127 housing cases get nod under disaster relief fund plan

Chamba, June 8

Himachal Pradesh Assembly Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania on Saturday said as many as 2,403 development works were being carried out under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in the Bhattiyat block with an expenditure of Rs 74.39 crore.

He was chairing a meeting to review the ongoing rural development projects in Bhattiyat block of Chamba district. The state government has also approved 127 housing cases in the Bhatiyat subdivision under the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), he said.

Out of these, 70 housing cases have already received a total of Rs 63.98 lakh as the first, second and third installments. The government has approved Rs 3.99 crore for an additional 57 housing cases, he said.

Highlighting the crucial role of various schemes implemented by the Rural Development Department in promoting rural development, Pathania stressed the need for dedicated and prompt execution of duties by field staff to ensure maximum benefit to the people from these schemes. He reviewed the ongoing development works at the panchayat level, directing that the quality of work be maintained and warning that delays would result in action against the responsible employees.

During the review of the works approved under VKVNY (Vishesh Krishi and Gramin Vikas Yojana), he urged the immediate commencement of pending projects. He also suggested that low-budget schemes should be completed by integrating them with other schemes.