Haryana: Police detains village heads protesting e-tender policy

Chandigarh (Haryana) [India], March 4 : The police on Saturday detained the Sarpanches (village heads) who were protesting at the Chandigarh-Panchkula border, over their demands regarding the government's e-tendering policy.

The Police vacated the area, following the court's order.

The Sarpanches and farmers' associations, such as Pagdi Sambhal Jatta have been protesting for the past two months against the e-tendering system for development works in rural areas.
Several parties including Congress have also extended their support to the protest and also sought time to meet Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatraya on March 6 to submit a memorandum on various issues, including the e-tender policy.
According to the policy, village heads are given the power to approve projects worth Rs 2 lakh but those exceeding the amount will need to be carried out through e-tenders.
The government puts its argument that e-tendering brings transparency to the system and reduces corruption while sarpanches on the contrary allege that it takes away their powers as it transfers the powers to government officials.
Police on Wednesday had allegedly lathi-charged several village heads as they tried to break barricades to march towards the chief minister's residence here.
On Monday, a meeting between the Haryana government and the village heads had failed to find any resolution.
Defending his government over the policy, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Thursday said that earlier "sarpanches used to rule but now panchayats will".
"The only difference which I understand is that till now sarpanches used to rule, but now panchayats will," Khattar said.