By: Express News ServiceLucknow | October 14, 2025 06:20 PM IST 2 min readThe Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath instructed officials to set up Aadhaar centres in village secretariats, enabling services like Aadhaar card creation, updates, and biometric verification. (ANI)Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday announced various new initiatives to strengthen gram panchayats and issued directives for taking steps regarding innovation, transparency and result-oriented use of the resources available in rural areas.Chairing a review meeting of the Panchayati Raj Department, Adityanath said, “Panchayats are not merely administrative units, but the soul of rural development.”He directed that each district panchayat must get a civil engineer or architect to ensure quality in local construction and map approval processes.The Chief Minister also instructed officials to set up Aadhaar centres in village secretariats, enabling services like Aadhaar card creation, updates, and biometric verification. The fee collected from these services, he said, would provide an additional source of income for Panchayats while enhancing citizen convenience.According to details shared in the meeting, several reform measures are underway to boost the self-funding capacity of panchayats. The collection of local taxes and user charges has been digitised, and new initiatives are being developed to enhance their revenue.The Panchayati Raj Department has been formulating a pond listing and utilisation policy. The CM directed that ponds under Panchayat control be leased out on time, with the revenue used exclusively for tap water supply, water conservation, and rural welfare projects.The Chief Minister also directed training programmes for Panchayat representatives in financial management, digital governance, and utility operations.Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd