LSP to contest in 110 Municipalities

• JP releases election manifesto
• Stress setting up of ward committees, community policing

Hyderabad: The Lok Satta Party has decided to contest 110 Municipalities and 8 Corporations. Releasing the election manifesto on Tuesday, party national president Jayaprakash Narayan said that the living conditions of the people continued to be deplorable. There was no guaranteed supply of safe drinking water and sanitation was neglected. He underscored that the sole reason for this state of affairs lay in centralisation of power at the national and State capitals. Not even 25 per cent of funds allocated for various schemes and programmes percolated to citizens, he said.

The party said the remedy lay in taking administration to the doorstep of people. JP said following protest by the Lok Satta, the government had enacted a law providing for formation of ward committees. But it remained a dead letter with no steps having been taken to implement it.

The manifesto envisages formation of ward committees and an annual per capita grant of Rs 1,000. As a result, a ward committee representing a population of 4000 will get a grant of Rs 2 crore in five years.

The ward committee will formulate a development plan; supervise maintenance of drinking water supply, sanitation, roads, lights, libraries, parks, playgrounds, schools, healthcare institutions and Anganwadis. It will safeguard government property from encroachments. It will ensure that beneficiaries of government schemes for housing, pensions, subsidies etc are chosen through area sabhas. Ward committees will supervise the implementation of all government schemes at the ward level. The party also promised institution of ‘community policing’ to prevent thefts and robberies and atrocities against women at the ward level. It will unveil citizen’s charters under which civic bodies will have to deliver time-bound services like approval of building plans, provision of water supply connections and issuance of certificates with provision for a penalty of Rs 200 per day as compensation to the aggrieved for delays. It also promised to usher in transparency in all purchases, and ensure that payments to contractors were made only after thorough evaluation of works.

The party also proposed amending laws to provide for recall of elected councillors and corporators. Highlighting to how low the politicians had fallen in the recent times, party state president K Srinivas pointed out that if they found out a particular individual represented a political party; it was most likely that his name along with his family members would be erased from the electoral rolls. Citing his own example from Serilingampally constituency, he said that names of three members of his family including himself were removed recently. “I shall take up the issue with CEO,” he said.