Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Nov 27: Pointing towards the reports of adverse reactions emanating from various Panchayats across the State during the currency of “Back to Village”, NPP chairman and former minister Harsh Dev Singh said that the programme has failed to generate much enthusiasm amongst the rural folk.
He said that with people disillusioned with the results of ‘Back to Village’ part- I , the response to the second phase was extremely poor. The Panchayats were not only feeling cheated but there were reports of boycotts of such functions in several areas which people believed to be mere publicity stunts.
Describing the much publicized scheme as a flop show, Singh said that it had utterly failed to win the confidence of the Panchayats which were literally starving for want of funds. He regretted that the roller coaster drama with five thousand Govt functionaries including top civil servants having been deputed to villages had cost the State several millions incurred on the stay, publicity, transportation and allied activities without any concrete action plan to ameliorate the lot of the rural folk.
Pointing towards the burgeoning liabilities under MGNREGA as shown on the official website of Rural Development Deptt as well, Singh disclosed that Govt owed over Rs 1000 crore to Panchayats as unpaid bills with regard to works executed during the past three years by Sarpanches and Panches. Giving breakup of the year-wise unpaid claims of Panchayats, Harsh Dev said that liabilities of 2016-17 amounted to Rs 107.66 crore, for 2017-18, these stood at Rs 366.06 crore, for 2018-19, figures stood at Rs 503.95 crore and from April 2019 onwards the unpaid bills amounted to Rs 69.78 crore as projected by RDD on its website as updated till date.
Seeking immediate clearance of past liabilities besides early commencement of work with respect to planned schemes of current year, NPP leader said that focus should be on ground delivery rather than baseless hyped announcements merely for political reasons. He said that Govt must also devise suitable mechanism to oversee the progress and ensure that the funds actually percolated down to the Panchayat level. He said that Centre must fulfill the promises made with Panchayats or be prepared to face their wrath.
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