AP sarpanches' bid to lay siege to Panchayat Raj office in Guntur foiled

GUNTUR: Sarpanches in Andhra Pradesh on Friday staged a protest against the delay in the release of the 15th Finance Commission grants to the Panchayat department in the state. The sarpanches, including the ruling party members, attempted to lay siege to the State Panchayat Raj Commissioner's office in Guntur which was foiled by a heavy posse of police.

The village heads have also displayed placards against the government and alleged that there was no budget in the panchayats to purchase the essentials. However, the police were deployed at the Panchayat Raj Commissioner's office and obstructed the sarpanches from entering the commissioner's office.

The sarpanches had demanded immediate release of 15th Finance Commission funds into the new bank accounts of sarpanches and to hike the salaries of Rs 15,000. They also sought the government to cancel the UP note and GOs issued by the state finance department officials.

Expressing concern that they could not pay salaries to the sanitation workers in the panchayats, the sarpanches demanded the state government disburse funds to strengthen the gram panchayats in the state.