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Shri Mani Shankar Aiyar, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Panchayati Raj underlined the need for empowering Panchayati Raj Institutions for the economic revolution of the country. Inaugurating a Conference on “Creating One Lakh Sustainable Electricity Utilities” organized by Independent Power Producers Association of India (IPPAI) here today, the Minister said that power generation from waste material in villages will serve as the first step towards conversion of rural areas into `business hubs’.
The Central Electricity Act, 2003 which provides for unbundling of State Electricity Boards and giving open access in generation and distribution of power, should encourage Panchayati Raj Institutions in entering into power generation for local needs through utilization of available resources including bio-waste; the Minister said. The State Governments should give licences to Panchayats for generation, transmission, distribution and trading of power generated by them locally. The Panchayati Raj Institutions should also be allowed to sell the excess power generated by them to State Electricity Boards to create `untied’ income for Panchayats. The `enrichment’ of Panchayats thus envisaged will `empower’ them to function as true institutions of local self-government, the minister added.
Shri Aiyar pointed out that there is constitutional obligation to bring about devolution of power to Panchayati Raj for all round development of the country. The Government will be finalizing a time-bound Action Plan early next year for enabling Panchayats to emerge as institutions of self-government. This is intended to be accomplished through seven Round Table Conferences of which the first four have already been held with in the first 100 days in power by the present Government. The fifth Round table on Panchayati Raj will be held by the end of this month in Srinagar. The Central and State Governments/UT Administrations will then launch a concrete and time-bound programme for implementation of Panchayati Raj as envisaged in the Constitution of India.
Steps for Empowering Panchyati Raj Institutions through creation of facilities at local level will be highlighted in yet another conference to be sponsored by Confederation of Indian Industry and scheduled for the first week of November in New Delhi. This conference on “rural business hubs” will be jointly organized by the Ministries of Panchayati Raj and Small Scale Industries and Agro and Rural Industries, the minister informed.
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