Sarpanch in Odisha beats gong to register protest

Berhampur: In a unique protest, the Sarpanch of Goutami panchayat under Aska block in Ganjam district beat a gong during a meeting alleging apathetic attitude of the Block Development Officer (BDO) towards his panchayat.

During a panchayat samiti meeting, Sarpanch Sushant Swain suddenly stood up and started beating gong protesting corruption and partiality in fund allocation to his panchayat by the BDO.

"At a camp organized for physically-disabled persons in Hinjlicut, the block officials neglected participants from my panchayat. No adequate arrangements were made to provide food and other essentials to the disabled during the camp," said the Sarpanch.

He also alleged that decisions of the elected representatives are being overlooked due to corruption and autocratic attitude of the block officials.

Following his protest, the Panchayat meeting was called off for a while. Later, police personnel reached the spot and recovered the gong from the Sarpanch.