RAIPUR: Chhattisgarh’s senior minister T S Singhdeo, who relinquished the key panchayat and rural development portfolio on Saturday, has raised many issues, including framing of rules for Panchayat Extension in Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act, alleging that many crucial points pertaining to ‘Jal, Jungle, Jameen’ in the department’s draft were altered when the matter came up for consideration before the cabinet.
In the four-page letter he has written to chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, Singhdeo said that the Congress election manifesto in 2018 had promised to implement PESA in its true spirit. He says his department put in a lot of effort over the last two years to prepare the draft rules after visiting various places and discussions with local people and elected representatives.
