SILCHAR : In a review meeting at the Cachar District Commissioner’s office on Saturday, Assam’s Panchayat and Rural Development Minister, Ranjeet Kumar Kumar Dass, underscored the urgent need for swift completion of development projects in Cachar district.

Minister Das, who is on a 5-day visit to Barak Valley, emphasized timely execution and effective utilization of resources to meet the state’s development targets.

Minister, Ranjeet Kumar Dass emphasized the importance of meeting deadlines and effectively utilizing available resources to align with the state’s overarching development goals.

During the meeting, Minister Dass was presented with the progress of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Gramin (PMAY-G), where 93% of the targeted 1,01,460 houses have been completed across 15 development blocks in Cachar district. He firmly directed officials to expedite the completion of the remaining houses by the deadline of September 30, 2024.

It needs to be mentioned here that the directive comes in light of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent announcement to add an additional 7 to 8 lakh houses under the scheme, with new targets allocated for Assam.

The meeting also touched upon the progress of Aadhaar seeding in the district’s development blocks. Officials reported that 5,046 Aadhaar seedings have been completed out of the targeted 6,949 houses, achieving 73% of the goal. Minister Dass urged the concerned authorities to intensify efforts to reach 100% Aadhaar seeding.

The financial progress under the 15th Finance Commission’s recommendations was another critical area of discussion. Minister Dass reviewed the financial achievements at various Panchayat levels in Cachar.

It was noted that the Zilla Parishad has made financial progress of ₹6.81 crores out of an allocated ₹79.58 crore, the Ancholik Panchayat has achieved ₹24.09 crore out of ₹70.43 crores, and the Gaon Panchayat has reached ₹4.83 crore out of ₹63.27 crore.

Minister Dass urged the officials to fast-track the utilization of the second instalment of funds and initiate new schemes across all Panchayat levels.
The minister also laid stress on the process of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) projects and called upon the Block Development Officers (BDOs) to ensure timely implementation of the measures.

He underscored the importance of the government’s commitment to ensuring rural employment benefits.

The meeting also covered the Amrit Sarovar projects, with Minister Dass placing special emphasis on the importance of completing all 78 projects in the Cachar district.

He directed officials to ensure that these Sarovars, essential for water conservation and community use, are adequately supplied with water. The review meeting concluded with Minister Dass calling for close collaboration among all departments to ensure the timely execution of projects and the achievement of the state’s broader development goals.

The meeting concluded with a strong call for inter-departmental collaboration to ensure the timely execution of projects and the fulfilment of the state’s broader development objectives.

The review meeting was attended by Silchar MLA Dipayan Chakraborty, Lakhipur MLA Kaushik Rai, Udharband MLA Mihir Kanti Som, Cachar District Commissioner Rohan Kumar Jha, Vice president, District BJP, Amitabh Rai, District BJP President Bimalendu Roy, Chief Executive Officer Pranab Kumar Bora, Block Development Officers (BDOs), and officials from the Food & Civil Supplies Department.