Mani faces panchayats’ ire

It was India’s first Panchayati Raj Minister’s first major interaction with panchayat presidents. But what he heard was not music ...

It was India’s first Panchayati Raj Minister’s first major interaction with panchayat presidents. But what he heard was not music to Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar’s ears. ‘‘We are powerless. Give us power. Otherwise, it is pointless talking of Panchayati Raj,’’ said the heads, who had gathered from across south India.

The Minister, who arrived an hour late for the interaction, placated them, saying: ‘‘Don’t despair.’’

‘‘I do not believe there have been no changes in the last 12 years, but only the changes have not been to the desired level,’’ said Aiyar, who had played a key role in drafting the Panchayat and Nagarpalika Acts in the late 1980s.

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‘‘Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has convened a meeting of all Chief Ministers on June 28 and 29 to discuss strategies for reducing poverty and achieving rural prosperity through panchayat institutions,’’ he announced.

Aiyar said the ‘‘real panchayat revolution’’ would take place only ‘‘when I have to fall at your feet to become an MP,’’ he said. But, that is not what the panchayat presidents want. While MLAs and MPs do not have to face the voters everyday, for the panchayat chiefs there is no escape.

‘‘But what are our powers? A big zero,’’said E. Gopalakrishnan, a Dalit panchayat president from Tamil Nadu. Amid cheers from other chiefs, he said: ‘‘My villagers are threatening to tie me to a tree and beat me if their demands are not met. But, what do I do. There is no funds.’’

For the 10,000-odd people in his Pramadesam panchayat, there are five scavengers to clean up the village roads and drains. However, they refuse to work for a measly monthly pay of Rs 350. ‘‘But the villagers are asking me to wear the uniform and clean up drains. I really feel like throwing away this post,’’ he said.

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Panchayat presidents in Tamil Nadu have the powers to sanction works only upto Rs 491. Above that amount, the permission of the District Collector is necessary. ‘‘What sort of development work can I carry out,’’ Gopalakrishnan asked.

The panchayat chiefs had come from different parts of south India, but their complaints were similar – no power, no respect and no funds. Though not many of the panchayat chiefs knew Kannadiga, they understood what Ashoka, from Yesaragatta in Bangalore district, said. ‘‘The State government allotted an annual grant of Rs 5 lakh, but my panchayat is getting only Rs 1 lakh.’’

After hearing them out for nearly an hour, Aiyar said: ‘‘What remains to be done is devolution of functions, functionaries and finances.’’ However, ‘‘sitting in Delhi’’, he said, he cannot decide on direct allocation of funds to a village in Tamil Nadu or Kerala.

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