Alleging that the State government has diverted ₹1,309 crore devolved by the 15th and 14th Finance Commissions (₹965 crore and ₹344 crore respectively) to gram panchayats (GPs), BJP national executive committee member Kanna Lakshminarayana demanded that the money should be given back in order to uphold the spirit of the 73rd Constitutional amendment.

In a letter to Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Saturday, Mr. Lakshminarayana said the diversion of the above funds was not only an unconstitutional act of the government but it was also disrespectful to Mahatma Gandhi’s sacred mission of ‘Gram Swarajya’.

He stated that the 73rd Constitutional amendment envisaged various measures for the holistic development of villages but the funds due to them were being stripped off and used for other purposes in a brazen manner.

The villages were thereby incapacitated in meeting their basic needs i.e. sanitation, drinking water supply, street lighting, bare maintenance etc., he said.

The Chief Minister should, therefore, release all the funds taken away by the government, to the GPs, Mr. Lakshminarayana said.