayats more powerful. “We aim that all basic issues, included in citizens’ charter, are addressed at the village level,” Mr. Modi said.
Whether it was Panchayat or Parliament, no work was small or big. “Panchayats will become mediums for the country to reach new heights,” the Prime Minister said.
He asked panchayats to participate in the movement “to segregate waste at the door step and reduce the use of chemical fertilisers”.
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