Residents of 3 wards to boycott panchayat poll

No nomination filed for ward members

Rajiv Mahajan

Nurpur January 6

Around 1,000 residents of Nagreta, Pargod, Bareta, Kalru, Lehra and Barian villages situated in wards 5, 6 and 7 of Pargod gram panchayat in the Rait development block neighboring the Jawali sub-division have announced to boycott the upcoming Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) elections for ignoring their long-standing demand of dividing the existing gram panchayat for creating a new panchayat.

The residents under the banner of the Pargod Sangarsh Samiti have submitted an ultimatum to the Deputy Commissioner, Kangra, on December 25 apprising him of their decision to boycott elections scheduled for January 17. No candidate has filed his nominations for the election of ward members in these wards till the last date of filing of nominations on January 2. Inquiries reveal that Pargod is the existing gram panchayat of these wards, but its panchayat office is being functioned 8 to 13 km away from Lapiyana. As per government guidelines, residents of any panchayat should get panchayat office within 5 km radius.

The residents of these villages who had been struggling in support of their demand for a separate gram panchayat and to accelerate rural development works had organised a rural chaupal (community meeting) a few months ago and constituted the Pargod Sangarsh Samiti.

Mahinder Singh Shastri, president, and Hans Raj Mehta, chief adviser of the samiti, lamented that two buses of the Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) to these villages had stopped 10 years ago, Batees Meel to Pargod bus service started in 2017 had discontinued after one year and a veterinary dispensary was shifted to Gubbar village.

No government-sponsored welfare scheme had benefitted the residents of these villages. A majority of the residents were without pucca village paths and without road connectivity, they said.

The residents also organised village chaupal yesterday to lodge protest against government’s apathy towards their demands.

The inquiries made by The Tribune reveal that following demands of the affected residents, the Deputy Commissioner, Kangra, had also written to the Director, Panchayati Raj, Shimla, on August 28 last year with his recommendation of the division of the Pargod gram panchayat in view of the prevailing geographical conditions and more distance between the panchayat office and the villages.