PMK founder S. Ramadoss on Friday warned against the proposed winding up of the Panchayati Raj Ministry by the Central Government saying that such a move could be the first step towards total breakdown of democracy in rural India.
After the Narendra Modi government withdrew the Backward Regions Grant Fund and Rajiv Gandhi Panchayat Sashaktikaran Abhiyan, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj was cash-strapped as the government reduced its funding from Rs. 7,000 crore to Rs. 96 crore, he explained in a statement. “In 2004, the Manmohan Singh government set up the Ministry to ensure that local bodies are given power according to the amendment to Article 73 of the Constitution and ensure social and economic justice and growth. Re-energising these local bodies which have been defunct for a long time will need time.
To wind up this Ministry at this point in time will only destroy whatever work had been done,” he said, adding, “This will be an affront to democracy.”
There are around 58,000 panchayats which don’t have a building of their own, he noted.
