Vijayawada: Call to protect panchayat raj system

Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh Sarpanches Association and AP Panchayat Raj Chamber gave a call to protect panchayat raj system. In a statement here on Tuesday, AP Sarpanches Association president YVB Rajendra Prasad and Panchayat Raj Chamber president V Lakshmi Mutyala Rao alleged that the Jagan Mohan Reddy government ruined the panchayat raj system and made elected leaders ‘dummies’ without power.

As a result, villagers are suffering due to lack of drinking water supply and bad condition of roads. The sarpanches are not in a position to repair the damaged motors and repair the streetlights and look after sanitation works. They alleged that the state government has been misusing thousands of crores released by the Central government for development of villages.

The local body leaders alleged that the state government hijacked powers of sarpanches and more than 20 sarpanches committed suicide. They gave a call to launch a struggle to protect the panchayat raj system.