More duties, meagre funds a worry for Gram Panchayats

Hyderabad: Though the government is assigning several responsibilities to the Gram Panchayats, it has been not raising the funds amount, leading to financial troubles.

Recently, the government has asked all the GPs to purchase tractors to collect the garbage and transport it to the dumping yards.

The major panchayats have been told to purchase the tractors in single payment, and smaller ones have been asked to purchase them in instalments.

Cost of each tractor would be Rs 5.10 lakh and the panchayats have to purchase trolleys, levelling equipment and other necessary equipment which would cost the panchayats Rs 5 lakh or more. The government recently raised salaries of GP employees and asked the panchayats to bear the burden.

Soon the GPs would be forced to pay the power bills of the streetlights and the drinking water supply schemes. All these would cast unbearable burden on the panchayats as their financial resources are meagre.

The State government has promised to give funds through the State Finance Commission. It has promised to give just Rs 8 lakh per annum to the panchayats.

According to a sarpanch, to implement the programmes being proposed by the government, the panchayats require more than Rs 20 lakh per annum. So, the panchayats would have to borrow amounts to carry on the programmes of the government.

The sarpanch said that in his village there were 11 workers and as per the salaries proposed by the government, the total salary of the staff would be Rs 10 lakh per annum.

The panchayats have to purchase sanitation material and other equipment. They have to repair the roads in the village. If all this expenditure was calculated it would cross more than Rs 20 lakh per month.

He said that the power distribution companies have been fixing meters to streetlights and water supply schemes equipment. They would issue monthly bills to the panchayats soon. This would be a big burden on the panchayats.

Several sarpanches said that the government has not raised the funds to be provided to the villages. It has been advising the panchayats to collect donations to maintain civic amenities in the villages.