CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court on Tuesday directed the State government to clear the air over the continuation of its order bestowing 'powers of Collector' on sarpanchs to decentralise the battle against COVID-19 pandemic.
The Court was hearing a PIL seeking quashing of the order. The petition was filed by two residents of Balangir, Ardhendhu Narayana Behera and Satrughan Naik.The division bench of Chief Justice Mohammad Rafiq and Justice BR Sarangi issued the order after it found that the counter affidavit filed by the State government had not addressed the main issue raised in the petition.
The State government’s counter affidavit said the Sarpanchs were empowered with powers of a Collector to help manage quarantine centres meant for migrant workers.
They were expected to effectively deal with the situation in management of COVID-19 pandemic and authorised under the Disaster Management Act 2005 to file complaint before the appropriate forum against the violators.
The petitioners' counsel pointed out that most of the migrant workers had returned and the quarantine centres have been closed down.The bench fixed January 12, 2021 as the next date for hearing on the PIL along with the State government’s clarification on the April 19, 2020 order.
The PIL hinged on the incident of unlawful demolition drive carried out by a lady sarpanch which had rendered six tribal families homeless on August 11 in Balangir.
Hemakanti Munda, the Sarpanch of Salveta panchayat in Agalpur block had requisitioned bulldozers and JCB machines to demolish under construction houses, allotted under the Prime Minister's Awas Yojana - Grameen (PMAY-G) to six poor tribal families.