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The Ministry of Panchayati Raj will be setting up a task force of State Secretaries for working out modalities for implementation of centrally sponsored schemes through Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) in all States and Union Territories. This was one of the decisions that emerged at the Fifth Round Table Conference on Panchayati Raj held in Srinagar last week end. The theme of the Conference was “Annual Reports on the State of the Panchayats” (including preparation of a Devolution Index). The meeting was chaired by the Minister of Panchayati Raj, Shri Mani Shankar Aiyar.
It was also agreed that a Devolution Index of functions for Panchayati Raj Institutions will be prepared by the states themselves on the basis of self assessment but would be available for further evaluation and assessment by academic bodies. The Devolution Index is to regard at best as an illustrative guide to be taken as an annual report as a whole and not as a ranking mechanism of either states or performance on specific parameters or for making inter state comparisons. The Annual Report on State of the Panchayats should also include the status of Devolution of functions, functionaries and finances to PRIs and the nexus between these three elements of devolutions including details about devolution of function to different tiers of panchayats (activity mapping) besides tracking the flow of funds to PRIs. The Union Ministry of Panchayat is to prepare an Annual Report on the State of the Panchayats in the country as a whole which will be laid down on the table of both Houses of Parliament.
The Ministry of Panchayati Raj is all set to finalise the Draft Action Plan towards achieving the goal of strengthening Panchayati Raj Institutions so as to enable them to emerge as institutions of self-government for planning and implementation of programmes of economic development and social justice. This Action Plan is to be finalized through a series of Seven Round Table Conferences to be held between June and December, 2004 as per the consensus arrived at a meeting of Chief Ministers and State Ministers in charge of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj organized in the capital in June 2004 by the Ministries of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj.
The First Round Table Conference accordingly held at Kolkata dealt with Effective Devolution Comprising Functions, Functionaries and Finances as well as Empowerment of Gram Sabhas, While devolution was to comprise the entire range of subjects provided for in state legislations in a time bound manner, states and union territories could prioritize their devolution programme to ensure that the devolution is full and effective in empowering PRIs as Institutions of self-government in respect of these functions. It was also decided that in determining the tier of Panchayati Raj System to which any activity is to be attributed, the principle of subsidiarity must be followed to the extent possible. This in effect is to ensure that any activity which could be undertaken at lower level must be undertaken at a that level in preference to being undertaken at any higher level.
The Second Round Table held in Mysore on Planning and Rural Business Hubs including the question of parallel bodies agreed on constitution of a District Planning Committee (DPC) in every State by the end of the current financial year wherever such an institution did not already exist. The District Planning, it was recognized, was to take into account the resource endowment of the area, felt needs of the people and relative absorptive capacity. The State Government is to indicate to each level of the Panchayat and municipality the extent and type of available resources whether financial or otherwise.
The Third Round Table on Panchayati Raj deliberated on Reservations in Panchayati Raj comprising Scheduled Tribes (including implementation of Extension to the Scheduled Areas Act), Scheduled Castes and Women while the Fourth was on Panchyati Raj in Union Territories and Panchayati Raj Jurisprudence. It was agreed that to deal with a large number of cases against Panchayati Raj law pending before the courts an Expert Body of law firms and jurists may be drawn in at appropriate levels to sort out the issues.
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