Lagatar24 Desk
Ranchi, Feb 2: Rural Development Minister Alamgir Alam handed over appointment letters to 17 out of 19 newly appointed Lokpal (ombudsmen) in the Jharkhand Ministry Auditorium. Appointment letters could not be given to two Lokpals due to their absence. On this occasion, Minister Alam appealed to all the Lokpal to inspect, hear and resolve the works of MNREGA in a transparent manner. He said that the purpose of the whole exercise is to get the output of the scheme. He further instructed them to timely resolve minor complaints and pay attention to minor errors and rectify them.
The Minister said that the MNREGS has been very effective during the Covid period. He said that along with giving work through MNREGA, schemes should also be used to create assets. This asset should be by way of construction of cattle shed etc. At the same time, under the Jal Samridhi Yojana, natural water sources should be constructed and handed over to the villagers, instructed Alam. He further told the new Lokpal to make arrangements that water in water sources always remain intact in their regions. He stressed motivating more people to do plantation, vegetable cultivation etc. on their land through Birsa Harit Gram Yojana.
Rural Development Secretary Dr Manish Ranjan asked all the newly appointed Lokpals to become role models by discharging their responsibilities with utmost diligence. Ranjan further instructed them to patiently listen, examine and decide the problem or complaints like a judge. Approve the punishment if deemed necessary. He asked the Lokpal to conduct maximum field visits and emphasized geo-tagging of plan implementation.
MNREGA Commissioner Rajeshwari B said that the appointment of Lokpal will bring transparency to the works of MNREGA. She said that the responsibility of Lokpal is to make stakeholders accountable, transparent mechanism and qualitative improvement in efficiency under MGNREGA. The Ombudsman will not only monitor the schemes but will also give immediate resolution to the complaints and will continuously inform the government about the progress of the schemes.
Dr Ranjan informed that Jharkhand has been given the first place in the whole country by the Centre in terms of timely payment to the workers of MNREGA schemes. This is a great achievement. On the other hand, he added, Jharkhand has got another major achievement at the national level in social audit recovery. In this category, Jharkhand has been ranked second in the whole country.
Minister Alamgir Alam honoured the DDCs of 11 districts with a citation for better implementation of MGNREGA schemes. The DDCs of Bokaro, Godda, Khunti, Koderma, Latehar, Deoghar, Palamu, Simdega, Gumla, Ranchi and Pakur are among those honoured. At the same time, BDOs of Kersai, Murhu, Koderma, Chaibasa Sadar block were also honoured with a citation for better performance on the same scale.
