The Hindu : National : Strengthen village panchayats: report

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Thursday, Dec 13, 2007
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Strengthen village panchayats: report

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: The expert committee on “Planning for the Sixth Schedule Areas and those not covered by Parts IX and IX-A of the Constitution” has recommended strengthening of the village and autonomous councils.

This was to ensure an increased flow of funds and development that would help in partly overcoming the armed conflicts in some of these areas.

The eight-member committee, chaired by V. Ramachandran, former vice-chairman of the Kerala Planning Board, which presented its report to the Union Panchayati Raj Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar here on Wednesday, believes that increased flow of funds to the villages through Centrally-sponsored schemes could be a step towards reducing conflicts in the areas.

As of now, funds under the Backward Regions Grants Fund, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and other flagship schemes do not reach the Sixth Schedule Areas and those parts not covered under parts IX and IX A of the Constitution because of the absence of the District Planning Committee or the village councils.

“The bulk of the present discontent and unrest in some of these regions has been due to our failure to involve people in the developmental process as many of these regions are not covered under the 73rd (Panchayati Raj) Constitutional Amendment,” said B.N. Yugandhar, Member, Planning Commission.

The money that reaches the village is not allowed to be siphoned off and it has been seen that most of the pilferage happens at the super-structure level. Once villages councils are set up and empowered, the amount of money can be increased. This will help in squeezing the flow of funds to the militants, Mr. Ramachandran said.

Some parts of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Manipur are covered under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution while Mizoram and the hills of Manipur are governed by the State laws while Nagaland has special status. There have been complaints of the autonomous councils not setting up village councils for fear of losing power.

According to Mr. Ramachandran, governance in these regions is complex and there are no “one-size-fit-all” solutions. Every State has been advised a different set of suggestions. “Our main emphasis is to initiate development and planning at the village level and then build it upwards,” he said. No legislative measures had been suggested, only changes in approaches, he said.

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