Date:11/11/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/11/11/stories/2008111154010400.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

‘Set right flaws in panchayat system’

Special Correspondent

Decentralisation yet to be achieved in letter and in spirit, say participants in workshop

Many States have no District Planning Authority
Panchayat Council has met only twice in 15 years

— Photo: K. Gopinathan

What lies ahead?: (From left) George Mathew, Director, Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi; N. Ramanuja, Chairman, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bangalore; L.C. Jain, former member, Planning Commission; Leeladevi R. Prasad, former Minister; and C. Narayanaswamy, member, Central Advisory Board, Union Ministry of Panchayat Raj, at a seminar on panchayati raj, in Bangalore on Monday.

Bangalore: Karnataka may have the distinction of being a success story in implementing the Panchayati Raj system. However, decentralisation is yet to be achieved in letter and in spirit, even in Karnataka, 15 years after the three-tier panchayat system was ushered in after an amendment to the Constitution.

Consider this: Karnataka is among the many States that are yet to constitute the District Planning Authority to decentralise the planning process as mandated by the Constitution amendment. And the State Panchayat Council, formed under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister with a mandate to meet twice every year, has met no more than twice in 15 years.

C. Narayanaswamy, former MLA and member of the Central Advisory Board of the Union Ministry of Panchayat Raj, highlighted some of these facts at a daylong seminar on “Where is Panchayat Raj Headed in Karnataka?” He said that the proposal of the Karnataka Government to set up a vigilance committee to monitor gram panchayats could further erode the purpose of Panchayati Raj governance.

L.C. Jain, former member of the Planning Commission, said the implementation of the Panchayati Raj system is flawed even at the all-India level, with the Union Government taking no initiatives towards decentralisation. He pointed out that the report of the parliamentary standing committee submitted on the implementation of Panchayati Raj system had stated that there was “wilful defiance” in implementing the Constitutional mandate. But five years after the submission of the report, nothing had been done about setting the system in order. He said that out of the total annual allocation of Rs. 72,000 crore for 29 panchayat subjects, Rs. 40,000 crore was retained by the Centre and the rest distributed to States for disbursement.

The seminar was organised by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Karnataka Panchayat Parishat and Samagra Grameena Abhivriddhi Samsthe.