Misled on appointment of administrators in panchayats: Punjab Deputy LoP

Congress Dinanagar MLA and Deputy Leader of the Opposition Aruna Chaudhary on Monday accused the Department of Rural Development and Panchayats of “misleading” the Punjab Assembly on the appointment of administrators in gram panchayats, where sarpanches and panches had been elected.

Raising the issue during the question hour, the MLA alleged that the government had “illegally” appointed administrators in gram panchayats to “misuse” the panchayats funds.

Pointing to Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan, she said the Minister for Rural Development and Panchayats, while replying to her question over the issue, had referred to a departmental communication issued in 2012.

She said it appeared that the department had failed to apprise the Rural Development Minister of the 2014 judgment of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, wherein it had been categorically held that where a duly elected gram panchayat existed, neither the government nor the district administration had any authority to interfere in its functioning.

She said the Rural Development and Panchayats Department had itself circulated the judgment for compliance across the state, but failed to implement it.

“It amounts to concealing the information and mislead the House”, she said adding that corrective departmental action be initiated against the officials responsible for furnishing “incomplete and misleading” information meant for the House.

Cong leaders meet Governor, seek tabling of CAG reports

A delegation of Congress leaders on Monday met Governor Gulab Chand Kataria over the CAG audit reports that have not been tabled in the state Assembly for a discussion by the AAP government. The delegation was led by Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly Partap Singh Bajwa and included Aruna Chaudhry, Rana Gurjeet Singh and Barindermeet Singh Pahra.

Bajwa said they apprised the Governor of serious constitutional concerns arising from the non-tabling of finance accounts, appropriation accounts and relevant CAG audit reports for financial years 2023–24 and 2024–25.

“The Constitution mandates that the reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General relating to the accounts of a state must be placed before the state legislature. Without these audited financial documents, meaningful scrutiny of the government’s financial management by the Assembly cannot take place,” Bajwa said.