Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state spokesperson Samanchi Srinivas said that the party would oppose and fight the state government’s diversion of panchayat funds of ₹13,364 crores against the spirit of the Constitution.
Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, Mr. Srinivas said that BJP State president Daggubati Purandeshwari reported the irregularities of the diversion of panchayat funds to the notice of the Central ministers Giriraj Singh and Nirmala Sitharaman on July 26.
The BJP leader said that the Central government responded to the issue and ordered the Deputy Secretary of the Central Panchayat Raj Department Vijay Kumar to visit the field and produce a report. “Ms. Purandeshwari had briefed the inspecting team in Vijayawada on September 26 about the diversion of panchayat funds by the Jagan Mohan Reddy government,” he said, adding that the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) had also objected to the Ward Secretariat system in the State and termed it as ‘unconstitutional’.
Mr. Srinivas demanded that the state government immediately deposits the funds recommended by the finance committee to the gram panchayat accounts. “The panchayat funds used by the state government so far should be treated as dues owed by the government to the village panchayats and should be paid immediately. The sarpanchs should be immediately paid their expenses incurred for the development of panchayats through loans, and the arrears and bills of the contractors be cleared,” he said.
