TPCC working president Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka has lashed out at the TRS government for allegedly curtailing the powers of gram panchayats thereby making the local body elected representatives mere “ceremonial figures” deprived of “stipulated powers”.
The TRS regime has diluted the powers of the gram panchayats, the democratic institutions at the grassroots level, by diverting the Finance Commission funds in the name of clearance of pending power and water bill arrears, he charged, slamming the TRS dispensation with leaving the gram panchayats “fund starved”.
Mr. Vikramarka was speaking at a meeting held on the occasion of the death anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi at the party office here on Monday. Terming Mr Rajiv Gandhi as a visionary leader who made invaluable contribution to empower the gram panchayats, he said the 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments paved the way for devolution of powers and participatory democracy at the grassroots level. The TRS govt. has not only neglected the gram panchayats but weakened the Panchayat Raj institutions in the State by usurping their powers, he said. He slammed the TRS regime for allegedly conducting “Mana Vooru – Mana Pranalika” and “Grama Jyothi” programmes with much fanfare on the pretext of village-level micro-planning without any “tangible outcomes” for the gram panchayats.
He called upon people to support the Congress party headed by Mr. Rahul Gandhi in the next elections to rejuvenate the gram panchayats and empower them in tune with Mahatma Gandhiji’s ‘Gram Swaraj’ concept.
