Churachandpur: Ramavatar Meena, Director, Department of Rural Development (DoRD), Ministry of Rural Development, visited Churachandpur today to review the district’s preparedness for the rollout of the Vibrant Gram Sabha–Empowered Village (VB-GRAM-G) initiative under the Viksit Bharat 2047 vision.
At a review meeting held at the Mini-Secretariat in Tuibong, the Director assessed the implementation status of rural development programmes and the district’s readiness for the new initiative. Project Director of the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA), Jameson Sehlal Hangsing, presented an overview of the district’s performance, including persondays generated under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), the status of incomplete works, Yuktdhara monitoring, and e-KYC coverage across the district’s 12 development blocks.
Mr. Meena also interacted with Block Development Officers and field officials on implementation challenges, including attendance recording, timely wage payments and monitoring of ongoing works.
Addressing the officials, the Director said VB-GRAM-G aims to strengthen rural livelihoods by creating durable community assets in sectors such as water security, rural infrastructure, livelihood generation and climate resilience. He said the initiative increases the statutory guarantee of wage employment from 100 days to 125 days per rural household annually. All works, he added, will be based on Viksit Gram Panchayat Plans (VGPPs) prepared through participatory processes and approved by the Gram Sabhas. He said technology-enabled tools, including biometric authentication, geo-tagging and real-time monitoring dashboards, would be used to improve transparency and accountability. He also instructed officials to ensure timely provision of employment and adequate worksites in accordance with the programme guidelines.
Later in the day, Meena visited ongoing work sites at Headquarter Veng and Rengkai village (Lamka Block), and Bethel village (Tuibong Block). Deputy Commissioner Krishna Kumar, DRDA Project Director Jameson Sehlal Hangsing, Block Development Officers and other Rural Development officials accompanied him.
During the field visits, the Director interacted with Rural Development functionaries and Village Council leaders to review the progress of ongoing projects and discuss the implementation plan for the current financial year. He called for close coordination between officials and local institutions to ensure effective implementation of government schemes and expressed satisfaction with the quality of work executed.
