This is one project which has good intent but is facing a lot of problems in implementation —at the local as well as political level. In 2019, Rajbalwinder Singh, 28, became sarpanch of Sahungra village of Balachaur tehsil, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, and prepared a project to filter waste water and use it for irrigation. This project held significance for his village plagued by contaminated water for the past 25 years. “I wanted to address the issue of waste water of my village. After discussing the matter with the NRIs from the village, the panchyat purchased two acres of land worth Rs 26 lakh. The NRIs made monetary contributions,” Rajbalwinder said, adding that out of two acres, four kanal land has been registered in the name of the village panchyat. "A Rs 45-lakh project was approved for the village in April 2023. Rs 20-lakh grant was to come from the panchayati raj department and Rs 24.6 lakh from the land and water conservation department. Additionally, a sum of Rs 1.09 lakh was collected from the panchayat. This project, which is to be executed by the two departments of soil conservation and rural development and panchayat, aims to manage waste water from three ponds to irrigate fields," the sarpanch said. Even Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann found the project good and wrote to the panchyat department to implement it but still no action was taken. “More than 150 NRI individuals alerted the Punjab Chief Minister through email, highlighting the issue of waste water management. In this context, an official communication was issued to the panchayati raj department from the Under Secretary in New Delhi regarding the project's work, but no action has been taken. Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann was informed by the panchayat through several emails, and he also wrote to departments (Panchayati, NRI Affairs) detailing this issue, but no action has been taken,” the sarpanch said. The sarpanch alleges political interference has stalled the project. “Officials of both the departments are under pressure from the local MLA who did not like the idea of a sarpanch managing this project without her support,” the sarpanch alleged. Being a Dalit, the sarpanch even complained to Vijay Sampla, the former chairman of National Commission for Schedule Castes. Consequently, a notice was issued to the district administration on May 15, 2023, which received no response. “After our complaints to the NCSC, the situation escalated when MLA Santosh Kataria insulted panchayat members and NRI delegates during a meeting," Rajbalwinder said. However, MLA Santosh Kataria, when contacted, rubbished the "baseless allegations". "There are two groups in the village. One group is not in favour of laying pipes, which will carry waste water, on their side of the village. I had asked the sarpanch to take the people of the entire village into confidence before executing the project. But he was not ready for this," said Kataria. Block development and panchyat officer (BDPO) Charanjit Singh Sohal said that under the project, pipes will be laid by the soil conservation department, not by his department. The divisional soil conservation officer, Shaeed Bhagat Singh Nagar, Keshav Kumar, said that it is quite a good project. "We have got the grant for the same but there is some disagreement between some villagers and the panchyat regarding execution of this project. We have held meetings with the villagers and tried to convince them to take a decision so that we can start work without any law and order issue." Said a villager on condition of anonimity, "In the past four years, our village has witnessed a positive transformation under the leadership of our sarpanch. With an investment of around Rs 40 lakh, now we have paver blocks, upgraded infrastructure, a smart school and illuminated streets.” In 2021, the panchayat had got the prestigious National Level Digital Transformation Award and also a state level award by the present government. The sarpanch was among three sarpanchens of the state selected to travel to Kerala to study sustainable infrastructure by the panchayat department.
