Chandigarh: Village heads Saturday continued to protest on the Haryana-Chandigarh border under the banner of The Sarpanch Association of Haryana against the state government’s new e-tender policy days after the 1 March police lathicharge.
By evening, they were asked via an ACP court order to vacate the spot or present themselves before the court the next day, explaining why they did not follow the order. ThePrint has a copy of the order.
The protesters continued their stir.
“They did not spare women and the elderly. First, they gave us a 50 per cent reservation in the panchayats. Now that we are elected and raising our demands, they are beating us black and blue?” asked Santosh Beniwal, one of the few women heads present among the crowd of more than 500. She is also the vice-president of the association.
In the afternoon, the protest site at Panchkula Housing Board was barricaded and police personnel were deployed. Protesters took out hookahs and playing cards to kill time while Panchkula DSP Surender Kumar Yadav negotiated with Ranbir Singh Samain, president of the association, to vacate the other side of the road as it had caused traffic issues.
Both sides came to an agreement and an announcement was made on the loudspeaker: “No one will go to the other side of the road. We will protest on this side only”.
“This doesn’t mean that we will bow down. When we announced in February itself that we will be heading towards Panchkula on 1 March, the CM could have easily met us. But look at their response. If this is not dictatorship…They are lathicharging elected members of village panchayat,” Samain said to ThePrint.
According to the new e-tendering policy of the Haryana government, which the sarpanches are protesting, village heads are given the power to approve projects worth Rs 2 lakh but those exceeding the amount will need to be carried out through e-tenders. While the government says this brings transparency to the system and reduces corruption, sarpanches allege that it takes away their powers as it routes all development work through government officials.
Meanwhile, not only the Opposition parties but farmers’ associations, such as Pagdi Sambhal Jatta, whose representative was present Saturday, have also extended their support to the protest.
“DIG O.P. Narwal told us that the CM will meet us on 9 March. We shall wait till then,” said Samain, repeating that the protests will continue until the government rolls back the e-tender policy.
Speaking to ThePrint, Haryana Development and Panchayat Minister Devender Singh Babli said, “They have met me and I have assured them that the CM is busy right now but will meet them on 9th. Till then I request them not to spread false information. The policy is going to bring transparency, accountability and quality in the development work. The powers of a village head will not be undermined.”
In a press note issued Saturday evening, the state government reiterated how, apart from making the system transparent, e-tendering process “aims to speed up the development work in panchayats along with fixing the accountability of the concerned.” ThePrint has a copy of the note.
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‘Attack on autonomy’
The village heads that ThePrint spoke to claimed that this is an attack on their autonomy and constitutional rights. But some also alleged that the government is eyeing the crores of Panchayati Raj funds to sponsor their parties in the coming assembly elections.
“Minister Babli has called us chor (thief), velle (idle) and whatnot. But the actual chors are those in government. They are misleading the people by claiming that it will bring transparency but actually, they want funds for their campaigns, as there are many loopholes (in the policy) and they can easily divert the funds,” Sudhir Buana, a village head from Jind district, and also a member of the association, said.
Buana said the process has been made time-consuming and will only result in poor quality of work. “We want a complete rollback,” he added.
Babli, however, said to ThePrint, “I have never called anyone chor or vella. They are respected elected public representatives just like us. We have listened to their suggestions earlier and made changes accordingly. We will do so again if they come to the table.”
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)
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