Panchayat Raj Minister Jupally Krishna Rao today directed that division of panchayat clusters should be made in a scientific manner based on population and not on revenue.
Rao held a review meeting on panchyat clusters, the employment guarantee scheme and giving 100 days of work for at least 60 per cent of workers. Krishna Rao also stressed the need for implementing the scheme for providing works worth Rs 3000 crore this year by giving targets to the field staff. He said that panchayat secretaries are being over burdened with five to six panchayats as 5500 clusters formed based on income which took place in 2002. Now that the division of the panchayats should be made as per population which will ensure that each secretary will get less number of panchayats, he said. The officials should take up immediate steps in this regard and enable the secretaries to focus on speedy completion of works, the minister said.
Directing the officials to fill up 2000 vacant secretary posts in Panchayats, the minister said that the officials should study a Madhya Pradesh model of Integrated Account System. Krishna Rao asked the officials to focus on the construction of Panchayat buildings, if Sarpanches concerned failed to take initiative. He also asked for online registrations of MBs and online permissions to construct buildings.(NSS