Pawan Calls for Full Participation in Palle Pandaga Events

Vijayawada:  Deputy Chief Minister K Pawan Kalyan launched the state-wide 'Palle Pandaga' (Village Festival) weekly events from Kankipadu in Krishna district on Monday by laying the foundation for various development works.

As many as 30,000 works will be carried out with a fund of Rs 4500 crore in 13326 villages under this ambitious programme.

Pawan Kalyan said, "While in power, true leadership lies in winning the people’s trust by carefully advancing their welfare and development. I feel joy as the Village Festival unfolds over the next week across AP villages.”

He noted, "In the Gram Sabhas held state-wide on August 23, resolutions were passed for taking up 30,000 works. The people themselves decided on the works needed for their villages. There was no interference from the elected representatives.”

“Starting today, we will begin the foundation laying for these community-driven projects. All these works would be completed by Sankranti. We have identified the works and received administrative approval from the collectors," PK said.

The DyCM announced that information boards would be set up to ensure transparency vis-a-vis the execution of these works. The public could easily access details about funding, quality, and progress.

He said, “There are no records of Gram Sabhas conducted during the last five years. No resolutions were passed during this period, and no public issues were addressed. Since taking charge of this department, I have repeatedly reviewed the fund-spent in the last few years. But, tracing their paths is like finding a needle in a haystack.”

“With cooperation from the central government, we are making fast strides. We will encourage officials who are honest and address issues of discrepancy,” PK said.

He said projects undertaken by the Panchayat Raj and rural development departments must see timely completion. He cited the potential of the central government’s employment guarantee schemes and called for their effective implementation.

Excise minister Kollu Ravindra, discussing past failures in road constructions, said the alliance government has earmarked as high as Rs 4,500 crore for development projects within its first 100 days in office.

Machilipatnam MP Vallabhani Balashouri invoked Mahatma Gandhi and said true development begins from the village-level. Penamaluru MLA Bode Prasad claimed that with the current momentum, villages would become heavenly abodes.