Port Blair, May 1: Shri Suneel Anchipaka Secretary RD/P in the presence of Shri Vinay Kumar Jindal Director RD/P and PRI members inaugurated Vegetable Market at Tushnabad Junction and Waiting Shed for 20 Commuters at Tushnabad under the Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission (SPMRM) at Tushnabad. Dedicating the assets for public usage, the Secretary congratulated the villagers of Gram Panchayat – Tushnabad, PRI members for the work and requested to make good use of the asset. The passenger waiting shed which was a long run demand of the Gram Panchayat Tushnabad has also been realized for the people of Tushnabad. It is quipped with properly ventilated waiting shed and attached toilet facilities for male, female and differently abled, which is a good initiative and can be taken as a model passenger waiting shed by the other Gram Panchayats for the betterment of the public. The Sanctioned amount for the Vegetable Market at Tushnabad Junction was Rs 68,68,628/- and the Tender amount was Rs. 57,99,837/-. The Sanctioned amount for the Waiting Shed at Tushnabad was Rs 23,15,394/- and the Tender amount was Rs. 19,99,278/-.
Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission (SPMRM) is an attempt to make the rural areas socially, economically and physically sustainable regions. The Mission strives to strengthen rural areas by providing economic, social and infrastructure amenities, thus leading to sustainable and balanced regional development in the country. The Vision is to "develop a cluster of villages that preserve and nurture the essence of rural community life with focus on equity, and inclusiveness, without compromising with the facilities perceived to be essentially urban in nature, thus creating a cluster of urban villages".
A special Gram Sabha was also organized at community hall at Tushnabad. Shri Anand Amrit Raj, Pradhan, Gram Panchayat Tushnabad commenced the Gram Sabha by welcoming the Secretary RD/P, Director RD/P, AC Settlement along with other line department officials and Panchayat members. He thanked the administration for lending their helping hand specially Police & Health Department during the Covid-19 Pandemic situation for their remarkable works. A short documentary on Water Sufficient Village was screened which depicted the geographical details of the GP Tushnabad highlighting the key achievements of the village in the particular sector and in other flagship programmes of Govt. of India.
In the village, under Jal Jeevan Mission envisioned to provide safe and adequate drinking water through individual household tap connections by 2024 to all households in rural India, 598 Households have been covered with tap water connection ensuring 100 percent FHTC in the village.
Under Swachh Bharat Mission – Gramin (SBM-G) programme of the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Govt. of India, the Gram Panchayat Tushnabad has achieved the title of Open Defecation Free (ODF+). For recharging the ground water table, soak pit were constructed in the Gram Panchayat. 7 soak pits in the year 2021-2022 and 6 soak pits under MGNREGA for BPL families in the year 2022-23 and 11 soak pits for Anganwadi centers, schools, community hall etc.
Shri Vinay Kumar Jindal, Director RD/P, addressed the gathering by saying about the two buildings inaugurated for the betterment of the public. He praised about the good works and initiatives that was depicted in the video on water sufficient village. He said he will try his best to resolve the issues faced by the people. Concluding he thanked everyone for attending the Gram Sabha.
Felicitation of the Sanitary workers was done by Shri Suneel Anchipaka Secretary RD/P, and in his address he said that, such type of the video should be showcased in other Gram Panchayats which will help people to learn from it and create such resourcefulness for their own village. He expressed about the rain water harvesting systems which should be there for every building to conserve the water. Such Gram Sabhas to be organized, which will be helpful for the betterment of the people, he expressed. And at the end he said that we should adopt the Sustainable Development Goals at local levels for making our village a self sustained village.
This year Gram Panchayats have a pivotal role to play in integrated rural development by focusing on the 17 SDGs which are subsumed under nine themes to ensure Poverty free, Healthy, Child-Friendly, Water Sufficient, Clean & Green, Self-Sufficient, Socially Secured, Good Governance and Engendered Development in village. Three (03) such themes namely Water sufficient Village, Healthy Village and Clean & Green Village was adopted as Sankalp by the Gram Panchayats Tushnabad.
Line department officials presented the key activities of their respective department in the Gram Sabha and the general public also put forth their views, grievances in the Gram Sabha.