19 Sarpanchs Tender Joint Resignation In Odisha’s Keonjhar

Keonjhar: As many as 19 Sarpanchs of a block in Odisha’s Keonjhar district have tendered resignation from their post at a time alleging lack of cooperation by the government officials in development works.

According to sources, the sarpanchs belonging to Telkoi block have submitted their resignation letters to Keonjhar sub-collector. Stating that the government officials including Telkoi BDO were spending the money meant for the panchayats in different works without consulting the elected members of panchayati raj institutions (PRIs), they said it was hampering the development works.

Citing the latest case, they said the government had sanctioned Rs 2 lakh to each panchayat for the information, education and communication (IEC) campaign regarding the inauguration of heritage corridor project at Jagannath Temple in Puri on January 17. But the block officials spent the fund for other purposes without informing them.

“As elected representatives of the people of our panchayats, we are answerable to the voters. Now we have to face the questions from the people for lack of development in our areas. Since we are responsible for the negligence of the area, we are resigning from our posts,” the sarpanchs said.

However, Telkoi BDO Gita Murmu rejected the allegations and said the fund was sanctioned for both block and panchayats for IEC campaign. “The fund meant for the panchayats has been disbursed to them after keeping the amount for the block,” she said.