Collector saar, the power is indeed with you

CHENNAI: Village panchayat presidents are supposedly not as influential as the MPs and MLAs. However, the recent admission of a district collector from a western front to the Madras HC raised eyebrows of everyone in the court hall, especially considering that a collector, as the Inspector of Panchayats, has the power to supervise all village panchayats in his district.

While hearing a case related to the eradication of plastic usage in the Western Ghats, a division bench wanted the concerned district administration to set up permanent structures for the plastic collection centre. Though the collector said that 15 such centres have been established in the town area, a counsel representing the petitioner flagged that such facilities should be established in rural areas near the forests.

The collector who appeared via video-conference noted that though the administration was trying to establish a plastic collection centre to prevent tourists from taking plastics into the forests, the elected representatives of that village were opposing it. The collector further informed that the mediation was going on and the project would be initiated soon.

The judges were surprised that the collector was not exercising the power as the Inspector of Panchayats, and allowing the village panchayat president to overrule district administration. “An inspector of a panchayat should not fall for the protests of the local body representatives while implementing a much-needed scheme in the government,” the judges added.