Vijayawada: Sarpanches told to protect natural resources

Vijayawada (NTR district): Sarpanches are the trustees of the natural resources in their villages and they should protect them within the limits of their villages, said NTR district Collector S Dilli Rao.

He was the chief guest at the valedictory function of the 8-week training camp for 13 sarpanches from nine mandals in Madanapalle revenue division, organised by Gujarat-based non-governmental organisation - Foundation for Ecological Security (FES) - under the aegis of Vasavya Mahila Mandali, at Atheist Centre here on Tuesday.

Presenting certificates to the sarpanches, the Collector said that the Sarpanch is the head of the village like Prime Minister to the country and Chief Minister to the State. "They should have sufficient understanding of their powers to run the village administration," he said.

Dilli Rao said that the sarpanches have the ominous responsibility to protect the natural resources like water, land and others which belong to everyone in the village. They should periodically visit the Anganwadis and ration shops to make sure everything is going on smoothly and the services are rendered to the people without any hiccups.

He hoped that the training they had been given in the camp would help them to assert their rights and develop good leadership qualities.

The sarpanches were taken on a tour of Challapalli and Kesarapalli panchayats in Krishna district where they observed various development programmes, utilisation of funds, women empowerment, drainage, sanitation maintenance, wealth from waste and others.

Thanking for the training programme, the sarpanches said that the people of their villages have been migrating to find work which could be stopped with the utilisation of natural resources.

Noted physician Dr G Samaram, Vasavya Mahila Mandali secretary G Rashmi, FES district coordinator Rani Reddy and its members Sadasiva, Vijay, Srinivas, Rajeswari, Viswa, Hasina and others also participated.