Bhubaneswar, Feb 8: Odisha BJP Vice-president Lekhashree Samantsinghar on Thursday came down heavily on the Odisha government and alleged that the BJD government is controlled by bureaucrats. She also alleged that the State government wants to control the three-tier panchayati raj system from the third floor (The power corridor in the Chief Minister’s Secretariat).

Addressing a press conference at the BJP's State headquarters here, Samantsinghar said, "The state government wants to control all the panchayats from the third floor of the secretariat by killing the democratic system."

"The State government is controlled by bureaucrats who do not respect elected representatives. No preference is given to elected public representatives. The person who holds the reins of government is not a representative of the people. The glaring examples of the murder of democracy in the State are coming to light," the BJP leader claimed.

"Gram sabha and palli sabha have been completely closed. The State government wants to run the government through the civil servants and there is a huge conspiracy of the state government to ignore the people's representatives and not to discharge their constitutional and democratic responsibilities."

"Power of Sarpanches has been curtailed. There is massive embezzlement of money in rural areas and development work is hampered. Without accepting the development proposals of the elected representatives in rural areas, many government officials are working in the lines of local BJD leaders. Distribution of allowances, ration cards, etc have been disrupted."

The BJP has always protested against the State government's apathy on the Panchayati Raj system and on 1st February the saffron party leaders submitted a memorandum to the Governor in this connection, Samantsinghar said.

After Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister, the grants for 6,798 panchayats of Odisha have been increased in the 14th and 15th Finance Commissions. Prior to 2014, each panchayat was receiving between 5 lakh and 15 lakh. After the implementation of the finance commission, during PM Modi's tenure, this amount has increased from 40 lakhs to 1 crore rupees per panchayat. Seeing the money flow to the panchayats, the BJD government has become more greedy and wants to control the three-tier panchayat system from the third floor, she alleged.

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