After opposition over the appointment of administrators to gram panchayats, Maharashtra Rural Development Minister Hasan Mushrif wrote to social activist Anna Hazare saying that there was no political motive behind the appointment of administrators.
The Maharashtra government will carry out appointments of administrators to gram panchayats whose tenure have ended or will expire in the coming months, he said while adding that the appointments will be made by Chief Executive Officers (CEO) of Zila Parishads in consultation with the concerned guardian ministers.
In his letter, Mushrif mentioned that the decision has been taken in view of the coronavirus pandemic while considering the High Court, Supreme Court orders and 73rd amendment act of the Indian constitution which provides constitutional status to the Panchayati Raj institutions.
Since elections can’t be held amid the coronavirus pandemic, the government has taken the decision to appoint the right persons as administrators to more than 14,000-gram panchayats in Maharashtra.
Mushrif was replying to a letter written by Hazare in which the latter on Monday slammed the decision taken by the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government saying that the decision was unconstitutional.
Of these, the tenure for 1,566-gram panchayats has ended till now while the same will end for 12,668-gram panchayats in several districts of Maharashtra by December this year.
On July 13, the Rural Development department issued a GR allowing the appointment of Zila Parishad chief executive officers (CEO) as the administration to 14,000-gram panchayats. The order states that the Zila Parishad CEO can be appointed as administrators to the gram panchayats in consultation with their respective district guardian ministers.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Devendra Fadnavis has also raised objection to the decision saying that these were “political appointments” and the order should be withdrawn immediately.
On July 17, Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) chief Prakash Ambedkar met Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to oppose the decision and demanded that the current period of tenure of gram panchayats should be extended by six months if the elections can’t be held.
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