The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Centre cannot deal directly with local bodies, says Jayalalithaa

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jun 30, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Centre cannot deal directly with local bodies, says Jayalalithaa

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, JUNE 29. The Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, has opposed a suggestion that the Centre directly release funds for Centrally-sponsored schemes to panchayats, as it amounts to "denigrating the role of the States."

In her speech on "poverty alleviation and rural prosperity", circulated at the Chief Ministers' conference in Delhi today and released here, she said an attempt had been made to portray the Centre as the champion of local self-governance and the States as being ill-disposed towards this. "It is the State Governments, which are that much closer to the people in their everyday life and it is most invidious and petty to belittle the role of the State Governments in this fashion." (Ms. Jayalalithaa did not attend the conference.)

Admitting that many practical issues would arise while actuating the important guiding principles to revitalise local self-governance as laid down under Parts IX and IX-A of the Constitution, she said the Centre should "desist from attempts to bypass the States and should not subscribe to the notion that it could directly deal with the local bodies."

Ms. Jayalalithaa recalled the consensus arrived at the October 18, 2002 meeting of the Chief Ministers that all releases under Centrally-sponsored schemes be made to the Consolidated Fund of the States and not directly to the project implementing agencies. A condition was also laid down that the States pass these on to the end-users within the stipulated three weeks and inform the Centre of their having done so.

The revised procedure was also communicated by the Union Finance Minstry in January last year.

"I now find from the agenda notes that a suggestion has been made that releases in respect of items in Schedule XII of the Constitution be directly credited to the panchayats by the Central Government. This suggestion is objectionable both in spirit and content as it seeks to denigrate the role of the States", she said claiming that Tamil Nadu had the track record of releasing funds to the local bodies in time. "I do not see the need for such takeover of the functions of the States by the Centre."

The two-tier panchayat raj system was more appropirate to the State, Ms. Jayalalithaa felt. She stressed the need for a political consensus on issues of crucial importance to make further headway towards the goal of devolving more functions and finances to the panchayat raj institutions.

Interlinking rivers

Making a reference to the Cauvery tangle, Ms. Jayalalithaa said water scarcity in the State, compounded by the "refusal to release our legitimate share of Cauvery water by Karnataka", had major adverse implications for agricultural growth and consequently, rural prosperity. In this connection, she urged the Prime Minister to put the focus back on interlinking of major rivers.

Ms. Jayalalithaa also suggested the constitution of a new working group to examine how micro-credit flow to self-help groups could be improved. She underscored the need for a comprehensive package of financial support for cooperative credit institutions for restructuring and revitalising them.

She claimed that the State had been the "star performer" in various schemes of poverty alleviation.

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