The state government has decided against allotting funds to sarpanchs (village heads) in the Chhapra district till the time the latter submit bills of their expenditure in the past five years.
The decision has come in the wake of a report of the district panchayati raj officer highlighting the mismanagement of funds by sarpanchs heading village courts (gram kutchhery) in the district.
According to the report, a number of village heads elected between 2006 and 2011 have not submitted any bill of expenditure of funds allotted to them, despite several reminders. The money, to the tune of Rs 10 crore, was allotted to the village heads in a span of five years (2007 to 2011) under several heads, including remuneration, special remuneration, rent for buildings, furniture and others.
Sources said of the 330 panchayats in the district, 99 per cent village heads have not cared to submit their bills and have not maintained any register of expenditure. Many village heads, in fact, have not even arranged meetings of the full bench or disposed of cases in a while but have still managed to spend money, the sources added.
Now, the government has sought certificates of expenditure from every sarpanch and only a few have been able to furnish the details. As a result, the authorities have decided to freeze the allotment of Rs 1,68,35,995 (the first instalment of Rs 10 crore sanctioned for 2012 to 2017) to those sarpanchs who do not have any estimate or bill of their expenditure.
On the other hand, those sarpanchs who have submitted their bills have already been allotted their share of funds.
District panchayati raj officer Rajaynand Wadiar said the government has already allotted Rs 1,68,35,995 for sarpanchs, but the amount would be released to them only after they submit the utilisation certificates of previous expenditures.
“Departmental order has been issued to block development officers that no amount under any head would be allotted to sarpanchs till they submit the utilisation certificate of previous expenditure,” Wadiar said.