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Around 25 members of the Ranchi zilla parishad walked out of a meeting on Thursday demanding immediate constitution of seven standing committees of the district council that has been pending for over two years since the panchayat polls were held in Jharkhand.
The zilla parishad members, who threatened to skip meetings in future unless their demand was fulfilled, prompted the council authorities to address the issue on April 2.
A zilla parishad is supposed to have seven standing committees for planning and production, co-operatives and industries, education, women welfare, social welfare, communication, and taxation and finance.
The panels act as an inner cabinet of the parishad, while the district heads of the specific departments take part in the council’s meetings. The committees also draft development plans by incorporating proposals of the gram sabha.
Chairperson of Ranchi zilla parishad Sundari Tirkey told The Telegraph: “It is over two years since the panchayat polls were held. The committees should have been formed. Their absence has definitely affected planning. Development plans at the gram sabha level have not been incorporated in the district plan.”
She informed that the council has proposed to hold a meeting on April 2 for selection of members for the committees.
“It is a legitimate demand. Once formed, the committees will be able to hold the departmental meetings.”
Asked about the delay in constituting the committees, which are in place in a majority of other districts, she said, “It is nothing but negligence. Monitoring of development works will come under the purview of the panels. For example, secondary education comes under the jurisdiction of the zilla parishad. Thus, the standing committee (education) has an authority to monitor secondary education.”
Adil Hussain, a member of the council, said they had demanded immediate constitution of the committees, as meetings of the zilla parishad were not being held on a monthly basis.
“Development activities are greatly affected due to delayed meetings. The meetings should take place every month, but in Ranchi it takes place every four months. We have opposed this and demanded regular meetings along with the constitution of the standing committees,” he said.
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