Rabindranath Biswas
Diglipur, February 17: The elected Members of the PRIs, such as the Zilla Parishad Members, Samiti Members, and the Pradhans of the Gram Panchayats under Diglipur Tehsil, have jointly held a dharna in front of the Administrative Building, Diglipur today.
As per reports, the dharna was in wake of a number of issues that have been reportedly affecting the functioning of the PRIs. The prime points highlighted in the dharna were that there are reportedly unnecessary delays in the respective departmental offices in processing and issuance of work orders, which are reportedly halting ongoing projects, causing a negative impact on community development, the protesters said. The current limits/restrictions on work orders given by the Gram Panchayat to Co-operative societies were another burning issue vehemently raised in the dharna. The necessity of re-establishing the Executive Engineer’s Office in Diglipur was also highlighted in the speech delivered by the protesters.
The protesters were invigorated, and the dharna gathered momentum soon after Mr. Bishnu Pada Ray, the Member of Parliament, A & N Islands, joined the protest. Addressing the assemblage, the lone MP strenuously raised all the issues of the PRIs and urged the A & N Administration to address and resolve the issues effectively. In his address, Mr. Bishnu Pada Ray said that it is the responsibility of the concerned department to prepare the Fund Utilization Certificate and not the PRIs.
The two govt. quarries in Laxmipur, as well as in Shyamnagar under Diglipur Tehsil, have reportedly been exhausted, and hence the administration should identify sites suitable for exploring/extracting quarry products and allot them on priority in order to accelerate the pace of the developmental works, which had reportedly stalled due to the absence of quarry materials, the MP said. The rundown and neglected state of the NH in N & M Andaman District is reportedly owing to the inaction of the administration, Mr. BP Ray alleged.
In reiteration of his previous statements, the Pramukh, Panchayat Samiti, Diglipur, Mr. Dipankar Mistry, said that he had reportedly written a letter to the Director, RD, PRIs & ULBs, A & N Administration, Sri Vijaya Puram, apprising the authority of these issues and urging them to consider resolving them on priority, but the concerned authority reportedly failed to resolve these issues, he alleged in his speech.
Endorsing the Honourable MP, the Pramukh also advocated the immediate allotment of new quarries by the administration for all developmental works in Diglipur Sub-Division. The Pradhan, GP Subhashgram, said that all developmental work under PRIs have reportedly stopped owing to the negative approach of the administration.
There is reportedly no release of funds in sufficient amounts from the administration to any sector of the Panchayat, and hence, the Pradhan is not in a position to execute the works, he alleged in his speech. Mr. Pradip Das, Zilla Parishad Member, R.K. Gram Constituency, led a scathing attack on the administration and said that there is reportedly an angry backlash from the people over the alleged unsatisfactory service being delivered by the administration, and it may trigger a storm of protests and ultimately social unrest unless the administration satisfactorily delivers services to the public, the ZPM threatened.
The dharna came to an end at around 01:00 p.m., and then Mr. Bishnu Pada Ray, the Member of Parliament, led a delegation of PRIs and met the Assistant Commissioner, Diglipur, and apprised the AC of the issues, the report said.
The PRI Members will reportedly continue to hold their dharna for the next two days, the report further said.
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