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Shri Mani Shankar Aiyar, Minister of Panchayati Raj has urged state governments and union territories to complete the process of activity mapping for different tiers of Panchayati Raj Institutions in the next three months. Addressing a meeting of the Committee of chief secretaries and secretaries of Panchayati Raj Departments of states and union territories convened here yesterday for reviewing the progress of implementation of the 150 recommendations of the seven Round Table Conferences the minister said that the activity mapping was to be completed by the end of the last financial year. The process was to be undertaken on the basis of identification of activities relating to the devolved functions to Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) through the principle of subsidiarity. According to the recommendations of the Round Table Conferences, devolution of functions, functionaries and finances should be routed through legislative framework or through executive orders of Governments.
The Minister also expressed concern over the delay in setting up the District Planning Committees (DPC) as per the procedure laid down in the Constitution. The 11th Five Year Plan would be based on the plans prepared by the District Planning Committees which would consolidate the plans prepared by Panchayats and Municipalities. The 12th Finance Commission has recommended provision of Rs. 20,000 crore for Panchayats for a period of five years.
District Planning Committees have been constituted in all districts in Karnataka, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Uttaranchal, West Bengal, A&N Islands, D&N Haveli, Daman & Diu and Lakshadweep. In Uttar Pradesh though the DPCs are constituted in all districts they are not functional. The States where DPCs are yet to be constituted include Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Punjab, Chandigarh, Tripura and Pondicherry. Out of a total of 593 districts DPCs have been constituted in 420 districts all over the country. These include seven districts of Meghalaya, eight districts each of Mizoram and Nagaland, nine districts of NCT of Delhi and 14 districts of Jammu and Kashmir where the system is not applicable.
The Ministry of Panchayati Raj has initiated several steps to strengthen PRIs for Planning and Implementation of Schemes for economic development and social justice and to strengthen them as institutions of self-government. A set of 150 recommendations were evolved through consensus of State and Union Territory Governments in the course of Seven Round Table Conferences held last year on strengthening of Panchayati Raj Institutions.
The first meeting of the Committee held here yesterday was chaired by Shri Wajahat Habibullah, Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj. The Ministry has also initiated a process of visiting each of the States and UTs to review with the authorities concerned the progress in implementing the recommendations which have been compiled in a compendium as points for action for strengthening Panchyati Raj Institutions.
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