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Journalism of Courage
The Centre wants to give panchayats the powers and the funds and be done with the ministry but the states won’t let it pass over their heads. At the Chief Ministers’ conference for poverty alleviation, the Centre met with resistance from state governments unwilling to let go of the kitty for development programmes and the right to dictate how much to spend on what. While Tamil Nadu said it is impossible to monitor implementation of welfare schemes, Sikkim said devolution of powers would subvert the federal structure of the Constitution while Bihar thought panchayats were not equipped to frame their developmental schemes to the Planning Commission’s liking. Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat also voiced objection.
‘‘No state has to fear that their powers are going to be taken away or that we are subverting the Constitution,’’ Panchayati Raj Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar said. ‘‘In fiscal federalism, the Centre and states need to cooperate in strengthening local government finances.’’ For a check, there would be strict monitoring of utilisation of funds by panchayats. The district administration will provide a ‘‘shelf of programmes’’ and the funds for the panchayats to choose from. Aiyar has planned deliberations for the next year with seven roundtables that he insists will not have ‘‘speeches’’ but actual discussion on language and content of the PR Act. At the end of it, an action plan would be drafted for the government to implement. ‘‘After that, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj can be disbanded,’’ he said.
While states listed out problems in various Centrally-run schemes, the Minister shot back: ‘‘The country has forgotten the Constitution for the past 12 years. For answers to many of the problems that the state is listing out lie in the 12 lines of the Constitution.’’
The PM spoke of districts as marketing hubs for the rural market as in China. ‘‘We do not have to look at China at all…this is an idea that Rajiv Gandhi has been talking of to bridge the rural-urban divide,’’ said Aiyar. States like Maharashtra already have district marketing centres for products made by self-help groups.
Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, however, had little hope of the transformation coming through. The biggest lesson from the conference, he said, was that no progress could be made unless project allotments were hiked.
