India, Sept. 11 -- The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Thursday criticised the state cabinet's Wednesday decision to enhance the financial powers of Block Development Officers (BDOs) by amending the Odisha Panchayat Samiti Accounting Procedure Rules, 2002, calling it a direct assault on democracy and the three-tier Panchayati Raj system in the state.

The state cabinet, chaired by chief minister Mohan Majhi, on Wednesday approved the amendments to increase the financial authority of Block Development Officers (BDOs), engineers, and district-level officials to grant both Technical Sanction (TS) and Administrative Approval (AA) for Panchayat Samiti projects without requiring the counter-signature of elected representatives.

Under the revised fram...