KOCHI: ‘Training punishment' given for the president and secretary of a panchayat when dispute between them worsened. Justice PS Gopinathan, ombudsman for local bodies, ordered the panchayat director to send both of them for training at Thrissur Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA) for at least two weeks.

The incident started when a complaint was lodged against Alappuzha Neelamperoor panchayat president TK Thankachan by former secretary V Jayalatha.

On March 18, a resolution was passed against the secretary in an emergency meeting of the Panchayat Committee. Jayalatha was accused of being irresponsible in office matters, absenting herself from panchayat meetings, not consulting the president in deciding the agenda, disrespecting other representatives and being rude to members and the public. The committee decided to ask the panchayat head officials to remove her from duties. Following the complaint, Alappuzha District Panchayat Deputy Secretary had asked the ombudsman to hear both parties and submit a report. Action is taken based on this report.

The order clarified that the other allegations against the secretary, except for absence from meetings and lack of consultation with the president, were baseless. The ombudsman assessed that the committee's decision to recommend their transfer without hearing the secretary's explanation was abuse of power, maladministration and violation of the Panchayat Raj Act. A warning was also given to the Panchayat President.

The ombudsman directed the panchayat deputy director to strictly enforce the requirement that panchayat secretaries should stay within 15 km of the office. The order was based on Jayalatha's explanation that she travels for six hours every day to come to work.

On April 21 last year, Jayalatha was transferred from Neelamperoor to Cheriyanad panchayat. After that, two secretaries came to Neelamperoor.