Jammu, July 10 : Amused over the ‘flamboyant’ statement of Union Home Ministry issued to the media yesterday of having released Rs. 700 crore for Panchayats of J&K, Mr. Harsh Dev Singh JKNPP Chairman and Former Minister said that such a meagre allocation in the wake of past gargantuan liabilities of over one thousand crore only amounted to cruel joke with the Panchayats Raj institutions of the state. He said that the provision of Rs. 700 crore with which the centre claimed to be empowering PRIs in the state was not sufficient to satisfy even half the liabilities that had accumulated over the past few years under MGNREGA alone. 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 Rs. 1047.45 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.
