Every village will have access to drinking water

Sarbjit Dhaliwal

Making the provision of safe drinking water for the rural population is a priority for Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Minister for Water Supply, Sanitation, Rural Development and Panchayats. 

Speaking to The Tribune, Bajwa said there were more than 12,000 villages in the state. “Though the water supply system is in place, there is a dire need to improve its quality,” he said, adding that at certain places, subsoil water contained heavy metals and was unfit for drinking.

“The first thing we need to do is to get the accounts of panchayats audited. Without which, the Centre will not give grant for development projects in the rural areas. I will talk to all concerned to get this job done at the earliest,” said Bajwa.

Another major task is to implement the MGNREGA scheme in an effective and planned manner.

“It is well-designed scheme to provide jobs to the rural poor. But it has not been implemented in right earnest. The payment to beneficiaries will be linked to Aadhaar Card to rule out embezzlement,” he said.

On giving due share of panchayat land on lease to Dalits, Bajwa said he would ensure that the law in this regard was followed in letter and spirit. 

On empowering panchayats and zila parishads, the minister said states like Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka had given a lot of powers to these bodies. “We will study the Karnataka and MP models before discussing it within the party. There is a lot of corruption in the Rural Development and Panchayats Department. One of the priorities is to make the functioning of the department transparent,” he said.

Another big task is to provide toilets to poor sections of society in the rural areas. Bajwa said the money being provided by the Union Government for constructing toilets was inadequate. “I will discuss the issue with Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh to find out an early solution. There is a vast scope of improving the sanitation level in rural areas. We will involve panchayats in a big way to achieve this,” he said, adding that all promises made to rural people in the Congress manifesto would be fulfilled in due course.