Haven't got a single penny from govt, how do we fulfill 'wish lists' of quarantined people, say gram pradhans in U'khand

Dehradun:　From branded grocery items to gas cylinders and utensils, gram pradhans in Uttarakhand are getting ‘wish lists’ from people in quarantine who are asking the village heads to spend the money that the government has given them for the welfare of those who are quarantined. The pradhans however claim that most of them “haven’t received a single penny from the government.”

Dharmendra Singh, pradhan of Manpura village in Uttarkashi district, told TOI that he was manhandled by families of those in quarantine as he failed to provide them grocery items that they had asked for. “People are alleging that we have got funds from the government and we should spend them. Some people are making requests of tea of a particular brand while some have been asking for branded soap and shampoo. When I told them that we haven’t received any government funds and are instead spending on our own, they abused me," said Singh, who has also registered an FIR against some of the villagers in this regard.

The Uttarakhand government had last week announced funds of Rs 10,000 for each village in the hill state, which has over 7,000 villages. Cabinet minister Madan Kaushik in an interaction with TOI had said that funds have already been transferred to the accounts of every pradhan for quarantine management and in case　they spent the entire amount in a day, “their accounts will be re-filled with a similar amount within 24 hours.”

Pratap Rawat, president of Gram Pradhan Sangathan in Uttarkashi, said that annoyed with the government’s announcement of providing money but not giving anything, over 500 gram pradhans in his district had observed a ‘Maun Vrat’ on Thursday.

Devendra Singh Rawat, pradhan of Reda village in Jehrikhal block of Pauri Garhwal said that “it is unfortunate that most of the villagers feel that village heads have kept the money that they received from the government for personal use.” "The truth is that we are managing the quarantine centres from our own funds,” he added.

Manju Devi, pradhan of Kitrauli village in Chakrata, told TOI that she had written to the district administration seeking help to manage the quarantine centre in her village. Mukesh Chandra Baudh, head of Bhumka village in Okhalkanda in Nainital district also maintained that he hasn’t received a penny from the government but was assured by the district administration that he will be reimbursed for masks, gloves and sanitisers that he had purchased for quarantine centres, if he submits proper bills.

Prem Singh, head of　Birkhola　village in　Almora　said that government has "done injustice to　pradhans　by advertising that they are giving thousands of rupees to us although most village heads have got nothing,” adding that he has arranged utensils and gas cylinder for the returnees on his own initiative.

When TOI queried cabinet minister and government spokesperson Madan Kaushik regarding the issue, he reiterated that “every tehsil and block has received payments for pradhans and those protesting are making false claims.” "Even if in 1% case, the money has not reached the pradhan, they can submit bills and we will reimburse the money," he added.