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Block chiefs up in arms

By Our Staff Correspondent

DEHRA DUN, JAN. 25. Encouraged by the grant of status of Minister of State for all 13 District Panchayat presidents in Uttaranchal, the Kshetra Panchayat presidents (Block Pramukhs) are up in arms seeking a respectable status, official car and powers as enshrined in the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments.

The Block Pramukhs have urged the Chief Minister, Narayan Dutt Tiwari, to ensure that the Kshetra Panchayats are also empowered at the earliest. The various departments executing development plans should finalise these schemes only after getting them vetted by the elected panchayat members. The members should be an integral part of the planning process and have powers to inspect the schemes to ensure quality in the works.

The Block Pramukhs are especially sore at the way the Government was claiming to have transferred many departments to the panchayats. "The administrative and financial powers continue to remain with the bureaucrats making us a laughing stock before the masses," they said.

Several Block Pramukhs and members expressed expressed dismay over the bureaucrats refusing to give them the powers by saying that they were either not well educated or trained to plan for the development of the villages.

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Block chiefs up in arms

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