Protesting Zila Parishad members sell ‘pakoras’ in Sonepat

Zila parishad members are on a three-day hunger strike in front of the Zila Parishad office here in support of their demands. On the third day of the protest on Saturday, they prepared and sold ‘pakoras’ to vent their anger.

On Friday, parishad member Sanjay Badwasnia, along with members Ravinder Indora, Manjeet, block samiti member Vikas Sharma and members’ representative Taqdeer, wrote a letter with their blood and submitted a memorandum to the SDM, to be forwarded to Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini.

The members are demanding the strengthening of zila parishad and block samitis in the state. Badwasnia said the parishad members were "handicapped" as they had no rights with regard to development works due to which people were harassed in rural areas.

He asked the government to provide a Rs 1-crore annual grant to the parishad members and Rs 50 lakh to block samiti members so they could carry out development works in their areas, on the lines of MLAs and MPs.

They also demanded the setting up of a district planning committee (DPC), which existed earlier, but was not formed after the BJP government took over.

They also said the members should be given an honorarium on the lines of municipal corporations and pensions on the lines of chairmen and vice-chairman.

They also raised the issue of corruption in the Sonepat block. They alleged that there was a GST scam in the district panchayat department, and also in MGNREGA as work was being done by machines in place of manpower.