DW BUREAU / Chandigarh

The Punjab cabinet on Thursday decided to amend rules to hold elections for sarpanch and panch without symbols of political parties, state Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said. The move is aimed to "further strengthen" the mutual brotherhood in villages, he said.

An official statement, said the Cabinet observed that contesting elections on party symbols leads to many unwanted incidents. Further, "political groupism" in panchayats stalls the utilisation of funds and grants, leaving huge amounts of unused money which can be duly used to promote development in rural areas, the statement said.

"Earlier, sarpanch and panch elections could be fought on political party's symbol. But the cabinet decided that now the upcoming panchayat polls will be contested without the symbol of political parties," Cheema told reporters after the meeting of state cabinet here which was held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.

"An amendment to Rule 12 of the Punjab Panchayat Election Rules, 1994 has been approved by the cabinet... Now, sarpanch and panch elections in the villages will not be held on political party's symbol," he said.

Cheema said only the symbols allotted by the Election Commission would be used by the candidates for the sarpanch and panch elections.

Meanwhile, the statement said "political groupism also causes disunity in the working of panchayats which leads to their incomplete quorum thereby leading to non-utilisation of grants".

"Political affiliations of panchayat members create instances of violent clashes during and after elections among various party groups at village level which deteriorates the law and order situation and also adversely affects the social fabric of rural society," said the statement about the cabinet decision related to panchayats.

In another cabinet decision, approval was given to enhance the strength of Punjab Civil Services (Executive Branch) cadres from existing 310 posts to 369 posts.

This decision has been taken in view of the administrative requirements, increase in the number of sub-divisions, creation of a new district, to provide more employment opportunities for the youth and to enhance the administrative efficiency of state government, the statement said.

Meanwhile, in another decision, the cabinet also gave nod for construction of ponds along river Ghaggar in village Chandu to recharge the groundwater. The ponds can be filled up with the river Ghaggar during the flood times and through the canals during the normal times, it said.
(editor@dailyworld.in)