4 days ago
Govt urged to restore powers vested in gram panchayat
Mangaluru: Karnataka State Federation of Gram Panchayat Representatives president Deviprasad Shetty Belapu said the govt should restore the powers vested in gram panchayats as per the decentralisation.
Stating that gram panchayats lost several powers in terms of administration, Shetty said that massive protests will be organised across the state.
"The state and central govts seem to have no interest in strengthening panchayati raj institutions. The power of local governance envisaged under the Gram Swaraj system is being snatched away from people. People faced inconvenience while seeking building licences, purchasing sites, and obtaining Forms 9 and 11.
There is a concerted effort to finish off the GP system of local governance. While efforts to end the taluk and zilla panchayat system seem to be successful, secret moves are being made to destroy the GP system too," Shetty said.
This may put an end to even the elections for GPs in the state. Rights and freedom of GPs are being seized through govt orders. He said GPs lost even the power to issue door numbers for houses and other buildings in villages in the name of urban development authorities.
People also lost their right to build a house with basic infrastructure, he said.
"We will strengthen the forum of gram panchayat representatives under four zones - Hyderabad Karnataka, North Karnataka, coastal Karnataka, and Malnad region, to launch protests. CM Siddaramaiah, RDPR minister Priyank Kharge, MLCs Manjunath Bhandary and Kishore Kumar Puttur, who represent local authorities constituency, should consider the issue seriously," he added.
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