e-Tendering logjam: Talks with CM fail, Haryana sarpanches to gherao assembly on March 17
“The talks with the state government have derailed again as the government does not want to resolve the e-tendering issue...there was no consensus on any key issue,” said Ranbir Singh Samain, president of the Haryana sarpanches association, on Friday even as after two-rounds of meeting on Thursday night, chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar had said that consensus had been reached on a majority of the issues.
The Haryana sarpanches association, which has been opposing e-tendering in allocating panchayats’ developmental works above ₹2 lakh, on Friday announced to gherao the Vidhan Sabha on March 17 after parleys with chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar failed to break the deadlock on key demands.
“The talks with the state government have derailed again as the government does not want to resolve the e-tendering issue...there was no consensus on any key issue,” said Ranbir Singh Samain, president of the Haryana sarpanches association, on Friday even as after two-rounds of meeting on Thursday night, chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar had said that consensus had been reached on a majority of the issues.
The state government, however, kept mum on Friday regarding the final outcome of the talks despite assuring on Thursday to announce the final decision.
The sarpanches association has been opposing e-tendering in allocating panchayat work above ₹2 lakh, besides raising numerous other demands. On the other hand, Khattar has been insisting that at the core of introducing e-tendering to allocate panchayat works is the government’s zero-tolerance policy against corruption.
The president of the sarpanches association said that during the talks, the government offered to increase e-tendering limit to ₹5 lakh with some conditions, but the association declined this “conditional offer”.
“The government does not want to resolve the main issues and therefore we have decided to gherao Haryana assembly on March 17,” said Samain, clarifying that the agitating sarpanches are not against transparency and only want the panchayats’ autonomy to be restored.
“We are asking the government to let panchayats execute urgent developmental works like repair of village paths, construction of patwar khana, cleaning drains etc even if the cost of such works is above ₹2 lakh. The tendering process is time-consuming and will derail developmental activities. Let the government set up a committee of experts which will monitor and certify if any developmental activity we have undertaken meets the specifications or not. The post of a sarpanch is very prestigious, but the intentions of the government are suspicious,” Samain told Hindustan Times over phone.
After emerging from the meeting with sarpanches on Thursday night, Khattar had said that consensus had been hammered out on majority of the issues. He said the sarpanches had raised a dozen-odd demands which were discussed at length, and added that another brief round of meeting will be held on Friday morning after which the final decision will be announced.
“On Friday morning, an aide of Khattar asked us to submit in writing that both sides have resolved certain issues. How can we give in writing when there was no consensus...the government does not want to discuss the e-tendering issue,” the sarpanches association chief said, reiterating the sarpanches’ demand for increasing the limit of e-tendering policy to allocate development works to ₹50 lakh.
Their other demands include the implementation of the right to recall law on MLAs, MPs and local bodies, before it is implemented on sarpanches.
They are also demanding the right to write the annual confidential reports of employees of all departments working in the gram panchayats.
The association further wants that in case of a deficiency in any development work carried out in a village, action should be taken against the officers concerned and not the sarpanch.
