Chandigarh, April 25
Senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab leader and spokesperson, Neel Garg, highlighted the Mann government's commitment to the development of Punjab’s villages, emphasizing that the ₹5 lakh incentive for Panchayats with unanimously elected sarpanches reflects the government’s dedication to making impactful and progressive decisions for rural advancement.
Neel Garg expressed his delight, stating that under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, the AAP government is strengthening democracy in Punjab while promoting the Panchayati Raj system. He further noted that during the elections, the people of Punjab heeded Chief Minister Mann’s call to unanimously elect sarpanches for their villages. Consequently, for the first time in Punjab’s history, nearly 3,000 Panchayats successfully elected their sarpanches unopposed.
At the time of the announcement, the Chief Minister had promised that villages electing their panchayats unanimously would receive ₹5 lakh as an incentive for development. Now, Chief Minister Mann is fulfilling that promise. The government has allocated ₹150 crore for this initiative, out of which around ₹15 crore has already been distributed. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and several cabinet ministers have handed over cheques of ₹5 lakh each to the sarpanches.
Neel Garg said that this funding would accelerate development works in the villages and enable the Panchayats to make independent decisions. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had also stated that a Panchayat should belong to the village, not to a political party. Now, people are rising above party politics in villages, coming together for development, and collaborating to solve rural issues.