State Congress has extended its support to the stir being staged by the Pradesh Pradhan Sangathan, a body of the gram pradhans, which has been protesting against the State Government’s alleged conspiracy to rob the panchayats of all their powers.
While empathising with the cause of the pradhans, the State Congress president Pritam Singh said on Monday that his party is committed to further empowerment of the panchayati raj institutions.
“We would not be found wanting when it comes to fight for the cause of the panchayat,” he said.
He recalled late Rajiv Gandhi and said that he was instrumental for the historic 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments that infused fresh life in the decaying panchayat raj institutions.
Notably, a few of the members of the association have been sitting on hunger strike at Parade Ground for the past few days. Singh reached the protest site and lent his party’s full support to the agitating association. Some members of Pradesh Pradhan Sanathan had met the State Congress chief a few days ago and sought the Opposition party’s support to the cause over which the association has been spearheading the stir.
While launching a scathing attack on the BJP-helmed Government, Singh said that the State Government is hell-bent on reducing panchayats to nonentities. “The conspiracy was exposed after the State Government made it clear that large swathe of areas under the village panchayats would be incorporated into the municipal corporations, municipalities and nagar panchayats. They did not care to take the other stake holders on board,” he said.
Pradesh Pradhan Sangathan president Girveer Parmar said that their stir would continue till the State Government withdraws its order of reducing the funds meant for the panchayats from the 14th finance commission’s budget.
Other demands include immediate implementation of Uttarakhand Panchayatiraj Act 2016, he said, adding that various Government departments must be brought under the panchayats as per the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Act.
He further said that several memorandums have been submitted to the State Government through administrative officers in the past. “Yet, the Government has remained apathetic. Along with the association members, I recently met the State Panchayatiraj Minister Arvind Pandey and he assured us of addressing our demands by September 30. However, nothing happened. If the Government fails to meet the demands our hunger strike would continue,” he warned.