Sarpanches seek immediate release of MNREGS, 15th Financec Panel funds
Tadepalli: Sarpanches across Andhra Pradesh are calling for the immediate resolution of their financial woes, urging the State government to secure the release of pending funds from the Central government. Chilakalapudi Paparao, president of the Andhra Pradesh Sarpanches Welfare Association and chairman of the Andhra Pradesh Agnikula Kshatriya Welfare and Development Corporation, along with Dr Jasti Veeranjaneyulu, national vice-president of the All India Panchayat Parishad (New Delhi), met with M Sivaprasad, additional commissioner of the Rural Development, on Friday at the Panchayat Raj and Rural Development Department office here.
During the meeting, they highlighted the numerous challenges faced by sarpanches in villages due to a severe shortage of funds. They specifically appealed for the immediate release of Rs 2,000 crore in MGNREGS (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme) funds owed by the Central government to local bodies. They urged discussions with Union Ministries to ensure these funds are credited to the State within 10 days.
Furthermore, they pressed for the speedy release of Rs 989 crore from the 15 th Finance Commission, which was sent by the Central government three months ago but is yet to be disbursed to the panchayats.
The delegation brought to the attention of the Additional Commissioner the significant mental distress among sarpanches, who are struggling to pay for works undertaken during the 'Palle Panduga' (Village Festival) and other development programmes, initiated under the directives of Deputy Chief Minister and Panchayat Raj Minister Pawan Kalyan. They also handed over a copy of recent orders from the Central government.
A key request made was for directives to be issued such that gram panchayats directly pay contractors for material supplies, rather than the Mandal Parishad Development Officers (MPDOs).
In response, the Additional Commissioner stated that Commissioner Krishna Teja and Special Chief Secretary Shashibhushan Kumar were actively working towards the release of the MGNREGS funds. He assured that the funds would be released soon.
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