Villagers want action against sarpanches

Sat Singh

Tribune News Service

Bhiwani, February 5

Residents of Swaroopgarh, Rawaldhi, Badeshra, Badwa and Santokpura today staged a protest in the town demanding action against their newly elected sarpanches for submitting “fake marksheets and false affidavits” to fulfil mandatory norms of the panchayat poll.

Protesters alleged that three sarpanchs obtained marksheets using unfair means from bogus education boards and had submitted it to the election commission to fulfil the education rider.

Swaroopgarh sarpanch Kamlesh Devi had allegedly submitted duplicate matriculation marksheet of another Kamlesh Devi of Dhani Gopal in Fatehabad district for the poll.

Similarly, Sudesh Devi, elected sarpanch of Badeshra village, had allegedly submitted Class X marksheet by showing herself a pass-out from village’s Adharsh School. However, villagers claimed that the principal of the school concerned denied having any record of Sudesh Devi in their school.

Badwa village sarpanch Nirmala Devi also submitted bogus marksheets of Class X from a board in Uttar Pradesh, which is listed as a fake institution in the UP board. Santokpura sarpanch Sunita Devi had allegedly shown having toilets at her home, but villagers said that it did not exist on ground.

Naveen Jaihind, leader of the Jaihind Manch, said they had handed over their demands with proof against the said sarpanchs as how they procured marksheets or other documents about fulfilling norms to contest the election.

He said there was a large-scale bogus polling in Swaroopgarh and Rawaldhi village. Protesters demanded action against newly elected sarpanches before the oath ceremony or else they said they would resort to a state-level agitation.