Govt order asking panchayats to promote anti-drug drive hits hurdle

The implementation of a Punjab Government order asking gram panchayats to put up posters and flex boards to promote its anti-drug campaign has hit a hurdle as nearly 38 per cent of the village bodies lack income to fund the initiative.

The order was issued by the Punjab Rural Development and Panchayats Department on April 16, asking each gram panchayat to put up two flex boards, 1,000 posters and four wall paintings to promote the drive by using its own funds.

A senior officer at the Panchayat Department said the state has over 13,000 gram panchayats, of which 4,911 solely depended on central and state government grants for development works.

The official said these villages did not have shamlat land (village common land) that could be leased out to generate income or any other source of revenue.

“It is difficult for such villages to even pay power bills of running tubewells for drinking or irrigation purposes. Of 13,236 gram panchayats in the state, 5,300 (40 per cent) have an annual income of over Rs 2 lakh,” the official said. One-third of the income of a village panchayat goes to the Block Samiti and the Panchayat Department.

“Though the 15th Finance Commission did provide for some untied funds to the village panchayats with no income, these cannot be used for putting up posters,” the officer added.

According to information available with The Tribune, the annual income of 1,265 village panchayats is from Rs 1-2 lakh. The annual income of 1,740 villages is less than Rs 1 lakh. During the previous Congress government, an order was issued asking the panchayats to bear Rs 1,200 honorarium given to sarpanches each month.

As a result, only a handful of sarpanches could get the honorarium. On Thursday, the Punjab Government increased the honorarium of sarpanches by Rs 800 to Rs 2,000. Official sources said it had been decided that for panchayats having an annual income of less than Rs 2 lakh, the honorarium would be paid from the state treasury.

Those panchayats having an annual income of over Rs 2 lakh will themselves pay the honorarium to sarpanches.

Meanwhile, president of the Panchayat Union Ravinder Singh said, “The Punjab Government should build new projects in villages to help them generate income.”

Punjab