Members of the Uttarakhand Pradesh Pradhan Sangathan marched towards the state Secretariat in Dehradun on Thursday to press for their 10-point demands. The protest escalated when police stopped the demonstrators with barricades on Subhash Road, leading to arguments, pushing and the breaking of barricades.
The protest began at Parade Ground, from where village heads and other organisation members started the march towards the Secretariat. Police had placed barricades before the Secretariat to prevent the protesters from moving further. The move angered the demonstrators, resulting in heated exchanges and a confrontation between protesters and police personnel.
The protesters eventually climbed over the barricades and continued towards the Secretariat. During the protest, the organisation’s acting state president Prakash Mahra said the government was treating panchayat representatives differently from other sections and raised several demands related to the functioning and finances of village panchayats.
Mahra said workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) were receiving wages that were too low compared with inflation. He also highlighted difficulties in recording workers’ attendance online because of network connectivity problems in rural areas.
The organisation demanded a monthly honorarium of ₹20,000 for village heads. It also sought representation for village heads in district planning committee meetings and the creation of a dedicated Pradhan Fund.
Among other demands, the organisation called for gram panchayats to be designated as executing agencies for works costing up to ₹10 lakh. It also demanded the transfer of 29 subjects under the Panchayati Raj Department to panchayats.
The protesters said their demands were aimed at strengthening the financial and administrative powers of local bodies and improving the functioning of the three-tier Panchayati Raj system in Uttarakhand.
