Bengal to strip gram panchayat chiefs of financial powers

The government of West Bengal is planning to take away the financial powers from the heads of gram panchayats (local village councils) and give them to government officials.

This change is being made to reduce corruption and make things more transparent.

Currently, only West Bengal gives this financial power to the gram panchayat heads, which has led to delays in government projects.

The previous government had given these powers to the heads to empower local decision-making.

However, many of these heads are not attending their offices, making it hard to implement rural development schemes.

The government now wants to give these financial powers to the secretaries of the gram panchayats instead.