‘Why should people trust their MLAs?’: Punjab sarpanches react after govt revokes panchayat dissolution decision

After the withdrawal of the contentious decision, several sarpanches from various districts of Punjab spoke to The Indian Express. Many among them said if the government doesn’t trust the elected representatives of the panchayats, why should people trust the MLAs as they too can misuse public funds? Here’s a look at who said what:

Gurmeet Singh

Sarpanch, Gunia Majra village

District: Fatehgarh Sahib

Chairman of panchayat union of Punjab

Our union had filed a petition against the move in the High Court and the government Thursday made a U-turn. Earlier, they (Punjab government) had stated that they fear that if funds worth Rs 1,000 crore are distributed to the various panchayats, it can lead to misutilisation.

By raising doubt, they labelled all the 12,000 sarpanches as corrupt. We all are elected representatives. If 12,000 sarpanches can be corrupt then what is the guarantee that the 117 MLAs are not corrupt? Why should people trust them either? Can’t they misuse funds?

Our term is till December 31 but it is surprising that they dissolved the panchayats even before the end of the term.

Ever since the AAP came to power, they never gave any grant to the panchayats, except recently, but dissolved the panchayats soon after and appointed administrators. It was a ridiculous decision.

We will now ask the High Court to grant us extra time to make up for the loss of days due to the dissolution of the panchayats. I still remember that before the assembly election, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had said that like municipal councillors, even sarpanches should be given salaries and had assured us of the same if voted to power.

But after coming to power, he slept on his promises. Sarpanches get an allowance of Rs 1,250 per month which hasn’t been given to us for the last several years. Let alone salaries, Mann hasn’t even given us the pending allowances.

Rupinder Singh Rinku, sarpanch Gurne village

District: Sangrur

President, sarpanch union of Punjab

They labelled all the sarpanches as dishonest which shows how much they believe in the Panchayati Raj system which is the foundation of the country’s democracy. This shows their hunger for power and desire to have control over everything.

They had told their workers to get active in the villages after the dissolution of the panchayats. They were trying to prepare the ground to contest the election. However, it seems that the decision backfired and they rolled it back after going through ground reports.

Harpinder Singh

Sarpanch, village Shamaspur

District: Fatehgarh Sahib

Vice President, panchayat union of Punjab

The last five-year term of the panchayats ended in June 2018 and the election was held on December 31, 2018. For six months the administrators governed the panchayats and nobody had any objection. However, this time, the government was in a hurry to grab power.

Perhaps they don’t know how to govern. Soon after the dissolution, the government issued a letter that said we cannot withdraw funds from the panchayat accounts. The problem is we had issued cheques to some agencies for the development related works which too got blocked. Hence, we approached the High Court.

During the elections, they come to the sarpanches to seek votes from the villagers but they don’t trust us. Why should people trust the government’s elected MLAs? During the floods, we were the ones to reach out to the villagers first, even before the government swung into action. They trusted us back then but when we sought payment for the money spent by the panchayats on flood control, they dissolved the panchayats.

They started a solid waste management project in the villages for which they are yet to make payments. The government owes our panchayat Rs 2.5 lakh and likewise, they owe money to every panchayat.

I think the government had taken the decision to delay the payments and has now made a U-turn as they had not expected the sarpanches to move court.

Veerpal Kaur Dhaner

Sarpanch, Dhaner village

District: Barnala

The dissolution of the panchayats has perhaps happened for the first time. No doubt that misuse of funds does happen in a few places but labelling all the panchayats as corrupt is shocking.

We are working for the development of the villages above party lines. There are many loopholes in giving grants to the panchayats and their utilisation and a few people take advantage of the loopholes and engage in corruption. However, sometimes even officers are involved in corruption.

Now that they have revoked their decision, let’s see if they allow us to work independently. I have doubts about them.

Preetpal Singh Brar

Sarpanch, Bargari village

District: Faridkot

Their MLAs talk badly about the sarpanches in public as if they are the only honest people. Who do they trust after all? Soon after the dissolution of the panchayats, their party workers approached people who are prospective candidates of the future panchayats. This party (AAP) has come to power for the first time in Punjab and they have trust issues with everyone. Do they even trust their voters? They first need to understand how the Panchayati Raj works.