Bhiwani: Cops foil protesting sarpanches' bid to reach minister's meeting venue

Tribune News Service

Bhiwani, January 31

The police took a number of sarpanches into custody when they tried to protest against the Development and Panchayat Minister Devender Singh Babli in Bhiwani today. The minister had come to chair a meeting of the District Public Relations and Grievance Redressal Committee.

The sarpanches who are on agitational path in support of their demands to withdraw the e-tender system for allotment of development works in rural areas and to scrap the “Right to recall” had gathered in Bhiwani on getting information about the arrival of the Development and Panchayat Minister.

As the minister reached the Panchayat Bhawan to chair the meeting, the protesting sarpanches also marched towards the Panchayat Bhawan. However, the police tried to stop them and foiled their attempt to reach the venue of the meeting. The police took some of the protesting sarpanches into custody as a precautionary measure.

However, during the meeting, the minister took some officials to task while listening to the grievances. He directed the police to register an FIR against the insurance firm for not giving compensation to the tune of Rs 85,000 to a farmer who had suffered crop loss. He had got his crop insured under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, he told the minister.

Reacting to the protest by the sarpanches, the minister stated that there were a handful of sarpanches who were opposing the government’s move which was aimed at transparency and quality of development works in the village. “I will not let any financial irregularity occur in the Panchayat Department and those who are trying to get a licence to do so as per their will after becoming sarpanches will not be successful in their designs,” he stated.

The sarpanches said there was no rationale in holding the panchayat elections to elect sarpanches if the government was not ready to empower them with due powers.

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