43 panchayat presidents discuss developmental works

TIRUVALLUR: A village council meeting with 43 panchayat presidents was held in Kadambathur union near Tiruvallur on Wednesday to discuss the developmental works that needs to be carried out in the district in the near future.

Several panchayat presidents based out of Kadambathur, participated in the meeting that was held in a private wedding hall in the village and submitted a petition consisting of 15-point charter demands to Collector Dr Alby John Varghese.

They demanded that the monthly state finance grant should be disbursed properly without delay, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme should be implemented efficiently in the villages.

They also pointed out that despite the union leaders being elected three years ago, no concrete houses have been allocated to them and they requested the government to allot them at the earliest.

Among their demands were the liberty to decide the allocation of funds depending on the needs of each panchayat.

The panchayat presidents also demanded that the common fund amount to carry out panchayat development works should be increased from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 5 lakh.

They also requested for new roads to be laid in place of the old dilapidated ones. They pointed out that none of the grievances that were aired by the public in the grama sabha meetings have been addressed and requested the state government to find a solution for it at the earliest.

They also demanded that the industries located in the villages, which function without proper permits should be taxed which would benefit the panchayats immensely.

The panchayat leaders gave a petition to Tiruvallur collector in this regard following which he promised swift action on it.