Mumbai, May 13 (PTI) The Maharashtra government has decided to temporarily stay holding of gram sabhas or meetings in villages till further orders in view of the COVID-19 crisis, state Rural Development Minister Hasan Mushrif said on Wednesday.

The mandatory gram sabhas scheduled to be held this month across villages will not be held now, an official statement quoted Mushrif as saying.

The minister said gram sabhas are held to ensure participation of the people in the working of gram panchayats.

It is mandatory to hold at least four gram sabhas in a financial year, failing which action can be taken against sarpanch (village head), his/her deputy and gram sevaks, the statement said.

"However, gatherings of all kind have been banned during the current crisis of transmission of coronavirus and people are not allowed to come together in big number.

"Considering there will be crowding if gram sabhas are held, they have been stayed temporarily till further order," it said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)