Do not weaken local bodies: YSRCP tells TDP govt

Demanding the TDP Government to withdraw GO no 44 which delegates the powers of local bodies to district collectors, YSR Congress has said such a move is against the democratic spirit of decentralization of power and empowering the panchayat.

“We demand that GO should be withdrawn immediately as it gives sweeping powers  to  district  collectors  including  the  power  to  veto  the  resolutions adopted  by  the  panchayat,”  party  spokesperson  Ambati  Rambabu  said.
This GO withdraws the rights of elected representatives and gives enormous powers  to the officials  which is not in tune with the amendments made to empower local bodies,  he said. Instead of devolution of powers, the State is centralizing the powers with the District Collector and at the village level, it has formed committees with TDP workers in the name  of  social  workers. These are superseding  the  elected representatives to the local bodies, he said.
“We call upon all the sarpanches to oppose this draconian GO and will extend our helping hand in fighting this injustice and also explore legal options, he said. Training  his  guns  on  Chief  Minister  N  Chandrbabu  Naidu,  he  said,  “he  is obsessed with foreign countries, ignoring local talent. He often forgets that AP is a part of India and goes on comparing the State to other countries, he said.