State government dissolves Hirebandady GP

Uppinangady, October 29: The Zilla Panchayat CEO has issued a notice stating that the State government in its gazette notification has directed to dissolve Hirebandady Gram Panchayat.

The Gram Panchayat will be dissolved from the date of gazette notfication. Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner's office has also sent a letter to the Gram Panachayat on October 10, urging to dissolve the Gram Panchayat under Karnataka Panchayat Raj Act as the Panchayat failed to function as per the Panchayat Raj Act.

The letter stated that Uppinangady Nada Kacheri Deputy Tahsildar has been appointed as the Administrator to the Hirebandady Gram Panchayat with immediate effect.

It may be recalled that on June 25, 2010, the new president and vice-president of Hirebandadi GP near Uppinangady took charge. It is more than one year now, but the Gram Panchayat has not yet seen general body meetings. The Zilla Panchayat in its general body meeting held under the presidentship of Shailaja Bhat on August 18 had decided to dissolve the Gram Panchayat.

In the meantime, Deputy Tahsildar visited the Gram Panchayat on Wednesday and asked the President to hand over the charge to him. However, the President has refused to hand over the charge as she is yet to receive the official order.

Speaking to Deccan Herald, Gram Panchayat President Geetha Dasaramoole said “The Gram Panchayat has received notice on dissolving the Gram Panchayat. However, neither me nor the GP members have received any official notification. We are elected representatives.

The district administration is trying hastily to take away our power. Once we get the order, I will hand over the power according to the law.” It is said that in the last one year, neither discussions on development work held nor have any government schemes implemented in the Gram Panchayat owing to lack of quorum.

During the election of the president and the vice-president, 'operation Kamala' was executed cleverly by the members. This led to politics of vengeance, which has affected the development work in the GP. There are 13 members in this GP, of which eight are BJP supported members and five Congress backed members. During the election, BJP members indulged in cross voting due to which the Congress came to power. As a result, no work was carried out in the Gram Panchayat for the last 14 months.