Revive gram panchayats in Noida: Village bodies demand in digital protest

NGOs and associations working in Noida's rural areas held a "digital protest" on Sunday, demanding the revival of the gram panchayat system in the villages.

A sit-in demonstration via video-conferencing was announced by the Noida Village Residents' Association (NOVRA). Representatives of the Former Gram Pradhan Sangathan, Morna Vikas Samiti, Atta Gram Samiti joined the protest, among others.

Vimlesh Sharma, the head of the Former Gram Pradhan Sangathan, alleged that there was "discrimination" against the residents of the Noida villages when it comes to public policies.

"Also, by putting an end to the panchayat system in the villages, governments have taken away the constitutional power of the villagers to fight for their rights. This protest is absolutely just and necessary," she said.

The village panchayat system had ended in Noida in 2015. The city in Uttar Pradesh's Gautam Buddh Nagar district also does not have a municipal corporation system. All powers of a village panchayat or a municipal corporation are vested in the New Okhla Industrial Development Authority (NOIDA), Ranjan Tomar, president, NOVRA, said.

He said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government ended the panchayat system in Uttar Pradesh in 2000, but revived it subsequently under public pressure. The Samajwadi Party (SP) again put an end to the system in 2015, Tomar said while demanding the revival of panchayats in Noida's villages.

"The NOIDA holds board meetings but never gives space to the representatives of the villages in formulation of policies. There is no accountability of the authority and no transparency in their works," he alleged.

The NOIDA was constituted under the Uttar Pradesh Industrial Area Development Act, 1976, according to its website.

The development area under it encompasses about 20,316 hectares of land, including 81 villages in Gautam Buddh Nagar.

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