Team Herald
PANJIM: In his first major function as North Goa MP since his horrific accident, Shripad Naik has vowed to continue serving the people, as he has been doing so since becoming an elected representative.
On Saturday, Naik, who is also the Union Minister of State (MoS) for Defence, organised a programme at the Assembly Complex Porvorim, where hearse vans and garbage pickup vehicles were donated to various panchayats from his constituency.
Approximately, Rs 45 lakh were used from his Member of Parliament Local Area Development (MPLAD) funds scheme and Naik pointed out that this was from his earlier allocation given that the MPLAD scheme was suspended last year and this year because of the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic
Addressing the gathering in the presence of Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant, PWD Minister Deepak Pauskar, Zilla Panchayat (ZP) member Kartik Kudnekar and others, Naik said, “This programme would have happened much earlier but due to COVID-19 and then my accident, it got delayed. But I did not want to push it further and am happy that these funds are being used for the welfare of the panchayats.”
“I urge all panchayat members to make better use of facilities as the nation is moving towards self-reliance and Atmanirbhar Bharat under the leadership of our Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Naik added.
The Chief Minister spoke next and he began by welcoming Naik and getting the gathering to give a round of applause for the MP given that it was Naik’s first function.
Sawant said he is sure Naik will continue to serve the people through such schemes as he has been doing so for the past 20 years.
He added that Naik is one of the top MPs in the country when it comes to the use of MPLAD funds while describing how Naik has always helped out educational institutes, panchayats, communities etc.
It may be noted that the panchayats of Pale, Kudne, Sangolda, Taleigao, Vironda, Socorro, Cotombi and Kudne were amongst the beneficiaries. Naik is expected to head to Delhi soon.
