Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Paloli seeks more power, resources for local bodies

Thiruvananthapuram: Minister for Local Self-government Paloli Mohamed Kutty has demanded the convening of a special meeting of the National Development Council (NDC) to strengthen the Panchayati Raj system.

According to information reaching here, the Minister who was addressing the national conference of LSG ministers in New Delhi said that decentralisation should not be confined to the State governments and local bodies. It should start from the Centre. It should be a continuous process involving the flow of responsibilities, power and resources from the Centre to the States and from them to the grama sabhas and the people.

He lamented that nothing solid had taken place in the area of decentralisation in the last decade and a half. There were many Centre-sponsored schemes which involved the local bodies as well. But barring the NREGS and the backward areas grant scheme, the local bodies did not have much role in the projects’ implementation. He wanted these schemes to be recast, giving the local bodies a pivotal role in planning, execution and supervision.

He stressed the need for improving the efficiency of the elected representatives and the staff of the local bodies. Kerala had made strides in the area of decentralisation despite financial constraints. He wanted the Centre to provide assistance to agencies like the Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA) for developing it in a manner which would be useful to other States also.

He described as paltry the Centre’s assistance to the Panchayati Raj institutions. While the Centre spent Rs.60,000 crore on its schemes in the jurisdiction of these institutions, the grant given to them was a mere Rs.5,000 crore. He wanted the Finance and the Panchayati Raj Departments to frame the terms of reference of the 13th Finance Commission in such a way that the LSGs would to get a better deal from it.

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