Missing panchayat funds alleged

[Tenjing Koyu]

ITANAGAR, 30 Jan: During a press conference on Thursday, activist Tagio Sonam and advocate Tai Shiva raised serious allegations regarding misappropriation of panchayat funds under the 14th Finance Commission (2015-2020).

According to them, the government of India had allocated Rs 889 crores for gram panchayat development, but the funds have allegedly vanished without a trace. The activists claimed that neither the panchayats nor the local people have any knowledge of where the money has gone. An FIR has been filed with the state government’s investigation agency, but no significant progress has been reported so far.

Shiva further alleged that corruption is rampant across multiple departments, specifically naming the rural development (RD) department and the forest department. He highlighted that around 200 corruption cases remain pending without proper investigation, which has forced them to take the matter to the Supreme Court through a public interest litigation (PIL).

“For the development of rural areas, funds have been provided, but the beneficiaries remain unknown,” Shiva said. He also presented records allegedly proving that the government had sent large sums of money, but the recipients remain unidentified.

The advocate also pointed out that no gram panchayat election has been conducted since 2018, yet a staggering Rs 455.74 crores have been received post-2018. “If there have been no elected representatives, who have been receiving these funds?” He questioned.

He urged all those involved in the alleged misappropriation to surrender to the legal system. He warned that he would pursue the matter relentlessly and take every necessary step to ensure that justice is served.