Modi government finished Panchayati Raj system: Congress
New Delhi, April 24: Soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan on Tuesday, the Congress party said the Modi government has systematically finished the Panchayati Raj System by starving Panchayats of funds.
The party urged the Prime Minister to stop invoking Mahatma Gandhi's name in his "fake jumlas" and stop fooling the people by renaming schemes. It pointed out that Rajiv Gandhi Panchayat Sashaktikaran Abhiyan had now been rechristened as the Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan.
"During the last four years Narendra Modi government has systematically annihilated the entire Panchayati Raj System in the country by starving the panchayats of funds and making them beggars before respective state governments," said Congress spokesperson P.L. Punia.
"By discontinuing the centrally-sponsored Schemes, like Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF) and de-capacitating schemes like MNREGA, Rajiv Awas Yojana, Anganwadi and National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), the Modi government ensured that the Panchayati Raj institutions do not have any funds," he said.
"The government, for all practical purposes, shut down the Ministry of Panchayati Raj by draining it of any substantive budgetary allocations."
According to him, the Modi government and many Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled states have failed to bring about any incremental legislation that could ensure 50 per cent reservation for women.
"Regressive legislations in Rajasthan and Haryana with regard to educational qualifications only ended up ensuring that already marginalised people became ineligible from contesting elections on grounds of insufficient qualification," said the Congress leader.
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Bihar govt to constitute 100 fast-track courts to expedite disposal of criminal cases: Home min
Patna (PTI): Bihar Home Minister Samrat Choudhary on Sunday announced that the state government will establish 100 fast-track courts (FTCs) to ensure the swift disposal of pending cases.
He said that the move also aims to ease the burden on regular courts for them to accord due attention to sensitive cases.
Choudhary said the decision in this regard has been made considering that over 18 lakh cases are pending before different courts in the state.
The constitution of FTCs will "bring in a big relief" to the judicial system and litigants, he said.
"To operationalise 100 FTCs across 38 districts and sub-divisions, the government will undertake large-scale recruitment," the home minister asserted in a statement.
He said that a total of 900 posts, including those of bench clerks, office clerks, stenographers, deposition writers, data entry operators, drivers, process servers and peons, will be filled.
Choudhary also announced that 79 courts will be designated as 'act courts' to fast-track cases related to the Arms Act. Swift resolution of such serious cases, he said, will strengthen law and order in the state.
The minister said that Patna alone will get eight fast-track courts, while four courts each will be set up in Gaya, Muzaffarpur, Darbhanga and Bhagalpur. Three FTCs each are planned for Nalanda (Bihar Sharif), Rohtas (Sasaram), Saran (Chhapra), Begusarai, Vaishali (Hajipur), East Champaran (Motihari), Samastipur and Madhubani.
Similarly, two courts each will be established in West Champaran (Bettiah), Saharsa, Purnea, Munger, Nawada, Jehanabad, Arwal, Aurangabad, Kaimur (Bhabhua), Buxar, Bhojpur (Arrah), Sitamarhi, Sheohar, Siwan, Gopalganj, Supaul, Madhepura, Araria, Kishanganj, Katihar, Banka, Jamui, Sheikhpura, Lakhisarai and Khagaria. One FTC each is also proposed for the sub-divisional courts of Naugachia and Bagaha.
