KARIMNAGAR: Additional Collector Garima Agarwal (Local Bodies) on Wednesday directed Panchayat officials to inquire into the financial crisis being faced by Chelpur gram panchayat as claimed by sarpanch Nerella Mahender Goud who told TNIE on Tuesday that there was no money to clear various bills to the tune of Rs 88 lakh. The TNIE published a story on Wednesday under the headline, ‘Caught between Centre and State, gram panchayats face financial crunch’.
Divisional Panchayat Officer (DPO) G Latha visited Chelpur gram panchayat and conducted an inquiry into the works executed in the village and the funds needed to clear the pending bills. She directed the Sarpanch to submit a report with the details of the pending bills and works carried out by the GP.
In his oral statement to the official, the Sarpanch said that Rs 49.44 lakh was spent on laying of CC roads and construction of drains and Rs 42.25 lakh on implementation of employment guarantee scheme. The spending was done as per the resolution passed by the gram panchayat, he maintained.
According to Mahender, while bills for some works were pending, engineers are yet to prepare a Minute Book (MB) for others. Claiming that all these works had been completed six months ago, he requested the DPO to initiate steps to release the funds to the village. He further said that no funds came from either the Centre or the State for the last eight months, resulting in the crisis.