WB halves user charges

Household user charges that were levied in rural areas as a pre-condition to avail World Bank aid have been halved.

Household user charges that were levied in rural areas as a pre-condition to avail World Bank aid have been halved.

Addressing mediapersons, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said the WB has conceded to the long-pending demand of the state government. The CM said general category beneficiaries of the water supply scheme will now have to pay Rs 750 per household, while the SCs and those living in kandi belt, border and water-logged areas would have to pay Rs 400 and Rs 200, respectively. He said the World Bank has a Rs 1,280-crore aided water supply scheme for rural areas and as many as 612 villages had been covered under it up to September last.

The decision will benefit over 6.7 lakh rural households in 3,161 Punjab villages.

Meanwhile, Cabinet minister Bikram Majithia accused the previous Congress government of 8220;stabbing the rural population in their back8221; by hastily signing the loan agreement with the World Bank without critically examining the implications of various conditions. Majithia said he received a communication today from the Country Director of the World Bank, conveying amendments in the beneficiary contribution. He said it has been decided that each Scheduled Caste household would derive benefit irrespective of the percentage of their population in that village.

Earlier, SC households used to get the benefit if their population in a particular village was over 40 per cent.

Badal said the process of re-organisation of blocks and tehsils in the state has been initiated and is likely to be complete in the next two months. Badal said all the 141 blocks, 77 tehsils and 76 sub-tehsils would be revamped to ensure all-around and balanced growth in the new model of rural development.

The CM announced that the state government had taken an in-principle decision to develop Attari as a new block. He said Rs 300-crore funds would be given to the 128 municipal committees and nagar panchayats within 15 days to undertake development schemes to upgrade the existing infrastructure of streetlights, tubewells and roads.

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The CM said 26 municipalities under category-I would be provided Rs 3 crore each and the others a little less. Referring to the allocation of the Rural Development Fund, the CM said Rs 4 crore would be disbursed in each assembly constituency shortly.

The CM said he would call on the PM and Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel shortly to apprise them of the impending crisis that has badly hit the trade and commerce in the region on account of flight cancellations at Rajasansi airport. The CM said the payment of 7 per cent DA installment to the employees would be released soon. Expressing satisfaction over the 98.3 per cent procurement by the state agencies, he said it was sad that merely 1.7 per cent was picked up by the Food Corporation of India against its target of 10 per cent.

Reacting to a query on Manpreet Badal8217;s statement opposing subsidies, the CM said subsidies were being given across the world and would continue in the state as well.