ITANAGAR, Jul 20: Minister, Home, Panchayati Raj etc. Bamang Felix has reiterated that the state government is committed to devolve powers to the PRIs in real terms, informing along with that an Empowered Committee headed by the Chief Secretary is working for evolving a mechanism that would ensure proper and workable devolution of powers to these local-level  bodies.   

Felix said this today while chairing a virtual meeting with all the Zilla Parishad Chairpersons (ZPCs) and District Panchayat Development Officers (DPDOs) of the state. Through his keynote address, he informed the ZPCs about the schemes being undertaken by the Panchayati Raj Department to be implemented with full participation and involvement of the PRIs. Congratulating the Kra Daadi Zilla Parishad and Bokoriang-I  Gram Panchayat under Papum Pare Zilla Parishad for being selected by the Union Ministry of Panchayati Raj as the Panchayat Ambassador (Beacon Panchayat) from Arunachal Pradesh in the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav for commemorating India’s 75th Year of Independence, Felix emphasised on  holistic approach for upliftment of the state’s rural population. 

The DPDOs have been asked to expedite all time-bound works of Union MoPR like formulation of Model Panchayat Citizen Charter, uploading of Covid-19 related information in Covid dashboard and completion of  the registration process on eGramSwaraj portal. Secretary (RD & PR) Amarnath Talwade informed about the steps being taken by the Department for strengthening the state’s PRIs. Participating in the discussion, the ZPCs of West Siang, Tawang, Tirap, West Kameng and Kamle requested for a few amendments in the funding pattern of the 15th Finance Commission  grants owing to the practical problems while implementing the cluster farming objectives. They also conveyed  gratitude for the allocation of funds by the state government for procurement of new vehicles for all the 25 ZPCs.

Director (Panchayati Raj) Tamune Miso, Director (Rural Development) Kego Jilen, CEO cum SMD, Arunachal State Rural Livelihood Mission Solung Miji and Director (SIRD & PR) Habung Lampung participated in the virtual meeting.