Why are the brand new guidelines for Panchayats in Odisha getting flak? | Explained

The story to this point: The Mohan Majhi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) authorities in Odisha introduced the brand new Odisha Panchayat Samiti Accounting Procedure (Amendment) Rules, 2025, after state cupboard approval final month. However, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the Congress have strongly criticised the amended guidelines, stating that it undermines individuals’s representatives of the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs).

What are the amended guidelines?

As per the amended guidelines, officers on the floor stage will now take pleasure in higher monetary authority to cross payments with out requiring the counter-signature of elected representatives. Previously, Block Development Officers (BDOs) may clear payments solely as much as ₹2 lakh, with any quantity above that needing the approval of the Panchayat Samiti chairman, an elected consultant. Under the brand new provision, BDOs can independently sanction payments as much as ₹10 lakh. Similarly, the ability to grant administrative approval for Panchayat Samiti plans and estimates has been delegated to the Chief Development Officer-cum-Executive Officer of the Zilla Parishad, a senior district-level bureaucrat, regardless that Zilla Parishads are headed by elected chairpersons. The modification additionally expands the authority of engineers to accord technical sanction for bigger growth initiatives. Depending on their ranks, engineers can now clear initiatives starting from ₹5 lakh to ₹4 crore — a pointy rise from their earlier monetary limits. Similarly, monetary authority has been transferred to engineers in implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi Natural Rural Employment Act (MGNREGA), a central authorities scheme. Administrative approval powers have additionally been revised for basic developmental schemes. BDOs can now approve initiatives as much as ₹20 lakh, and Panchayat Samiti Chairpersons (elected representatives) as much as ₹50 lakh.

What has the opposition stated?

According to the federal government, these amendments will expedite invoice processing, guarantee well timed approvals, and facilitate easy implementation of developmental programmes throughout all Panchayat Samitis whereas retaining the supervisory function of the chairpersons.

However, the BJD has alleged that the latest modification was a conspiracy to downgrade the authority of elected representatives in PRIs on purely political grounds. In the 2022 rural polls, the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD had secured an emphatic victory, successful 766 of 853 Zilla Parishad seats with 52.73% of the vote — practically 90% of the full. Although panchayat elections are usually not contested on celebration symbols, BJD-backed candidates had nearly swept the polls throughout the State. The subsequent panchayat elections are due in 2027. The BJP, buoyed by its surprising triumph in each the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections of 2024, is below super stress to copy that success on the grassroots stage to consolidate its affect. Observers notice that the BJP, via its management of the paperwork, can now implement growth programmes with out relying on PRI members — most of whom are aligned with the BJD.

Why is the BJD indignant?

For the BJD, the problem goes past monetary management or political leverage. The celebration contends that the BJP has sought to tamper with a legacy: the strengthening of the three-tier PRIs, a system nurtured by each the late Biju Patnaik and his son, Naveen Patnaik.

Biju Patnaik was credited as the primary Chief Minister in India to introduce 33% reservation for ladies in PRIs, later extending it to chairperson posts. Naveen Patnaik additional raised this quota to 50% in 2012.

The BJD has additionally objected to the rebranding of its flagship scheme Ama Odisha Nabin Odisha as Bikashita Gaon Bikashita Odisha, with provisions considerably altered. Under the unique scheme, every panchayat acquired ₹50 lakh, however allocations have now been diminished to only ₹7-8 lakh, the BJD stated.