Hisar, Jan 29 (PTI) Sarpanches and villagers from several villages in Hisar district on Sunday blocked the Hansi-Chandigarh Highway to protest against the Haryana government’s e-tendering policy for infrastructure development works.
The blockade near Bhaini Amirpur village in Narnaund lasted over an hour. Some sarpanches also blocked the Landhri and Mayyar toll plazas on NH-9 for some time.
The government wants to use the e-tendering policy to make panchayats powerless and it needs to be strongly opposed, said Azad Singh Hindustani, a spokesperson for the Sarpanch Association – Hisar.
If the sarpanch does not have the power to work, it does not matter if the panchayat is educated or illiterate, he said.
On Saturday, the sarpanches gathered at Rohtak’s Jassia village and issued an ultimatum for the state government to revoke the e-tendering system within a week.
Development and Panchayat Minister Devender Singh Babli had earlier asserted that the e-tendering process was initiated to bring transparency and accountability in development works.
Sarpanches and other representatives of the Panchayati Raj Institutions will continue to grant administrative approval for development works like before and it is not correct to say that their powers have been curtailed, Babli had said.
The sarpanches were also protesting against another legal provision that would allow the recall of village sarpanches and members of block-level panchayat samitis and district-level zila parishads if they fail to perform. PTI COR SUN SZM
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Source: The Print
