Committee decries
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, November 07 2024: The Adhoc Committee of All Manipur Elected PRIs of 2017 has strongly reacted to the list of invitees/representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) confirmed for participation in the Interaction Programme with the 16th Finance Commission on November 7 and 8 .

In a release, the Committee informed that the list containing 15 elected representatives was submitted by the Director of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj, P Gojendro Singh to the Deputy Secretary, Finance Department (Expenditure Section) vide an official letter "No 6/3/2018/PR/XVI-FC" dated October 15, 2024 .

The Committee raised questions over the eligibility of the 15 representatives who are set to participate in the interaction programme and asked the Director how the representatives were selected as the term of the 5th Gram Panchayat had ended two years back in October 2022 .

The Committee also asserted that there has been no democracy at the grassroot level for nearly 24 months in Manipur.

Furthermore, the Committee urged the Director to take necessary steps to hold the 6th Gram Panchayat election at the earliest as not holding elections is akin to abolishing the Panchayati Raj system itself.

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