New Delhi: Agitating sarpanches in several parts of Haryana tried to lock the block development offices on Tuesday as part of a call given by them to protest against the e-tendering process that has been introduced by the Manohar Lal Khattar-led government in the state.
In several places such as Rohtak and Sampla, the sarpanches reached the BDO offices and tried to enforce a lockdown. However, the presence of police prevented them from doing so.
The village headmen have been opposing the e-tendering scheme announced by the BJP-Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) government which lays down that while the gram panchayat sarpanch can get developmental works of up to Rs 2 lakh done at their own level, for works involving an expenditure of over Rs 2 lakh the tendering will have to be through the Haryana Engineering Works portal.
A statement by the government on Monday stated the panchayats will still possess the authority to give administrative approval for these development works. However, it added, that the technical approval for these works of over Rs 2 lakh will have to come through the executive, superintending and chief engineers. “E-tender for all works above the value of Rs 2 lakh will be done through Haryana Engineering Works Portal,” the statement spelt out.
Meanwhile, as several opposition leaders opposed the move, Khattar said: “Some leaders are doing politics in the name of e-tender for panchayats which is not right. Haryana now has well-educated panchayats who are capable of getting the work done by the officers. They will not allow the politics of such leaders to dominate them; today’s panchayats are well-versed in using IT.”
However, the decision has not gone down well with sarpanches, who spend huge amounts to get elected. Many of them insisted that the e-tendering process would only result in delays.
The sarpanch of Samain village in Fatehabad, Ranbir Singh Gill, was quoted by the Indian Express as saying that the BJP government had brought a similar e-tendering system during its first term but was forced to withdraw it in the wake of opposition from sarpanches.
‘Move against spirit of devolution of powers’
The village headmen are also insisting that the move goes against the spirit of the Panchayati Raj Act 1994, which was weakened due to subsequent amendments to it.
As Gill said, it is the right of the sarpanches to take decisions pertaining to the developmental works in the villages. The powers of sarpanches have been reduced by the amendments and they claim that they are now not even allowed to utilise the money obtained by letting out panchayat land for farming. Moreover, it is alleged that e-tendering would lead to the corporatisation of the village administration.
Several sarpanches have now threatened to bar government officials from entering the villages till the time the latest e-tendering scheme was withdrawn.
Meanwhile, the agitating sarpanches are also contemplating forming a Gaon Bachao Dehat Bachao Committee to raise their demands through a common platform. The committee is likely to be composed of one sarpanch each drawn from each of the 22 districts of Haryana.
Some sarpanches have also expressed their angst at the move of e-tendering having come soon after the Panchayat elections in the state. They believe the e-tendering process seeks to present them in a poor light as it has been projected to do away with corruption in the state. Incidentally, the BJP-JJP alliance had won 21 of the 22 Zila Parishads in the local body polls.
Political opponents, allies oppose e-tendering move
The Khattar government’s decision to enforce the new e-tendering scheme has also been slammed by several opposition parties as also some leaders of BJP’s alliance partner, the JJP.
The leader of the opposition and former Congress chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has criticised the e-tendering scheme and demanded its immediate roll-back. The Indian National Lok Dal has also opposed the scheme and its leader Abhay Singh Chautala said in a statement that “the panchayats should have the right to spend money the way they want.” He argued that just as the CM is head of a state, the sarpanch is head of a village and so should enjoy all the same powers within his jurisdiction.
As for the JJP, the scheme has left it divided. The party leader and deputy CM Dushyant Chautala has argued that a similar process of e-tendering is followed when works are to be undertaken through the MPLAD scheme. He added that the government has also placed more funds at the disposal of the sarpanches by raising the amount from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh for projects undertaken through e-tendering.
However, his brother and another JJP leader Digvijay Singh Chautala has urged the government to accept the government to empower the panchayats by listening to the demands of the sarpanches.
Stating that the sarpanches are elected representatives, he said the government should support them and channelise their energy for developmental works in the villages.