Protesting against the XIV Finance Commission allocating funds directly to gram panchayats excluding the Zilla Praja Parishads and the Mandal Praja Parishads, the Panchayat Raj chambers of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are jointly organising a Chalo Delhi programme to bring pressure on Centre to provide funds also to the other two tiers of the three-tier grass root democratic institutions.
“We welcome the Finance Commission allotting a fund of Rs. 9,600 crore to the Gram Panchayats and sarpanches but the ZPPs and MPPs have been ignored and with no funds at all with them they have become redundant and the Central Government has done this harm to them intentionally and our self- respect is hurt,” president of the AP Panchayat Raj Chamber and MLC Y. Babu Rajendra Prasad told reporters before the start of a two-day meeting of the chamber’s committee here on Friday. “We seek an allocation of Rs. 15,000 crore and our other demands are recognising the local bodies as local governments and transfer of power to MPPs and ZPTCs.” With the PR institutions in Telangana also facing the same problem, the chambers decided to jointly make a representation to the Central Government. Their leaders would meet the Prime Minister and the Ministers for Panchayat Raj, Rural Development and Finance and also Ministers from A.P., M. Venkaiah Naidu and Sujana Chowdary, to impress upon the Centre to release funds, designate duties and give powers as per the 73{+r}{+d}and 74{+t}{+h}Amendments of the Constitution. The schedule of Chalo Delhi would be announced on Saturday. The two-day meeting would discuss the problems and plan future course of action.