Panchayat president's powers clipped

MADURAI: The Virudhunagar district collector M Balaji has cancelled the cheque signing powers of the panchayat president and vice president of Kottakatchiyendal panchayat in the district, following cases being filed against them for financial irregularities.
On Sunday, the Block Development Officer of Narikudi, P S Shanthi, filed a complaint against Karuppan, the vice president of the panchayat M Uma Maheswari, the panchayat secretary Ravindran and another worker Tiruvettai on charges of misappropriating panchayat funds to the tune of Rs 1.16 lakh in the Narikudi police station.The police filed a case against the four persons and said they were alleged to have misappropriated funds of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGs) by creating false records.
Another case was also filed against Uma Maheswari, her husband Marikannu and panchayat secretary Ravindran for receiving bribes from the beneficiaries of the MGNREGs. Ravindran has also been stripped of his job and is to be replaced soon, according to sources.
Last week, Karuppan had alleged that he had not been allowed to sit on the chair meant for the president even once since his 2011 appointment to the post in the reserved constituency for dalits. However, on Monday he went back on his statement of caste based discrimination.