HUBLI: When the new members of the 27 zilla and 174 taluk panchayats assume office after the elections in December, they will find that the panchayat raj institutions are in a much stronger position now.

Unlike their predecessors, they will not have to look to the State Government for the sanctioning of money and schemes for their respective areas. The resources are at their disposal and they have been invested with powers to execute the schemes they need.

Decisive say

If the power-sharing scheme is strictly implemented the members of the panchayat raj institutions will have a more decisive say in the execution of schemes than legislators.

This change is an important contribution to the empowerment of the panchayat raj system by the coalition government headed by N. Dharam Singh. The Krishna government had cleared the decks by enacting legislation to empower the panchayat raj institutions and finalising activity mapping that clearly delineated the functional responsibilities of the three tiers. But it dithered on the question of issuing orders to give effect to the provisions of law.

The coalition government issued the orders in August 2004. As a consequence, schemes coming under the State sector, which were being implemented by the panchayats, were transferred to the district sector.

The transfer was effected in the middle of the financial year 2004-2005 and formalised when the budget was presented for 2005-06.

The panchayat raj institutions have almost Rs. 2,880 crores at their disposal for the current financial year. A sum of Rs. 1,151.80 crores (39.98 per cent) will go to the zilla panchayats, Rs. 964.95 crores (33.53 per cent) to the gram panchayats and Rs. 763.53 crores (26.50 per cent) to the taluk panchayats.

Of the 38 sectors, funds and functional responsibilities for 17 sectors are the joint responsibility of the zilla panchayats and taluk panchayats. They include primary and secondary education, public health, welfare of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, women and children, agriculture, horticulture and sericulture. The zilla panchayats have exclusive jurisdiction over more than seven sectors, including mass education and family welfare and the taluk panchayats get control over the special component plan and the tribal sub-plan.

The zilla panchayats will share responsibility with the gram panchayats for rural water supply, forests, including soil conservation, and minor irrigation. The taluk panchayats and the gram panchayats will have to handle the rural housing programme. The gram panchayats have exclusive control over rural energy, watershed development and the bulk of the rural water supply scheme.

More incentive

The new system gives people more of an incentive to become members of the panchayat raj institutions, something that is being realised as the elections approach.

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