The Hindu : Front Page : Village panchayat chiefs seek more powers

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Aug 04, 2007
ePaper

Front Page

Front Page

Village panchayat chiefs seek more powers

R.K. Radhakrishnan

TIRUVANNAMALAI: Village panchayat presidents sought more powers and resources from the State Government at a zonal meeting organised here on Friday.

“Give us the responsibility of issuing community, birth and death certificates. Give us a salary. Give us more money,” said T.S. Arumugham, a retired schoolteacher, who is now panchayat president at Mathur in Krishnagiri district.

He was not alone demanding more powers for the last tier of governance. Most of the 71 panchayat presidents who spoke at the zonal meeting wanted Local Administration Minister M.K. Stalin to make sure that the common problems of villages were solved. The issues raised included water scarcity, lack of transport and medical facilities, a further reduction in power tariff, more funds for emergency use, greater say in implementation of schemes such as the free colour TV and free gas and LPG stove programmes and enhancement of money given to build houses under the Indira Awaz Yojana (IAY).

Mr. Stalin and Rural Development Secretary Ashok Vardhan Shetty said action had been initiated to solve many of the long-standing problems. As many as 7,500 of the 12,618 panchayat presidents did not have a phone connection.

They would get one in the next two months. On the IAY scheme, Mr. Stalin said he had taken up with the Centre the need to increase funding for construction of houses. There was nothing much that the State Government could do on this.

Bommapalli panchayat president Vijayan wanted the power to sign cheques to be vested exclusively with the president to loud claps from the audience of 4,585 village chiefs. (Now the vice-president too has to affix his signature.)

When the issue was raised again by another president, Mr.Stalin asked who else could sign the cheque in the place of the vice-president. One president suggested that the Block Development Officer could. Mr.Stalin asked him if he trusted an official more than an elected representative.

Tax notices

Another president wanted educational institutions to pay tax to the village. Food Minister E.V. Velu, who was in charge of organising the meet, said he ran educational institutions and paid tax to the local village based on the demand notice the village sent to his institutions. Other presidents should send such tax notices, he said. An average of 93 per cent of the village chiefs from Villupuram, Kancheepuram, Tiruvannamalai, Krishnagiri, Tiruvallur, Cuddalore and Vellore attended. Kancheepuram recorded the highest turnout — 632 of the 648 elected presidents participated.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page