Panchayat boards in two phases

TT, Calcutta: The Mamata Banerjee government will constitute gram panchayat boards in two phases instead of one because of clashes over the formation of such bodies, delaying plans to resume development projects before Puja. Ten persons have died in the violence so far.

The government had earlier decided that boards in all 3,300-odd gram panchayats would be formed by September 15. Its effort to ensure the deadline was evident when it sent the list of winners in uncontested seats for printing of the gazette notification soon after the Supreme Court rejected Opposition's plea to repeal the 20,000-odd results.

But the government has now decided that the boards will be formed by September 15 in panchayats where elections were held and there was no bar on formation of boards.

In case of 1,608 gram panchayats, where the board formation process started last week after the Supreme Court verdict, the boards will be set up by September 26.

"The formation of boards in gram panchayats will be completed by September 26. The process in panchayat samitis and zilla parishads will be over by September 28. The process was held back due to some reasons, including delays in notifying the winners in uncontested seats," said a senior official.

Sources in Nabanna, however, said the main reason for the deferment of the process was the recent series of clashes over formation of boards. "It was realised that if all panchayats go for board formation in the same period, the situation can turn critical in terms of law and order. The administration can manage the situation better if lesser number of boards are formed in a day. So, it was decided that (the boards in) 1,608 panchayats, which had the uncontested seats, will be formed after the process is completed in the others," said a senior official.

The delay, sources said, could push back plans to resume development projects before Puja.

"If all gram panchayat boards were formed by September 15, the panchayats could have cleared some projects by the end of September. The work orders could have been issued soon after Puja. But now it appears that many panchayats will not be able to clear projects before the first week of November, when offices will reopen after the festive season," said an official.

The government wanted to kick off projects through the panchayats at the earliest as work in rural areas had stopped since April when the rural poll notification was issued.

Senior officials, however, pointed out that law and order was a more important concern for the government at the moment. "No government would like to face questions over deteriorating law and order before the 2019 Lok Sabha polls," said another official.

SP shifted

North Dinajpur police chief Anoop Jaiswal was transferred on Saturday, a day after the murder of a Trinamul leader, and was replaced by Sumit Kumar. Jaiswal has been shifted as special superintendent in the CID. Kumar was so far DC (traffic) in Calcutta.