DW BUREAU / Mohali Punjab Rural Development Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal and Union Minister of State Panchayati Raj Kapil Moreshwar Patil on Monday inaugurated a two-day National Workshop on Localization of Sustainable Development Goals (LSDGs) in Panchayats through Thematic Approaches on Village with Self-Sufficient Infrastructure at the Central Panchayat Center in Crystal Resort near Zirakpur, Chandigarh. Speaking on this occasion, Minister for Rural Development, Agriculture and NRI Affairs of Punjab, Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal said that Punjab has fought many battles for the country, be it guarding the borders or filling the country's food reserves to feed the people. But today Punjab is facing a financial crisis and the union government should provide special financial packages to the state to improve the fiscal situation of the state. He said that 63 percent of the population of Punjab lives in rural areas and comprehensive development of the villages is possible only if the centre government allocates maximum funds for health facilities, drinking water, sports facilities, and maintenance of ponds in the villages. The Cabinet Minister stressed that it is also the duty of the centre government to extend helping hand to Punjab as Punjab gives a large share as GST to the center in lieu of tax. Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal further said that the government in Punjab led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has taken many initiatives to remove illegal encroachment from panchayat lands in the state. He said that during the last five months, about 9000 panchayat lands have been freed from illegally encroachers. He also said that it kis for the first time that Garm Sabha Sessions were held in 12000 villages out of total 13000 villages in Punjab. Speaking on this occasion, Union Panchayati Raj State Minister Kapil Moreshwar Patil praised Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and said that Punjab has become the first state to hold a national conference for development of villages and the state government has made very good arrangements for the two-day national conference. He assured that the necessary funds will be released for whatever proposals are sent by the Punjab government according to the central schemes. He also assured that the funds that were stopped due to technical flaws in some schemes will be released soon. He stressed that the Panchayats will have to work hard to increase their income from their own resources to become self-reliant. (editor@dailyworld.in)