Why Haryana sarpanches are protesting against e-tenders for infra works

Why was the e-tendering system brought in?

The Haryana government claims it introduced e-tendering for infrastructure projects in villages to ensure transparency, accountability, and faster execution. Under the new system, introduced two years ago, the village panchayat can carry out works up to Rs 2 lakh on their own. Projects of higher value have to be carried out through e-tendering.

Why are village sarpanches opposing this?

The village heads, or sarpanches, see this as an attempt to take away the powers of panchayats. While the system was brought in two years ago, opposition to it began only around two months ago. That is because elections for sarpanches were held in November 2022 after a long gap, due to the Covid pandemic and some court cases.

Earlier too, a confrontation had taken place between the agitating sarpanches and the police at Jind. (Express)

The newly elected sarpanches now say that the e-tender move is aimed at taking away the power of panchayat raj institutions.

Ranbir Samain, president of The Sarpanch Association of Haryana, said, “This is clear centralisation of powers. Under the new system, the government only needs to take 22 executive engineers of the state’s 22 districts into confidence to control the entire tendering system of nearly 6,200 village panchayats. Politicians at higher levels are eyeing the budget of all village panchayats.”

Another sarpanch said the new system is an attack on their image, “seeking to create a perception that we are not honest”.

What is the extent of the agitation?

For the past two months, there have been intense agitations at the village and district headquarters levels. The sarpanches had announced that as the next step, they would gherao CM Manohar Lal Khattar’s residence on March 1.

On Wednesday, when the protesters tried to move from Panchkula to Chandigarh by breaking police barricades, the police resorted to lathicharge. Earlier too, a confrontation had taken place between the agitating sarpanches and the police at Jind.

What has the government said?

Khattar has said the e-tendering initiative was part of the government’s zero-tolerance policy towards corruption. He earlier said: “The duty of the panchayats is to ensure smooth execution of development works. Providing timely funds for it is our job.”

Haryana Rural Development and Panchayat Department minister Devender Singh Babli alleged the Opposition was fomenting the stir, with only some sarpanches opposing the e-tenders.

What is the political angle to the protests?

With the BJP-JJP government standing by its e-tendering policy, the Opposition Congress and INLD have supported the protesting sarpanches.

The village sarpanches and other panchayat members hold considerable influence among villagers, with many having dedicated teams of volunteers. In these circumstances, the latest developments are not being seen as a good sign for the BJP-JJP alliance, especially ahead of the poll year of 2024. Apart from the Lok Sabha elections expected to take place in April or May next year, the Haryana Assembly polls are due in October of the same year.