Shimla, Jan 10 (IANS): Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on Sunday asked elected representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs), the village-level third tier of governance, to work towards development with innovative and energetic zeal.

"The panchayats are the strongest grass-root units in a democratic setup and the development of the state could be ensured through them," he said.

Addressing the newly elected representatives here, the chief minister said women and youth got maximum representation which would help in accelerating the pace of development.

He said the villages were the base of development and any scheme and programme could be implemented through PRIs.

He laid stress on the need to work untiringly for development, keepi8ng aside all political considerations, so that development could be ensured in true spirit.

The chief minister said the state government was committed to equal and balanced development of all regions and worked for this during the past three years. As a result, people have shown their faith to the candidates affiliated with Congress ideology.

A spokesman for the state government said the chief minister would jointly administer the oath of office to the newly-elected 'pradhans' and 'up-pradhans' of the gram panchayats of Shimla, Sirmaur, Kinnaur, Solan and Kaza block of Lahaul-Spiti districts on January 13 in Shimla.

The oath-taking of the gram panchayat representatives of Mandi, Kullu, Hamirpur and Bilaspur districts would be held on January 15 in Mandi town, while for the representatives of Kangra, Una and Chamba district on January 17 in Kangra town.