WARANGAL: Opposing the proposed panchayat raj bill which will allow indirect election of sarpanch by ward members of the village, former minister and TDP senior leader Revuri Prakash Reddy has accused the government of diluting the panchayat Raj system and urged chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao to hold an all-party meeting to discuss the issue. He has alleged that the move is aimed at ensuring the victory of TRS candidates in the upcoming local body elections.
Speaking to reporters here on Sunday, Prakash Reddy said the bill was against the spirit of the 73rd and 74th Amendments to the Constitution which accord a lot of freedom to local bodies. According to him, if sarpanches are elected by ward members of the village panchayat and can be removed any time by the latter, there could always be political uncertainty. At present, the election is direct and on non-party basis and there is no provision to remove a sarpanch in the present Act even if he indulges in irregularities. But in the new bill, there would be a provision to remove the sarpanch through a no-confidence motion, he pointed out.
The senior TDP leader was also against the provision of appointment of a governing body which would be having the power to recommend to the government removal of a sarpanch. “This goes against the true spirit of the panchayat raj system. We have been told that the governing body would comprise nominated members. This is not acceptable as the ruling party would target opposition members,” he said. As per the new bill, officials will be made answerable to the sarpanch, and zilla parishad members and mandal praja parishad members will be given more powers. Besides, the draft envisages that sarpanches will be made responsible for the implementation of programmes of the government.