Guj Assembly panel slams panchayat bodies for "indifference"

The Panchayati Raj committee of Gujarat Assembly today came down heavily on district and taluka panchayat bodies for showing "indifference" in implementing its past recommendations.
The committee, headed by senior BJP MLA Narayan Patel, also ticked off the panchayat bodies for not doing enough to recover more than Rs 580 crore lost due to embezzlement, etc.
In its scrutiny report, based on the audit report of Local Fund Examiner and tabled on the floor of Assembly today, the committee expressed severe displeasure towards the lackadaisical approach of local bodies.
The local administration is not allowed to spend without prior approval of the Assembly. To ensure this, Assembly appoints various committees and make recommendations to the concerned departments, the committee said.

"But the local administration has showed total indifference towards the recommendations made by this committee in seventh Gujarat Assembly. This is a very serious matter," said the report.
"Such delay in implementing the recommendations is an insult of this House. Despite giving us assurance about proper implementation, officials do not turn up for almost two years to provide us the details of implementation," it said.
Citing audit observations, the panel noted that local panchayat bodies need to recover more than Rs 580 crore lost due to embezzlement or payments made against rules and excess payments.
"It seems that Panchayat bodies are not at all interested in the recovery....If the funds are not recovered in stipulated time, we recommend the administration to fix the responsibility of concerned officials," said the report.