Reports from Panchayat Roundtables The Panchayati Raj Act is up for two constitutional changes. Once implemented, Panchayats will get money directly from the Centre and the Gram Sabha will be the nodal decision-making body. The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) had promised these changes in its common minimum programme. The Union ministry of Panchayati Affairs is organising seven roundtables to evolve consensus on these changes. These roundtables are an effort to pave the way for second-generation changes in the local self-governance bodies. So far, three roundtables have been organised. E-pov News brings you exclusive reports from these roundtables, and promises to keep you updated on these important events. We start off with the latest one: Roundtable-3 Going by the intensely debated resolution of the third national roundtable on Panchayati Raj, the provision of reserving the position of Sarpanch in Panchayati Raj institutions (PRIs) for women may extend beyond five years. Currently, Panchayats elect women sarpanch for a tenure of five years, and the provision rotates among Panchayats. Representatives from 25 states and union territories attended the third roundtable, held in Raipur, Chhattisgarh. The meeting has left it to the state governments to decide on its recommendation. The group supporting the extension of reservation beyond five years argues that the decision will provide the women representatives with sufficient time for completing the development works and effectively dealing with male dominance. Opponents disagree, pointing out that the left-out villages will not get the reservation benefits and 10 years is a long time to wait. A few states like Tamil Nadu have already extended the women’s reservation for Sarpanch to 10 years. The much criticised issue of ‘pati Sarpanch’ (husbands of women sarpanchs behaving as de facto head) also came up for discussion but no decision to check this abuse could be arrived at. "Things are changing gradually. Women’s awareness and capacity building of government functionaries can control this," says Manoj Rai of PRIA. Another important resolution of the roundtable is to fix reservation for scheduled case/tribes (SC/STs) in Panchayat bodies on the basis of their population in respective Panchayat instead of the current practice of doing so on the basis of district population data. "The rules in force currently do not allow benefits of reservation to the villages that need them most. This problem can be solved if the agreed resolution is implemented. The dalits issue could not be discussed in detail for lack of time," says Rai. Download resolutions of this roundtable (in .pdf format) Roundtable-2 Parallel bodies treading on the toes of elected Panchayats may no longer be cause for concern if the consensus reached at the second roundtable of state ministers on Panchayati Raj at Mysore is implemented. The meeting passed a resolution stating that parallel bodies such as forest development agencies, societies for health programmes and community-based organisations for water supply, irrigation, etc. must report to the Panchayati Raj institutions. The draft resolution passed will have to finally get the approval of the chief ministers before an action plan is adopted. Yet, Union minister for Panchayati Raj Mani Shankar Aiyar told E-pov News: "We have come much further than I expected. The decision reached will have to be translated into a roadmap.’’ Several community-based organisations set up by external donor agencies have spawned mistrust of elected Panchayats. S M Viyayanand, Secretary Planning and Economic Affairs, Government of Kerala and T R Raghunanandan, Secretary RDPR (PR) Karnataka suggested total merger of parallel bodies with the Panchayati Raj institutions (PRIs). "Outright merger is perhaps the single most significant and effective decision which the Government of India can take to strengthen Panchayati Raj institutions,’’ they said in a presentation. The Karnataka example of merging District Rural Development Agency DRDAs with Zila Parishads was held up as a model practice that ensured implementation of activities and financial propriety. It was also recommended that the autonomy of community-based organisations be protected even as they are made accountable to PRIs. An urgent need was expressed to issue policy directives on these lines, especially to donor agencies. The resolution passed at the meeting on parallel bodies mentioned that the devolution of functions and finances based on activity mapping is required by constitution to be devolved only to the Panchayats and not parallel bodies. By law, parallel bodies should report periodically to the Gram Sabha. Parallel bodies must have a symbiotic relationship with PRIs. Also, it called the central and state governments to evolve mechanisms for granting permission to parallel bodies, including those established by foreign and donor agencies, to promote mutual benefit. Download resolutions of this roundtable (in .pdf format) Roundtable-1 The Union ministry of Panchayati Raj Affairs has decided to go for an eight-month-long nation-wide survey of funding pattern, function and functionaries devolution to Panchayati Raj institutions (PRIs). This is the first step towards the much-hyped constitutional amendments to credit funds directly to the PRIs from the Union government and to make the Gram Sabha as the nodal decision body in rural self-governance. By March 2005, a status report would be available to evaluate what kind of structural and legislative changes would be needed in future in the Panchayati Raj Act. This was the outcome of a national consultative seminar held in Kolkata on July 24 and 25. It was the first in a series of seven meetings scheduled to be held this year by the Union Panchayati Raj Affairs ministry to make way for constitutional amendments to the Panchayati Raj Act for effective decentralisation of power to these local bodies. |
|||