Karnataka - Hubli   

`Primacy of gram sabhas crucial for decentralisation' `Primacy of gram sabhas crucial for decentralisation'

Special Correspondent

Entrusting development responsibility will not empower panchayats, sabhas: B.D. Sharma

HUBLI: B.D. Sharma, former chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and well-known proponent of the concept of gram swaraj, has said that primacy of gram sabhas is crucial to the success of the panchayat raj system and the experiment of democratic decentralisation.

Dr. Sharma, who has been carrying on a crusade to achieve this objective told The Hindu that this had been ensured in the Constitution amendment made in 1996 to the provision of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996.

It was imperative that similar primacy be given to the functioning of gram sabhas in non-tribal areas. Only Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, and Jharkhand had moved in this direction, he said.

Considerable progress

As far as Karnataka is concerned, Dr. Sharma said though considerable progress has been made, the powers conferred on the gram sabhas were not as specific as those envisaged under the PESA Act. The recent amendment made to the Karnataka Panchayat Raj Act only said that the gram panchayat should give "serious consideration to the views and suggestions made by the gram sabha," which was not enough. The relation between the gram sabha and the gram panchayat should be that of a father and a son.

The gram panchayat should be bound by what was said by the gram sabhas, he said. Work should be undertaken only after getting the approval of the gram sabhas. The gram sabha should have the power to certify the expenditure incurred in the implementation of each scheme.

Simple rationale

Dr. Sharma said that the rationale of the arrangement was simple. It would help correct whatever lacunae noticed unlike the system in vogue under the present day administration. It ensured better accountability. The gram sabha system is more important that the Parliament, the Assembly, and any other elected body, he said. While the elected representatives operated from the other institutions, the people themselves expressed their sovereign will through the gram sabhas. This is why the gram sabhas deserved all primacy, he added.

Dr. Sharma disagreed over the definition of the villages used for constituting the panchayats. It was based on the concept of the revenue villages, as had been determined by the Revenue Department for administrative purposes. This concept lacked the "space" for the village community as a whole that has native wisdom and traditional leadership, which deserves to be brought into play while managing the affairs, he said.

Erroneous notion

He also said that there was an erroneous notion that entrusting the responsibility of development was a way of empowering the gram panchayats and gram sabhas. The socio-economic situation and concepts hardly figured in the arrangement. The community had been managing its own affairs before the advent of the panchayat raj system and would continue to do so even if the system were to be abolished or diluted. It was time that their role is recognised and a congenial atmosphere is created to make them functional again, Dr. Sharma said.

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