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Panchayati Raj institutionalized but not Empowered, Says Aiyar

"WE CAN BRING ABOUT A REVOLUTION: IT NEEDS TO BE CENTRAL POINT FOR DEVELOPMENT"

The Hindu
Tuesday, May 17, 2005.

Equipped with 66 member staff, Panchayati Raj minister Mani Sankar Aiyar belives he can expedite the establishment of rural business hubs. “ With a full fledged ministry, we can bring in a revolution in rural India. Mr. Aiyar was interacting with the media at Delhi on May 17(Monday), 2005, after the union cabinet sanctioned a Secretary, two additional secretaries and four joint secretaries for the ministry.

The minister said 300 odd centrally sponsored schemes, if implemented through Panchayati Raj institution, could help in achieving the concept of “poorna swaraj” or “gram swaraj” as advocated by Mahatma Gandhi. Talking about his experience at the end of seven round table conferences on devolution of power to the grass roots, he said: “we have institutionalized Panchayati Raj but not empowered it”. Karnataka and West Bengal have given enough powers to these institutions and Pondihery, Bihar and Jharkhand were yet to begin the process.

150 recommendations:

The Minister said he had sent a list of 150 recommendations to all Chief Ministers on devolution of Powers about 3 months ago. He presumed that these were accepted, as there was no objection. “Panchayati Raj impacts crores of people at the grass roots across the country and it needs to be the central point for development of rural areas.

Under schedule 7, Panchayati Raj is listed as a State subject but I believed that the states and the center need to come together to implement the system.

Not applicable in J & K:

While the constitutional amendment on implementation of the system is not applicable in Jammu and Kashmir, the state Government has begun strengthening it. The state asked the center to study its implementation in accordance with the central law. “The Panchayati Raj Secretary, Wajahat Habibullah, will shortly visit Jammu and Kashmir for the purpose”.

Monthly review:

The Minister is visiting all states to assess the implementation of the system. He has directed the state secretaries to meet at least once a month for reviewing the implementation of the recommendations of the seven round tables.