Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Local body members face disqualification

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: About 90 per cent of the members of local self-government institutions in the State face the threat of disqualification for their failure to convene the grama sabhas on time.

Official sources said on Monday that majority of the elected members of five corporations, 53 municipalities and 999 grama panchayats had not convened the ward and grama sabhas once in three months as stipulated by the Kerala Panchayat Raj Act. If any voter moves the State Election Commission against the lapse, the members are liable for disqualification. Following the amendment to the Act, the onus to convene the grama sabha is on the ward member and he will be held responsible for the failure to convene meetings.

As per the original Act, the grama sabhas are required to meet at least twice a year. Fixing the date, time and venue of the meeting is the responsibility of the president. He has to finalise the schedule in consultation with the ward member, who is also the convener. Following an amendment to the Act which came into force on March 24, 1999, the meetings are required to be held once in three months. Another amendment made on August 24, 2005 makes the member responsible for fixing the schedule. He should do it in consultation with the president. Failure to convene grama sabha is considered a serious lapse, as it deprives the voters of their legitimate right guaranteed by the Constitution to be part of the development activities as well as civic administration. Such meetings can be held even after the declaration of general elections and imposition of the model code of conduct. Curbs have been imposed only on the selection of beneficiaries, as it is likely to affect the fairness of the polls. Corporations and municipalities have the worst track record in organising the meetings when compared to panchayats.

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