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Chennai, Oct 11 (IANS) Chief Minister MK Stalin on Saturday addressed nearly 10,000 gram sabha meetings across Tamil Nadu through video conferencing, stressing the state government’s commitment to empowering rural communities and strengthening grassroots democracy.
Simultaneous meetings were held in 12,480 gram panchayats to identify local needs and pass resolutions aimed at improving living standards and infrastructure.
Speaking at the event, the Chief Minister said, “Villages are the backbone of our country. As Mahatma Gandhi had said, the strength of independent India lies in its villages. We have taken several schemes to boost the rural economy and make local governance more effective. These initiatives form the foundation for the development of Panchayats in Tamil Nadu.”
Highlighting that gram sabhas serve as platforms for participatory democracy, Stalin said every citizen has the right to be a part of the panchayat administration.
“That is why six gram sabha meetings are held every year, where people discuss development goals, welfare measures and pass major resolutions,” he said.
The Chief Minister urged the residents to prioritize three major needs for each panchayat and pass resolutions accordingly under the Namma Ooru Namma Arasu scheme.
He also directed officials to remove caste-based names from village streets, roads and public places and replace them with neutral or nature-inspired names through community consensus.
He clarified, “If the public wishes to retain the existing name, there is no need to change it.”
Stressing the importance of education and child welfare, Stalin asked villagers to report any incident of child labor to the district administration.
Appreciating the contribution of women self-help groups, he announced that the next phase of the initiative will focus on women’s scholarship and entrepreneurship through the Vidyal Journey programme.
The Chief Minister also appealed to the panchayats to take preventive steps against monsoon-related issues, promote rainwater harvesting, curb the use of plastic and intensify dengue prevention measures.
During these Gram Sabhas, 16 key topics were discussed, including poverty alleviation credit for rural households, priority of beneficiaries and strategies for sustainable development.
As per the instructions of the Central Government, video recordings of meetings in 7,515 gram panchayats are being uploaded on the SubSUR web portal. Officials confirmed that similar participatory meetings will also be held in 12,838 urban wards across Tamil Nadu later this month.
–IANS
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