Madan Kaushik, the state’s Minister for Panchayati Raj, held a review meeting regarding departmental schemes at his office in the Legislative Assembly. He stated that empowering the Panchayats is a top priority for the government. During the meeting, he issued instructions for the immediate release of the available budget for the repair of existing Panchayat buildings and the construction of new ones.
The Minister explained that, due to the discontinuation of the ‘contingency’ provision under the 15th Finance Commission, arrangements will be made through the grants of the upcoming 6th State Finance Commission to ensure the continued services of Junior Engineers—who are currently deployed in various blocks via UPNAL (Uttarakhand Purv Sainik Kalyan Nigam Limited). He has directed that a cabinet proposal be prepared to this effect.
Furthermore, instructions were issued to expedite the drafting of pending rules—which have remained outstanding for 10 years under the Panchayati Raj Act, 2016—to develop a new proposal for the department’s administrative structure, and to ensure the swift resolution of pending legal cases. Secretary Nitesh Kumar Jha and Joint Secretary Anil Kumar Pandey were present at the meeting.
