Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

State goes unrepresented on national panel

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The inordinate delay in identifying a Government representative to sit on the national panel on decentralisation is understood to have deprived the State of a chance to present its case on various issues on devolution of powers and more flexibility in the guidelines for Centrally-Sponsored schemes.

Official sources told TheHindu that the State would go unrepresented in the panel due to bureaucratic wrangles. This comes at a time when the State Government is demanding changes, and persistently so for some time now, in the Centrally-Sponsored Schemes for scientific implementation and optimum utilisation of funds.

As most of the guidelines are drawn up taking into consideration relative conditions prevailing in North Indian States, they often tend to be disadvantageous to the State, for whom achieving the target within the set timeframe becomes next to impossible. Having its own representative in the committee would help convince the Centre about the unique features of the State, sources said.

The State is also not represented in the core group on urban issues, a policy advisory group that gives inputs to the Centre on various important issues, including poverty alleviation and urban development. Compared to other States that have slums identified as the main centres of poverty, Kerala presents a totally different situation.

The fact that the impoverished population is scattered across different parts of the State makes any effort aimed at replicating the approaches adopted elsewhere a futile exercise. The same is applicable in the case of other development issues too. At present, the State does not have a representative to present its perspective in the core group.

Considering the prominent position of the State in the devolution of powers to local self-government institutions, all States look forward to follow the Kerala pattern in their planning and development schemes for sharing the experience and seeking advice for their new ventures.

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