Women presidents urge TN Govt to withdraw Amendment Bill

Kancheepuram, July 7 (UNI) The women panchayat presidents in Kancheepuram district today urged the Tamil Nadu government to immediately withdraw the Amendment Bill, curbing the powers of panchayat presidents in operating village panchayat accounts.

A resolution to this effect was passed at the Woman Panchayat Presidents Conference organised by the Tamil Nadu Federation of Women Presidents of Panchayat Government (TNFWPPG) here.

With regard to administrative reforms, the conference called for a repeal of the Section 205 of the Tamil Nadu Panchayat Act 1994, which empowers district collectors to dismiss elected panchayat chiefs.

The conference also appealed for radical restructuring of tax revenue to the panchayats.

It was pointed out that the present allocation of nine per cent of state tax revenue to the local bodies was not in tune with the third Finance Commission.

The conference also pointed out that the assigned statutory revenue like local cess, stamp duty surcharge (which constitute 80 per cent of assigned revenue and a major source of income to panchayats), entertainment tax, revenue from mines and minerals, meant to be released through the Revenue Department, District Registar Commercial Tax Department, Geology and Mines Department were not disbursed regularly to the Panchayat.

Finance and administrative reforms on 29 subjects, recommended for the Panchayats, were implemented in West Bengal, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh, but no such efforts were taken in Tamil Nadu, the Conference pointed out.

UNI