Nandigram, June 12: The 10 gram panchayat pradhans of Nandigram today attended a meeting convened to restart development work held back since January. It was their first meeting in five months.

“We assessed the status of development projects which have come to a halt since January,” said Nandigram block development officer Ashok Sarkar, who convened the emergency meeting at his office.

“We used to meet every Tuesday before trouble broke out. Everybody was happy today as normality is returning.”

According to him, projects like road repairs, construction of bridges and the mid-day meal scheme will start soon.

“We decided that top priority would be given to the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme under which unemployed youths will get jobs for 100 days,” Sarkar said.

Lakshman Mondal, the CPM gram pradhan of Sonachura, said roads in Nandigram still bear the scars of the unrest that rocked the area. “We have to start development work. This is the best way of restoring normality,” Mondal said.

Till April, schools remained shut and post offices were not operating as postmen did not want to enter the villages.

With road links disrupted, supplies of essentials for below-poverty-line families had also stopped.