The YSR Congress party government in Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday came up with an important proposal to curb flow of liquor and money in the local body elections and municipal elections scheduled to be held shortly.
According to this proposal, any candidate contesting the local body elections who is caught red-handed distributing liquor or cash during the election campaign will be disqualified from the contest immediately. A decision to this effect was taken at the state cabinet meeting in the state secretariat.
The candidate caught with liquor and money will be barred from contesting the elections. Not only that, he would be liable for imprisonment for a period of three years.
Minister for Information and Public Relations Perni Venkatramaiah told reporters that the cabinet also decided to disqualify a representative of the panchayat, MPTC or ZPTC even after election, if found guilty of being involved in corrupt practices.
“Such elected representatives would be sentenced to imprisonment for a period of three years, apart from a fine of Rs 10,000,” the minister said.
The cabinet also decided to reduce the duration between the election notification and the election date from 21 to 15 days to curb electoral malpractices. Similarly, for the duration for election procedure to the municipalities, too, would be reduced from 24 to 15 days.
With regard to the powers of the sarpanches, the Cabinet has decided to entrust them with the responsibility of taking up sanitation and development of greenery in their respective villages. It has been mandatory for sarpanches to stay in the villages all the time.
The sarpanches are also empowered to take independent decisions in times of calamity. All the decisions taken in the case of the panchayats would also be applicable to the municipalities.
