While the BJP-led Central government has brought in a new law to strengthen local self-governing bodies across the country, the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) government is “acting contrary to the constitutional spirit by slashing down the powers of sarpanches”, charged Telangana BJP president and Karimnagar MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar on Tuesday.
In an open letter to village sarpanches, he said that the “BJP is committed to the spirit of the 73rd and 74th amendment acts and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has allotted maximum funds for the cause of local self governance to achieve self reliance as envisioned by Mahatma Gandhi”.
“The TRS election manifesto in 2014 had promised strengthening of Panchayati Raj institutions but in the last eight years, the State Government has only weakened the institutions, forcing sarpanches to take loans for works with each gram panchayat burdened with ₹2-₹20 lakh pending bills,” he claimed.
