Punjab Govt stops grant to nearly 300 panchayats
Vishav Bharti
Chandigarh, March 23
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government has stopped all grants issued to nearly 300 panchayats just before the recently concluded Assembly elections by the previous Congress government.
Issued in a hurry just before poll
Some grants were issued to villages in a hurry, just before the elections. The government wants to thoroughly check and fairly distribute the grants among all villages. Rahul Bhandari, Principal Secretary
In a communication sent to all ADCs (Development), Deputy CEOs of zila parishads, district development and panchayat officers, the Department of Rural Development and Panchayats said 11 types of grants, the money for which was withdrawn from the treasury during 2021-22 but disbursement was still due, should be stopped immediately.
The 11 types of grants that have been stopped include, development grant, cattle fair grant and grant for liquid waste management issued to 28 villages; grant for solid waste management issued to 29 villages; grant for constructing memorial gates in 33 villages; grant for building crematorium in 18 villages; grant for burial grounds in 24 villages; grant for solar lights installation in 34 villages; grant to 35 villages for Infrastructure Gap Filling Scheme for Optimum Utilisation of Assets; and grant for modernisation of 36 villages where at least half of the population is SC.
Apart from that, grants issued under the Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan for the construction of community centres in villages has also been stopped.
The department has also instructed district officials to stop any other grant that was issued during the last financial year, but which had not been disbursed to the agency concerned so far.
Rahul Bhandari, Principal Secretary (Rural Development and Panchayats), said it was noticed that some grants were issued to villages in a hurry, just before the elections. “The government wants to thoroughly check and fairly distribute the grants among all villages,” he added.
Just before the elections, some Congress leaders had reportedly issued grants for areas from where they were contesting elections.
