‘Won’t bow down’: Haryana sarpanches continue protest against e-tendering policy

Chandigarh: In Haryana, the village heads (Sarpanch) have been protesting against the Manohar Lal Khattar government after it introduced e-tendering for development work by the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs).

The protestors including women and the elderly have been remonstrating under the banner of The Sarpanch Association days after the police lathi charge on March 1. The protests continued on Saturday as well.

The sarpanches were asked via an ACP court order to vacate the spot or present themselves before the court the next day, if they refused to follow the order. But the protestors didn’t budge.

“They did not spare women and the elderly. First, they gave us a 50 percent reservation in the panchayats. Now that we are elected and raising our demands, they are beating us black and blue?” asked Santosh Beniwal, one of the few women heads present among the crowd of more than 500 and the vice-president of the association.

In the afternoon, the protest site at Panchkula Housing Board was barricaded and police personnel was deployed.

Protesters took out hookahs and playing cards to kill time while Panchkula DSP Surender Kumar Yadav negotiated with Ranbir Singh Samain, president of the association, to vacate the other side of the road as it had caused traffic issues.

Both sides came to an agreement and an announcement was made on the loudspeaker: “No one will go to the other side of the road. We will protest on this side only”.

“This doesn’t mean that we will bow down. When we announced in February itself that we will be heading towards Panchkula on 1 March, the CM could have easily met us. But look at their response. If this is not dictatorship…They are lathi-charging elected members of village panchayat,” said Samain, reports ThePrint.

It all began after the state government in February 2021 amended Rule 134 under the PRI Act, and said development work worth over Rs 5 lakh had to be done through e-tendering process. The amount has further been reduced to Rs 2 lakh since.

However, the term of panchayats had ended in February 2021 itself. Fresh panchayat elections were held in October-November 2022, and the results were announced on 27 November.

According to the government, under Rule 134, PRIs could allocate any development work to anyone without issuing tenders, and this led to corruption.

However, the sarpanches allege that this would take away their powers as it routes all development work through government officials. They have since been protesting against the decision.

The village heads allege that the government’s move was an attack on their autonomy and constitutional rights and that the government was eyeing the crores of Panchayati Raj funds to sponsor their parties in the coming assembly elections.

The opposition parties and farmers’ association such as Pagdi Sambhal Jatta, have also extended their support to the protest.

“DIG O.P. Narwal told us that the CM will meet us on 9 March. We shall wait till then,” said Samain. He said that the protests would continue until the government rolls back the e-tender policy.

Based on a story in ThePrint