Sarpanchs and Panchs who cause irregularities in development works and damage the property of the Gram Panchayat will not be able to escape easily. The Saini government is going to amend subsection (5) of Section 53 of the Panchayat Raj Act. Under this, if irregularities are found in development works during the tenure of any Sarpanch or Panch, then action can be taken for a period of six years from the date of the irregularity or two years after the Sarpanch resigns from his post, whichever is later.
That is, if any scam comes to light in the last year of a Sarpanch’s tenure, then the loss can be compensated for six years. Even if two years have passed since he resigned from the post of Sarpanch. However this was not the case in the current provision and corrupt Sarpanchs and Panchs used to escape easily.
The only difference in the current provision is that whose tenure ended first, action could be taken by sending a notice to the Sarpanch for that time period. If irregularities are found in the last tenure of any Sarpanch and the investigation takes two to three years, then notice cannot be issued to him after that. That is, the loss incurred cannot be recovered.
Many times, complaints were received after the Sarpanchs had left the post and it was also seen that after receiving the complaint, the Sarpanch and Panchs deliberately delayed or did not cooperate in the investigation, so that two years could pass after the tenure ended. This cannot compensate for the loss of money or property of the Gram Panchayat. Under the proposed provisions, a notice for compensation of loss in any case will be issued within six years from the date of loss, even if a period of two years has passed after the Sarpanch has left the post. The Haryana government can introduce this amendment during the budget session.