Chandigarh, March 17
In a significant move towards shaping progressive Haryana, Chief Minister, Sh. Nayab Singh Saini, while presenting the state budget as Finance Minister, allocated the budget of Rs.7,313.98 crore (2025-26) to Panchayati Raj and Rural Development sector, increasing by 29.93 percent, from last year 2024-25 i.e Rs. 5,629.18 crore .
Sh. Nayab Singh Saini who also holds the portfolio of Finance Minister, while presenting the state budget for 2025-26 in the Haryana Vidhan Sabha on Monday said that giving top priority to rural development, the state government is committed to making related schemes more effective in the coming years. In addition to increasing financial resources, innovations will be adopted to ensure self-reliance and inclusive development at the Panchayat level. He said that all kaccha phirnis in Panchayats with a population of more than 1,000 will be paved. So far, kaccha phirnis in 224 such gram panchayats at a cost of Rs. 69.11 crore have been paved, and have set a target to pave the remaining kaccha phirnis in these villages in the coming year.
He said that to promote women empowerment, the government has decided to build a ‘Mahila Chaupal’ in every village. In the first phase, 754 villages have been identified for this project. Besides this, over 600 buildings, which have remained incomplete for years across all Panchayats in the state, will be completed with an allocation of approximately Rs. 64 crore, ensuring they can be put to proper use.
The Chief Minister said that under the Mahatma Gandhi Gramin Basti Yojana, about 7,300 eligible families who were allotted plots 15 years ago but could not be given possession for various reasons have been given possession through a special campaign. The remaining eligible families will also be allotted plots of up to 100 square yards under the ‘Mukhyamantri Gramin Awas Yojana.’ Basic facilities such as electricity, roads, and drinking water will be provided in all colonies developed under the ‘Mahatma Gandhi Gramin Basti Yojana.’ For this work, an amount of Rs. 200 crore has been allocated specifically.
Sh. Nayab Singh Saini said that 891 e-libraries and 250 indoor gyms have been set up in rural areas so far. In the upcoming financial year, these facilities will be expanded in a phased manner to the remaining rural areas as well. Under the Amrit Sarovar Mission, launched by Prime Minister, Sh.Narendra Modi on the occasion of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav,’ each district was tasked to construct 75 Amrit Sarovars (water reservoirs). So far, 2,088 ponds have been converted into Amrit Sarovars, surpassing the target of 1,645, through MNREGA, the Pond Authority, and the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana. A target has been set to construct 2,200 new Amrit Sarovars across the state in the upcoming years, he added.
He further said that the main objective of the Swachh Bharat Mission-Gramin is to transform all villages into ‘model villages’ by making them open defecation free and improving cleanliness through solid and liquid waste management activities. The state government will provide ‘hopper tipper dumpers’ to Mahagrams and Gram Panchayats with a population of over 10,000, enabling large-scale garbage management in these Panchayats. Also, the government has planned to assign this responsibility to self-help groups, who will collect garbage from every household in rural areas, similar to urban areas and they will receive monthly wages in proportion to the population of the village.
He said whenever any department of the State Government places a tender on the HEW portal, the concerned Gram Panchayat will be informed.
