Chandigarh: Sarpanches, chairmen of panchayat samitis and zila parishads in Haryana from now onwards will grant administrative approvals to all development projects being undertaken from their own funds as well as grant-in-aid, officials said on Tuesday. Earlier, all such files used to come to the government level for final approval.
Officers up to the rank of junior engineer, sub-divisional officer (SDO), executive engineer, superintending engineer and chief engineer have been designated as the competent authority to grant technical approvals for all such development work, an official statement issued here said. Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar described it as a "big decision", with the devolution of more powers to the PRIs.
He said the decision will not only save time as approvals will now be quicker but the time period of tenders for small works will also be reduced. With over two months remaining for the current fiscal year to end, Khattar said Rs 1,100 crore will be transferred to the panchayat samitis and zila parishads in the next three-four days so that development work can be speeded up.
According to the statement, junior engineers can give technical sanction for the works up to Rs 2 lakh, SDO up to Rs 25 lakh, executive engineers up to Rs 1 crore, superintending engineers up to Rs 2.5 crore and chief engineer can give approval for works exceeding Rs 2.5 crore. In case of work to be done from the state government funds, all approvals will be given at the departmental level, it said.
If any Panchayati Raj Institution falls short of the amount after spending their own funds, then the state government will directly allocate an additional amount of Rs 25 lakh to them, the statement said. However, the Rural Development Department will get all the work done above Rs 25 lakh. For this, administrative approval above Rs 25 lakh and up to Rs 1 crore will be given by the director of the department, while the executive engineer will give technical approval for the same, it said.
"Likewise, administrative approval for works ranging from Rs 1 crore to Rs 2.5 crore will be given by the administrative secretary and technical approval by the superintending engineer. "Administrative approval for works ranging from Rs 2.5 to Rs 10 crore will be given by the Development and Panchayat Minister whereas technical approval will be given by the chief engineer, the statement said.
The administrative approval for works above Rs 10 crore will be accorded at the chief minister's level and technical approval will be given by the chief engineer, it further said. The gram panchayats can get the entire repair and maintenance works done without capping for administrative approval from their own funds as well as grant-in-aid, the statement said. (PTI)
