No funds for development work: Panchayat president from Namakkal moves HC

CHENNAI: A panchayat president from Namakkal has moved the High Court accusing the district administration of discrimination in allocating funds for infrastructure and developmental schemes in village panchayats.

V Thamaraiselvan, president of Animur panchayat in Namakkal district, submitted that the Rural Development and Panchayat Department had not allotted even a single rupee for his panchayat since he assumed office, even though Rs 702 crore was available for developmental schemes as per the 2020-21 policy note of State government.

“Over Rs 70 crore has been allotted to panchayats in Kumarapalayam, Paramathur, and Sendamangalam Assembly constituencies alone, leaving the three other constituencies in the district without any funds,” he claimed. 

The first bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy directed the State to respond to the plea and adjourned the hearing to February 18.