Gandhinagar (Gujarat) [India], August 22 : Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel has approved a grant of Rs 489.95 crore for 2,055 new Gram Panchayat buildings under the Gram Panchayat Ghar cum Talati-Mantri Awas Yojana to achieve 100 per cent saturation in the state.
To ensure that Gram Panchayats, the fundamental and significant unit of the three-tier Panchayati Raj system, have their own Panchayat buildings, CM Patel has sanctioned a substantial grant for this purpose, the Chief Minister's office said in a press release.
The State Government's Panchayat Department allocates funds from the annual budget to construct new Panchayat buildings for Gram Panchayats with dilapidated or no existing Panchayat buildings, as well as for Talati-cum-Mantri residences. Construction of these facilities is carried out as per the identified needs, the release said.
Accordingly, villages with a population of more than 10,000 are allotted Rs 40 lakh, villages with a population between 5,000 and 10,000 are allotted Rs 34.83 lakh, and villages with a population below 5,000 are allotted Rs 25 lakh for building Gram Panchayat Ghar cum Talati-Mantri Awas.
In this context, for the first time, the Chief Minister has simultaneously approved Rs 489.95 crore for new Panchayat houses in 2,055 Gram Panchayats of the state, based on the unit cost determined by the population of each village. As a result, most Gram Panchayats will be able to commence construction of their own buildings within this year itself.
In addition, the Panchayat Department is also working towards achieving 100 per cent saturation in the construction of such Panchayat houses for Gram Panchayats covered under other schemes, the release said.