Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar, November 19, 2024: Punjab's Public Works and Power Minister Sardar Harbhajan Singh ETO administered the oath of office to the newly elected Panches of the district in Mohali today. He asked all the Panchayats to forget the factionalism during the Panchayat elections and work together for the development and welfare of the village by taking the villagers along.
He said that the Bhagwant Mann government of the state has shown a positive attitude of rising above party symbols and contesting elections during the Panchayat elections this time. The aim of which is to take the villages out of factionalism and focus attention and power on the real fundamental issues.
Minister Harbhajan Singh said that being elected by the people to any position is the biggest blessing of God. Be it a Panch, Sarpanch, Councilor or MLA. He said that the people have given us the power of pen and seal, which becomes our big responsibility to use properly. He said that the pen is considered mightier than the sword, so we should give priority to using it for the development of the village and the welfare of the people.
He said that by including Panchayati Raj in the 11th Schedule of the Constitution in 1994, the democracy of the country was brought to the village level through the smallest unit of democracy, the Panchayat. Gram Panchayats have been given the right to work on 29 subjects, therefore it becomes our duty to rise above all kinds of factionalism and animosity and work for the welfare of the village and the villagers.
On this occasion, he called Panch Bandana of Bhankharpur and Panch Manpreet Kaur of Dhadak Kalan on the stage and made them take oath along with other Panches and motivated the 50 percent women power elected during these Panchayat elections to work hard.
Lok Sabha member from Sri Anandpur Sahib, Malvinder Singh Kang, said that Parliament is the largest democracy in the country and Gram Panchayat is the smallest unit. The only difference is that Parliament has to take decisions for the welfare of the entire country and Panchayat has to take decisions for the welfare of their village. Therefore, the newly elected Panch and Sarpanch are the glorious soldiers of democracy, on whose shoulders, in addition to village development work, there is a huge responsibility of managing the youth power, preparing sports fields, maintaining schools and doing charitable works like health centers. He said that the newly elected Panch and Sarpanch should embrace every resident of the village and especially help in raising the standard of living of the poor and needy people. Earlier, MLA Kulwant Singh congratulated for the peaceful Panchayat elections during his welcome speech and said that now is the opportunity to rise above party politics and factionalism and show by working. MLA Kuljit Singh Randhawa said that like the sacred house of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, the people of the village should be taken along at the Gram Panchayat level and the defeated candidates of the Panchayat elections should also be taken along in every development and welfare work.
Apart from MP Malvinder Singh Kang, MLA Kulwant Singh and Kuljit Singh Randhawa, Milkfed Chairman Narinder Singh Shergill, District Planning Committee Chairperson Eng Prabhjot Kaur, Punjab Youth Development Board Chairman Parminder Singh Goldy, Aam Aadmi Party spokesperson Harsukhinder Singh Babbi Badal were also present at the oath-taking ceremony.
On behalf of the district administration, Deputy Commissioner Mrs. Ashika Jain, ADC Viraj S. Tidke, SDM Damandeep Kaur Mohali, Amit Gupta Derabassi and Gurmander Singh Kharar welcomed the chief guest and other guests with bouquets of flowers.
DDPO Baljinder Singh Grewal, Deputy CEO Zila Parishad Ranjit Singh, BDPO Gurpreet Singh Mangat Derabassi, Mehkameet Singh Kharar and Gurminder Singh Majri Block were present on behalf of the Rural Development and Panchayat Department.