New Delhi, Feb 1 (PTI) Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena on Thursday directed Delhi chief secretary, secretaries and heads of the departments to visit villages in the national capital and stay overnight to take stock of the ground realities under the "Dilli Gramodaya Abhiyan".

According to a statement issued by the Raj Niwas, Saxena on Thursday chaired a meeting to review the experiences gathered and gained by the district magistrates over their last two "Samvaad" visits to villages across the city aimed at formulating the way forward under the "Dilli Gramodaya Abhiyan" of the DDA.

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Saxena had launched the campaign on December 2 last year for the development of urbanised villages with a dedicated fund of more than Rs 800 crore.

The district magistrates (DMs) had visited the identified villages on January 7-8 and January 27-28 and stayed overnight, apart from interacting with the residents of these villages and those in the neighbourhood, to get a first-hand experience and feedback about the problems faced by them, it said.

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The LG had instructed for this exercise to be undertaken so that developmental and upgradation projects under the campaign being implemented by the DDA, could be in sync with the actual deficiencies and demands on the ground, it stated.

The DMs who had visited these areas along with officials of all stakeholder shared their experiences and apprised the LG of the feedback from the ground. The major issues that came to the fore included a lack of civic infrastructure, connectivity and sanitation, etc, the statement said.

The LG directed the DMs to submit a report listing five most important issues being faced by the villages in their respective districts within two days and also enlist tangible projects to address them, it said.

He advised that these projects to be undertaken under the campaign should be implemented within the shortest possible timeframe so that people could start benefitting from them immediately, the statement said.

"Saxena also directed that in the next visit to be planned by the middle of this month, principal secretaries/secretaries/HoDs, apart from the chief secretary himself will visit identified villages, stay overnight and take stock of the situation on the ground. He further asked the DMs to undertake regular field visits in the villages every Saturday," the statement stated.

It was informed that the work of providing piped gas to all the villages was in the advance stages, wherein 69 villages had already been provided with the same, the work was expected to be completed within a month in 39 villages and surveys were being conducted in 142 villages, it added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)