Development funds halted, Nakodar sarpanches, panches stage protest

Jalandhar, November 7

Panches and sarpanches of various villages falling under the Nakodar Assembly on Monday staged a protest in front of the District Administrative Complex, alleging that the state government had snatched the development grants allotted for their area.

The panchayats, which are represented by the Congress, led the protest. An amount of Rs 12 crore had been sanctioned as the Rural Development Fund by the previous Congress-led government. As the Aam Aadmi Party came to power in the state this year, the utilisation of the grants for these works were halted with immediate effect. The funds had to be returned to the state government.

Congress leader from Nakodar, Dr Navjot Dahiya, District Congress Committee (urban) chief Balraj Thakur, DCC (rural) chief Darshan SIngh Tahli and the president of the Truck Union Punjab, Happy Sandhu, tagged along with the sarpanches and panches as they visited the office of Deputy Commissioner Jaspreet Singh. They deemed the halt on the development works an attack on their democratic rights.

Amarjit Matharoo, the sarpanch of Mallian Kalan, said, “If the state government doesn’t release the grant, we will intensify our stir.”