KARIMNAGAR: Chelpur sarpanch Nerella Mahender Goud was sitting outside the gram panchayat office. It was mid-afternoon on Tuesday and his face was full of sorrow.His problems are the most basic ones. The office has no money. He has to clear pending bills and has to get the tractor repaired. More importantly, he has to come up with money to pay salaries to his 14-member staff in March.
The gram panchayat has not received any funds from the government since August last year. The contractors are pressing for payment for the works they executed in the village.Chelpur is a major gram panchayat, situated about seven kilometers from Huzurabad. “I have to immediately pay Rs 88 lakh for the works already completed. But I have no money,” says Mahender. He has been able to pay salaries till now, keeping on hold other commitments. Now the pressure is very intense on him to clear the bills. Mahender says the sarpanches are sandwiched between the State and the Centre. The two governments fight with each other, unmindful of the fact that it is the sarpanch who is bearing the brunt of the lack of funds.
He says that the State government is withholding the funds released by the Centre. In normal practice, the State has to come up with a matching grant and release the entire amount to the village panchayat. As the State is not transferring funds to the panchayats, the Centre has stopped further transfers as it is not getting utilisation certificates.
The Chelpur sarpanch spent Rs 1 lakh for the construction of Vaikuntadhamam (crematorium) under National Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), expecting reimbursement from the State but the bill is still pending with the government.Similarly, several works ground to a halt in the village. Of the outstanding Rs 88 lakh payment, Rs 60 lakh bills pertain to CC road works which have already been completed.
The gram panchayat gets Rs 2 lakh per month by way of water and property tax but its expenditure is about Rs 5.30 lakh for payment of power bills, salaries, diesel purchase and others.During the last two months, the State had released some funds but the money was immediately taken back for adjustment against the dues of the panchayat to the State government.
Batikepalli sarpanch’s plea to cm for funds
Batikepalli village sarpanch Thatiparthi Shobharani in Jagtial mandal has written to Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, requesting measures for clearances of the pending bills. As bills have been pending with the gram panchayat, she said it is quite embarrassing for her to explain the delay. She said in her letter that the State government was diverting the Centre’s funds released for the gram panchayats. She requested the chief minister to release funds for all gram panchayats in Jagtial district. During his visit to Kondagattu on Wednesday, the chief minister should make an announcement on releasing funds to the gram panchayats. She reminded the CM that he had promised Rs 10 lakh for each GP during his Dharmapuri visit in the past.
Sarpanches demand immediate release of funds
In Rajanna-Sircilla district, Illanthakunta Sarpanches forum on Tuesday demanded immediate release of funds to the villages. The forum said that all works had been completed as directed by the government. The panchayats borrowed money from banks and moneylenders by pledging gold for the completion of the works. As the repayment is being delayed, the banks and traders are not trusting the sarpanches anymore. For the last five months, no funds were released by the government.