STAGE SET FOR SWEARING IN CEREMONY OF NEWLY ELECTED SARPANCHS OF PUNJAB

CM TO ADMINISTER OATH OF OFFICE TO MORE THAN 10,000 SARPANCHES AT LUDHIANA ON FRIDAY

ARVIND KEJRIWAL TO BE THE CHIEF GUEST

Ludhiana/Chandigarh, November 7-

Stage is all set for one of the biggest celebrations of democracy in the state as the Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann will administer oath of office to the newly elected Sarpanches of the state in a function to be held at Cycle valley, Village Dhanansoo in Ludhiana.

This is the first of its kind function organized by the state government, in which former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will be the Chief guest, to strengthen democracy at grassroots level as Panchayats are known as the ‘pillars of democracy’. In the recently concluded polls, 13147 Sarpanchs of Gram Panchayats have been elected in 23 districts of Punjab State, out of which the newly elected 10031 Sarpanches of 19 districts will be administered oath during this function by the Chief Minister. The oath taking ceremony of other newly elected Sarpanches of remaining four districts namely Sri Muktsar Sahib, Hoshiarpur, Barnala and Gurdaspur and of 81,808 newly elected Panches of 23 districts will be held after the by-elections of four Vidhan Sabha constituencies namely Giddarbaha, Chabewal, Barnala and Dera Baba Nanak.

The Punjab government led by Bhagwant Singh Mann has set a new benchmark of conducting free, fair and transparent polls for the recently concluded Panchayats elections, which were contested by the candidates without party symbol. The state government took this path breaking decision to debar the candidates from contesting elections on party symbols in larger public interests. This historic move of the state government was aimed at removing groupism in the villages thereby ensuring holistic development of the rural areas.

Through this noble initiative the state government intends to strengthen the panchayati raj system thereby giving a major push to the development of villages. In another significant move during the run up for polls, the Chief Minister had urged the people of the state to rise above the parochial considerations and elect their sarpanchs unanimously to strengthen ethos of harmony and brotherhood in villages on one hand and ensure their comprehensive development on the other. Giving an affirmative response to this call the panchayats of 3037 were selected unanimously as Ferozepur district took the lead by selecting 336 panchayats unanimously followed by Gurdaspur (335) and Tarn Taran (334).

Meanwhile, the Chief Minister said that the state government has made elaborate arrangements for making this event a huge success as thousands of people are expected to attend this event. He said that no stone has been left unturned for facilitating the people adding that a proper mechanism has been evolved to ensure that people do not face any sort of inconvenience. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that right from traffic diversion, parking of vehicles and other facilities, the officers have been directed to ensure foolproof arrangements for this mega event.