NAGAPATTINAM: A panchayat president of Karuppambulam village in Nagapattinam district has issued the income and expenditure report to the residents of the panchayat door to door when he could not do so after the Grama Sabha meeting was cancelled.
The Gram Sabha meetings which were about to take place in panchayats on Gandhi Jayanthi on October 2, was cancelled a day ahead of the meetings, due to concerns of COVID-19 spread. The cancellation did not stop a panchayat administration and its president from doing its duty.
“We were planning to issue our report income and expenditure in the Grama Sabha meeting. When we could not do so due to the cancellation order, we decided to issue the report to every household so that the people who kept faith in us and elected us would know about our performance, our income, and our expenditure in the past nine months. Our primary objective is to be an incorrupt and transparent administration. We are planning to issue for every six months here onwards,” R Subburaman, the 31-year-old president of Karuppambulam Panchayat in Nagapattinam district told The New Indian Express.
The population in Karuppambulam panchayat is about 5200. There are about 1700 families. The panchayat consists of villages such as Nadukkadu, Vadakadu, Therkukadu, Melakadu, Keelakadu. Subburaman and office bearers of Karuppambulam panchayat started distributing the pamphlets of the panchayat’s income and expenditure reports to all the households.
Also, they circulated the soft copies through social media to spread more awareness. The report details the panchayat's sources of income and areas of expenditure from January 1 to September 30. “We would like to hear about the requirements of the residents’ area and the constructive advice for the development of our panchayat. Together, we can make the panchayat the best," said the office-bearers and president in the report.
R Subburaman is the first democratically elected panchayat president in Karuppambulam panchayat in 33 years, through the state Local Body elections which took place at the beginning of the year. He has been receiving acclaim over the months since day one for taking steps to improve road conditions, school infrastructure, bring Kollidam water supply to remote places, setting up solar power at his expenditure for an underprivileged family, and takings steps to provide common vehicles for children to reach schools.
Subburaman’s latest move has yet again overwhelmed Karuppambulam. S Balaji, a senior teacher from Government High School in Karuppambulam, said, “We are impressed with the transparency of panchayat administration. Subburaman is showing active interest to better our school every month. He is also very particular about ensuring every requirement fulfilled.”