AP tries to make gram panchayat polls unanimous

The state government on Tuesday enhanced incentives for the unanimous election of sarpanches and ward members in gram panchayats.

With Opposition parties raising a hue and cry against unanimous elections, dubbing them as acts of coercion by the ruling party, the state government sought to clarify that successive governments have been incentivising the display of unity by the villagers by electing their representatives unopposed.

Appealing to all stakeholders to strive for unanimous elections as they are being held on nonparty basis to preserve peace and harmony in the villages, panchayat raj minister P. Ramachandra Reddy told mediapersons that it would be prudent to encourage unanimous elections so that the political interference would be reduced, chances of violence would be decreased and peace and harmony would exist in the villages.

Ramachandra Reddy said in 2001, villages with a population up to 5,000 were awarded `15,000, villages with a population between 5,000 and 15,000 were given `30,000 and

`50,000 was given for villages with population above 15,000

In 2008, gram panchayats with population up to

15,000 were rewarded with `5 lakh and those having population of above 15,000 were given

`15 lakh. In 2013, it was increased to `7 lakh and

`20 lakh respectively. Mr Ramchandra Reddy said under the leadership of Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, panchayat raj Act was amended and the incentives were increased.

Gram panchayats with a population less than 2,000 will be awarded `5 lakh, those with a population between 2,000 and 5,000 will be given `10 lakh, gram panchayats with a population between 5,000 and 10,000 will be awarded `15 lakh and those with population above

10,000 will be given `20 lakh. Municipal administration minister Botsa Satyanarayana said the government has increased the incentives to strengthen the administration at village level.