Coalition partner JJP MLAs question govt over curtailing financial powers of sarpanches

: Much to the embarrassment of the Manohar Lal Khattar government, two legislators of the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), the junior coalition partner of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on Tuesday questioned the rationale behind curtailing financial powers of gram panchayat sarpanches for executing developmental works and deplored the “pitiable” condition of the roads.

The JJP’s Barwala MLA Jogi Ram Sihag fired the first salvo during the Zero Hour when he asked development and panchayats minister Devender Singh Babli, who is a JJP MLA from Tohana assembly segment, to spell out the “compelling reasons” due to which the state government decreased the financial limit of works to be executed by the panchayats.

At the centre of MLA’s contention was a 2017 decision of the state government when the financial limit of works to be executed by panchayats was increased from ₹ 10 lakh to ₹ 20 lakh.

After this, the panchayats were getting ₹ 20 lakh for executing development works. Now, the state government has introduced e-tendering for developmental works in gram panchayats in case the expenditure is above ₹ 1 lakh.

“In the name of e-tendering, the developmental works executing powers of gram panchayat sarpanches have been drastically reduced from ₹ 20 lakh to ₹ 2 lakh... are these sarpanches corrupt.... instead of squeezing the powers, they should have been increased to empower the sarpanches,” said Sihag during the Zero Hour, as the Congress MLAs backed the contention.

Congress MLAs Balbir Singh and Jagbir Singh Malik demanded that the power of a sarpanch to execute developmental works up to ₹ 20 lakh be restored.

As the issue started snowballing, the development and panchayats minister Devender Singh Babli interjected and said some people were instigating the sarpanches. He said the government has not reduced the powers of sarpanches and that the decision in question was taken to ensure transparency.

“There are some modifications we have introduced... to protect the interests of the state,” Babli said, pointing out that some people were instigating the elected representatives of the panchayats.

According to the minister, the state government has been putting in place checks and balances to safeguard the interests of the state.

“The rights of Sarpanchs will remain the same as before under the Haryana Panchayati Raj Act,” chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar told reporters on the sidelines of the assembly session, according to an official spokesperson. The chief minister said that a new arrangement would be made to allocate funds to the newly elected representatives of the Panchayati Raj Institutions.

The issue of potholed roads again reverberated in the House when MLAs of the treasury benches touched the matter. However, JJP MLA Ishwar Singh (Guhla segment) minced no words and described as “deplorable” the condition of the roads in his constituency. Singh said action should be taken against the contractors and that there should be a mechanism to punish the contractors responsible for using substandard material, a demand which the Congress backed.

“Within two years, the pucca roads become potholed... the contractors should be blacklisted,” Kiran Choudhry, the Congress leader said.