Panches administered oath

The minister called upon panchayat members to work with honesty and said the state government would give adequate and liberal grants for development. He also stated that newly-elected sarpanches and panches should rise above party affiliation and groupism in the rural areas so that they could perform their duties honestly.

Education Minister Tota Singh appealed to the panchayats to have complete unity without which the development process would not be possible.He blamed the Congress for the ills in the state.

Deputy Commissioner Kulbir Singh Kang also addressed the gathering.

Faridkot: 179 sarpanches and 1,230 panches were administered oath of office and secrecy by Bibi Jagir Kaur Minister for Tourism and Cultural Affairs at the Nehru Stadium in Faridkot today.

While addressing the gathering Bibi Jagir Kaur said the state government has decided to honour all those panchayats which solved their disputes amicably by giving them special development grants.She urged the newly-elected sarpanches and panches to extend full cooperation to the SAD-BJP government to implement its policies and programmes. She also it was because of the peoples cooperation that peace had been restored to the state and that panchayat polls were conducted in a peaceful manner.

Gurdev Singh Badal, Agricultural Minister on the occasion called upon the newly-elected panches to make th ebest use of the grants given by the state government for development purpose for the benefit of the people. Gurinder Singh Grewal, Deputy Commissioner said that 40 sarpanches and 165 panches were elected unanimously in the district. Whereas 21 sarpanches and 337 panches were elected without contest.