KOCHI: The Union government is keen to prioritise waste management as a prime focus and is set to conduct training programmes for all panchayat members across the country, minister for rural development, drinking water, sanitation and Panchayati Raj Narendra Singh Tomar has said. Inaugurating a three-day BRICS conference on participatory local budgeting (PLB) here on Thursday he said local bodies should get empowered for the nation's sustained and comprehensive development.
“The 14th finance commission has earmarked Rs 2 lakh crore for panchayats. They should efficiently utilise it for better projects aimed at the uplift of rural India,” he said. “The panchayats in Tamil Nadu which are generating income from waste management is a role model which can be adopted across the nation. Some 9000 panchayats convert the waste to fertiliser and the inconvertible waste utilised for other purposes, generating around Rs 40 lakhs.”
Experts from Brazil, Russia and China besides elected representatives of local bodies from different states of India are participating in the conference, organised by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj as part of an ongoing effort to better synergise PLB initiatives in BRICS countries, cities and civic bodies through dialogue and cooperation. Parsottambhai Rupala, minister of state, Panchayati Raj, presided over the function. “The participatory budgeting and decentralisation in the country have grabbed international acclaim. The conference aims at initiating further dialogues and understand the international practices,” he said. K. T. Jaleel, the minister of local self-governments, and Vinay Sahasrabuddhe MP also spoke.
