The impediments allegedly created by the Local Self-Government Department (LSGD) top brass to release Central funds sanctioned against a State Election Commission proposal, has upset the preparations for the local body elections and also the disbursal of honorarium to about 23,000 Anganwadi and Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) workers enlisted for the verification process.
Official sources told The Hindu here that the commission had engaged the women for verifying the voters’ list being prepared for the local body elections due in September.
The SEC had decided to use the polls rolls of the Central Election Commission drawn up for the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. The brief of the women drafted as house verification officers was to call on all voters enrolled up to January 1 and verify their credentials. They were offered an honorarium of Rs.2,000.
The commission had forwarded a proposal to secure funds from the Rajiv Gandhi Panchayat Sashaktikaran Abhiyan launched for capacity building and other initiatives in local bodies. The Centre had approved the project and sanctioned Rs.2 crore, of which Rs.1 crore was used for procuring electronic voting machines from Electronics Corporation of India Ltd. in 2014-15. From the balance Rs.1 crore, Rs.55 lakh was proposed to be used for paying the honorarium, Rs.10 lakh for conducting a public awareness drive about the polling process and the remaining for preparing the political map of local bodies.
Verification of rolls
The poll roll verification was completed within the stipulated time. When the commission approached the LSGD for releasing the fund, the higher-ups allegedly turned it down on flimsy grounds. Repeated discussions between the government and the commission officials failed to resolve the impasse and ultimately, the commission and the local bodies cleared the payments in almost 13 districts from own funds.
Honorarium to Anganwadi, ASHA activists not given
SEC, local bodies cleared payments from own funds
