E-tendering will bring transparency in Panchayat development works: Khattar

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar (Photo: Twitter)


Even as sarpanches (village heads) are continuing protests against the Haryana government’s new e-tender policy,  Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Wednesday said.
e-tendering will bring transparency in development works.
Addressing a Press conference, the CM also announced to increase the limit of development works on quotation basis of sarpanches from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh.
He also announced to increase the honorariums of sarpanches from Rs 3,000 to Rs 5,000 and of panches
(ward members) from Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,600  by linking it with dearness allowance on the lines of government employees.
The sarpanch will also be able to record his comments in the Annual Confidential Report (ACR) of the Gram Sachiv, he said. Calling upon the sarpanches to understand their responsibility towards the people as public representatives and get the development works done in the villages in a transparent manner, Khattar said any hassles
in the e-tendering process will be removed.
“The government has strengthened the hands of sarpanches with e-tendering, which will bring transparency in development works and the works will be completed in a time-bound manner,” he added.
Khattar asked the representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) to upload the proposals for development works worth Rs 1,100 crore allocated for the last quarter of this financial year before 31 March.
Of these, Rs 800 Crore was allocated to Gram Panchayats, Rs 165 crore to Block Samitis and Rs 110 Crore to Zila Parishads (district councils).
“So far, out of 6,217 panchayats, 5,048 panchayats have passed proposals for development works. The proposals for 9,418 works worthvless than Rs 2 lakh have been received, while 1,044 works worth more than Rs 2 lakh have been uploaded after administrative approval,” he
said.
For the social audit of the development works, the CM said a committee will be formed at the village level, consisting of the residents; who will keep a vigil on the development works being done in the village.
“A separate engineering wing will also be set up for the Development and Panchayats department,” he added.
Khattar said  a ‘Social Audit System’ will also be established in six months to check the quality of development works. Apart from this, ‘Quality Assurance Authority’ is being established.