The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), along with its alliance partner Jana Sena Party (JSP) and the Sarpanches’ Association, will stage dharnas and protests in protest against “large- scale diversion of funds” released by the Union government to the panchayat raj institutions by the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) government in Andhra Pradesh, says BJP State president D. Purandeswari.
Leading a demonstration by the sarpanches and activists of the BJP and the JSP here on August 10 (Thursday), Ms. Purandeswari accused the YSRCP government of abdicating its responsibility of handholding the local bodies in their struggle to ensure basic civic amenities for the people at the grassroots level by not leaving enough funds at their disposal.
Diversion of funds
The heads of gram panchayats were shocked over the diversion of the 14th and 15th Finance Commission grants by the State government and keeping them in the dark, the BJP leader said.
As a result, the sarpanches, a majority of them belonging to the ruling YSRCP, were on the verge of ending their lives after spending money from their pockets to make available drinking water, street lights and other civic amenities in the villages, she said.
The small-time contractors who had executed the civic works of the Panchayat Raj Department were in trouble due to non-payment of bills for the works executed by them by the State government, she said.
“The YSRCP government has created a parallel system of local administration through the village secretariats and village volunteers, ignoring the constitutionally elected village heads. ”D. Purandeswari BJP State president
“It is unfortunate that the elected representatives at the grassroots level are insulted and humiliated by the YSRCP government, which has created a parallel system of local administration through the village secretariats and village volunteers, ignoring the constitutionally elected village heads,” Ms. Purandeswari observed.
After promising to release ₹1,000 crore to the gram panchayats, the YSRCP government claimed to have adjusted the amount towards electricity dues, she said. “But the fact is that the dues continue to remain in the books of the local bodies,” she said.
The ruling YSRCP dispensation had also diverted funds of ₹25,000 crore released by the Union government for implementing the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) for other purposes in the last three years, she said.
Jal Jeevan Mission works
The Union government-sponsored Jal Jeevan Mission, which was aimed at providing drinking water to the rural people, could not be taken up to the full extent as the YSRCP government had not provided the matching grant, Ms. Purandeswari alleged.
The BJP leader, who came after paying floral tributes to her father and TDP founder N.T. Rama Rao at the Addanki bus stand centre, also thanked JSP president Pawan Kalyan for directing his party workers to join the State-wide protest spearheaded by the BJP.
Sarpanches’ Association State leader G. Veerabhadrachari poured out the woes of the funds-starved gram panchayat heads, and pleaded with Ms. Purandeswari to ensure release of the Central funds directly to the local bodies.
JSP Prakasam district president Sk. Riaz underscored the need for the BJP-JSP combine to end the “misrule of the YSRCP government” in the 2024 elections.
Later, Ms. Purandeswari, joined by, among others, former MLAs E. Haribabu and D. Sambaiah, submitted a memorandum to the district officials.
