Chandigarh, April 24, 2017: Former Rural Development and Panchayats minister Sikander Singh Maluka on Monday congratulated his former colleagues for their steller role in strengthening panchayati raj institutions in the State which had led to ten such insitutions bagging prestigious national awards.
In a statement today, the former minister and senior SAD leader said it was noteworthy that the Gurusar Mehraj block panchayat, which is part of the ancestral village of chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh, had also bagged a national award. “This itself is testament to the fair manner in which the panchayati raj institutions were strengthened across the State during the previous SAD-BJP government”.
Stating that the awards won today by panchayati institutions were on the base of the work done by them during the previous year, Mr Maluka said the new Congress government should take note of the pioneering work done in this ministry and try to build upon it. He also urged the new Rural Development and Panchayat minister to honour the entire team which was responsible for this national achievement so that it could work with more vigour to take panchayati institutions to greater heights in the State”.
The SAD leader said it seemed the new government’s panchyati raj minister had forgotton to acknowledge that Punjab had won national recognition today due to the good work done by the previous SAD-BJP government. “We should rise above politics and give credit where it is due”, he added.