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| ‘Back to Village scheme a flop show: Harsh | | |
Jammu, 27-11-2019: Pointing towards the reports of adverse reactions emanating from various Panchayats across the State during the currency of “Back to Village”, Mr. Harsh Dev Singh Chairman JKNPP and former Minister said that the scheme had failed to generate much enthusiasm amongst the rural folk. He said that with people disillusioned with the results of ‘Back to Village part I , the response to the second phase was extremely poor. The Panchayats were not only feeling cheated but there were reports of boycotts of such functions in several areas which people believed to be mere publicity stunts. Describing the much publicized scheme as a flop show, Mr. Singh said that it had utterly failed to win the confidence of the Panchayats which were literally starving for want of funds. He regretted that the roller coaster drama with five thousand govt functionaries including top civil servants having been deputed to villages had cost the State several millions incurred on the stay, publicity, transportation and allied activities without any concrete action plan to ameliorate the lot of the rural folk.
Pointing towards the burgeoning liabilities under MGNREGA as shown on the official website of Rural Development Deptt as well, Mr. Singh disclosed that Govt owed over Rs. 1000 crore to Panchayats as unpaid bills with regard to works executed during the past three years by Sarpanches and Panches. Giving breakup of the yearwise unpaid claims of Panchayats, Mr. Harsh Dev said that liabilities of 2016-17 amounted to 107.66 crore, for 2017-18, these stood at 366.06 crore, for 2018-19, figures stood at 503.95 crore and from April 2019 onwards the unpaid bills amounted to Rs. 69.78 crore as projected by RDD on its website as updated till date.
Seeking immediate clearance of past liabilities besides early commencement of work with respect to planned schemes of current year, Mr. Singh said that focus should be on ground delivery rather than baseless hyped announcements merely for political reasons. He said that govt must also devise suitable mechanism to oversee the progress and ensure that the funds actually percolated down to the Panchayat level. He regretted that despite huge swindling of central grants and scheme funds in Rural Dev Deptt, none had been made accountable thereby revealing a huge nexus for plunder of such finds from bottom to top. And despite the Deptt having earned the most dubious notoriety for irregularities and malpractices and proven cases of frauds and embezzlements, no action had been initiated against the corrupt officials and officers.
Pointing further towards the assurances of the central leadership for application of 73rd and 74th Amendments to the local Bodies in the state of J&K, Mr. Singh regretted that it too had remained a ‘Jumla’. Likewise the promise of constitution of a separate Finance Commission for Panchayats had also failed to see the light of the day. Accusing the state and central govts of cheating the Panchayats by their skulduggery and deceptive slogans, Mr. Singh said that such statements only evoked cynicism rather than appreciation. He said that centre must fulfil the promises made with Panchayats or be prepared to face their wrath.
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