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| Lambardars, Chowkidaars find messiah in Azad | | | EARLY TIMES REPORTER
Jammu, Aug 7: First time in the in several decades the eyes and ears of the villages known as Lambardars and Chowkidars got someone to hear them as the Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad not only offered them the long pending respect and recognition he also announced many facilities to them including hike in their honorarium.
Thousands of Lambardars and Chowkidars today attended a one day convention here addressed by the Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad. In an emotionally surcharged atmosphere they raised loud slogans thanking him for the respect and recognition they have got.
The Chief Minister charged Lambardars and Chowkidars with the responsibility of eradication of social evils by organizing assemblies of village elders. He said that after appraisal of their performance, further increase in their remunerations could be considered. He said the decision to raise honorarium of Lambardars from Rs. 81 to Rs. 501 and of Chowkidars from Rs. 225 to Rs. 500 not only provided them succor but also restored the dignity of this institution.
Amid applause, the Chief Minister announced free travel facility to Lambardars and Chowkidars in government buses and said they would be issued identity cards to avail the facility. He recalled that as union tourism minister about 13 years ago, he had made provision for 50 percent air travel concession to senior citizens within the country.
Referring to the Roshni scheme, the Chief Minister said that under this historic decision, the free ownership rights of around 17 lakh kanals of state land were conferred upon poor farmers. He asked Lambardars and Chowkidars to facilitate the beneficiaries in completing formalities prescribed in the law for this purpose. He said people in far-flung areas still did not have basic facilities for which his government had put on fast track the development of these areas.He asked Lambardars and Chowkidars to be partners in his effort to transform J&K into a prosperous and peaceful state and called upon them to also play a crucial role in his drive against corruption.
Speaking on the occasion, Minister for Health and Medical Education Mangat Ram Sharma said that with the new defined role Lambardars and Chowkidars would prove an important tool in the overall development of the State.
Minister for R&B Gulchain Singh Charak said that Lambardars and Chowkidars had onerous task of giving feed back to the administration about problems of the people and also supplement government's efforts to maintain law and order in their respective areas. He praised Azad for taking keen interest in addressing the long pending demand of enhancement of remunerations of Lambardars and Chowkidars.
Minister of State for Revenue, Prem Sagar Aziz also addressed the convention.
Divisional Commissioner Jammu Sudhanshu Pandey in his vote of thanks hoped that Lambardars and Chowkidars would come up to the expectations of the people by dint of hard work in discharge of their duties.
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