Any village in Madhya Pradesh that adopts total prohibition will be rewarded with ₹ two lakh, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced today.
“To make the village drug-free, an environment should be created through mutual dialogue and various inspirational activities,” said Mr Chouhan at a function in Bhopal to honour those who were elected unopposed during the ongoing panchayat elections.
Uma Bharti, senior BJP leader and former Chief Minister, has given an ultimatum to the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government that she will launch a mass movement for prohibition unless the liquor policy of the state is changed. In March, she threw a stone at a liquor shop in Bhopal and a couple of days ago, while on her way from Jhansi to Tikamgarh, she stopped at Orchha near the Ram Raja temple and threw cow-dung into a liquor shop to “purify the place”.
The state government has announced that panchayats where panchs and sarpanchs get elected in a unanimous manner will be called ‘samras panchayats’.
The Chief Minister asked villagers to make panchayats “beti-friendly”, adding that those trying to play with the honour of women will not be spared at any cost.
“We must ensure that our Panchayats are ‘Beti Friendly’. In all Panchayats including Samaras Panchayats, more respect, honor and dignity of daughters must be ensured. Sons and daughters must be treated equally. Samras Panchayats have to set an example in the whole country by their work,” he said.
A total of 630 sarpanchs, 157 janpad panchayat members and a district panchayat member were elected unopposed in the state during the ongoing panchayat elections.
The state government had earlier announced a panchayat in which the sarpanch gets elected unopposed will be given ₹ 5 lakh as incentive while if the sarpanch gets elected unopposed for the second time, then the amount would be ₹ 7 lakh. In case if all those elected in a village are women, then the reward amount will be ₹ 12 lakh, and if this feat is achieved unopposed, then the amount would be ₹ 15 lakh for development works.
