Friends,
There is an interesting discussion in the Decentralisation Community of Solution Exchange; copy of the latest Emails on the subject are reproduced below.
In my opinion, non-implementation of 73rd. amendment to the Constitution of India is a matter of serious public concern. This seems to be a fit subject for P.I.L. before the Supreme Court for appropriate directions to the Central and State Government, after further research.
Dhirendra Krishna IA&AS (Retired)
.................................................................................................................................
Subject: Re: [se-decn] E-DISCUSSION: Relevance of decentralization in India and ways to strengthen Panchayats. Open till 3 May 2013
Dear Friends,
Clarity about the provisions of the Constitution of India, is essential to this debate as I feel many contributors have not laid enough emphasis on this aspect. If we were to view the centrally sponsored schemes that relate to subject matters that should be in the domain of Panchayats (according to the Constitutions), the aberrations in implementation would be evident. The 73rd Amendment to the Constitution of India has not been implemented, as both Central and State Governments are not really interested in devolving power to the Panchayats, some salient features being:
· Article 243G of the Constitution of India, envisages devolution of power, authority and responsibilities by State Government to the Panchayats. If (and when) this is implemented in letter and spirit, planning and implementation of development schemes would be done at Panchayat level, instead of central and state levels. Decentralization is essential for the success of development plans, as evident from the review of most of the Centrally Sponsored Schemes by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.
· Schedule XI of the Constitution of India, provides a fairly comprehensive list of subjects that should be within the domain of the Panchayats.
· Article 243 H (a) of the Constitution of India envisages authorizing Panchayats to levy, collect and appropriate taxes, duties, tolls and fees. This should enable the Panchayats to raise funds to execute decentralized development plans and work as self-governing institutions.
· If review of financial position of Panchayats show inadequate funds, Finance Commission should be constituted every five years for determining grant-in-aid and apportioning of taxes levied by the States to Panchayats. During the last 50 years, not enough measures have been taken for financial self-sufficiency of Panchayats.
Traditionally, villages in India were self-governing entities and their independence was deliberately crumbled by colonial rulers. Development schemes undertaken by central and state government after independence have in practice led to centralization, notwithstanding the 73rd amendment to the Constitution. In my opinion, there is a very strong case for moving a Public Interest Litigation (P.I.L) to the Supreme Court, to enforce empowerment of Panchayats, holding the development schemes sponsored by Central and State Governments as unconstitutional. This is a debatable issue where Central and State Governments would justify the action by enumerating the steps taken by them during last 50 years: Supreme Court may force them to lay down a time-frame for action plan for implementing the provisions of the Constitution.
There is need to promote effective decentralization, implementing 73rd Amendment in letter and spirit.
Regards,
Dhirendra Krishna
Retired Officer of the Indian Audit and Accounts Service, New Delhi
From: Rajpal [mailto:rajpal35@gmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, April 30, 2013 5:19 PM
To: Decentralization Community
Subject: Re: [se-decn] E-DISCUSSION: Relevance of decentralization in India and ways to strengthen Panchayats. Open till 3 May 2013
Moderator's Note: Dear Members, going by the continuous inflow of responses from the Community on this particular query, we are once again extending the e-discussion till 3 May 2013. We are thankful to those who have sent us their responses, look forward to a rich discussion!
Run up to the 20 years of Decentralization in India
Dear Members,
Let me start by saying that Decentralization (post 73rd and 74th constitutional amendment) in India has become so integral part of governance system that now we cannot imagine not having Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) in India. However, we do need to make concrete efforts to strengthen it and make it better. In this context I would like share views based on my own experiences.
What we have achieved through decentralization post the 73rd Constitutional Amendment:
· Regular election of PRIs and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs)- There have been very strong judgments from the Supreme Court in the cases where states have tried to manipulate the duration of elections, including by-elections in cases of vacancies.
· Representation and leadership of socially excluded groups- Representation and leadership by SCs, STs and women has produced remarkable results and has demonstrated that they can deliver if opportunities are provided in addition to decision making powers.
· Resource allocated for Local Self Government Institutions (LSGIs)- District planning process and role of District Planning Commission (DPC) has been institutionalized by Planning Commission to approve plans. Moreover, resources under different programmes are at the disposal of PRIs to undertake planning and give prioritize based on their needs in their areas.
The challenges or what more needs to be done:
· Gram Panchayat has become Mukhiya/Sarpanch/Pradhan centered rather than participatory decision making bodies. Mukhiya's or Sarpanchs are in the clutches of Secretaries and BDOs and become part of the corruption chain. The ward members in these bodies are not interested to become members not only at gram panchayat level but also at the level of block and districts. This requires intervention both through policy and capacity building measures.
· It was expected that officials at various levels will play facilitative role in strengthening democratic denationalization but its remained a false assumption and actually it has been a hurdle in the whole process. Bureaucracy will always enjoy discretion, which does not make the decision making process democratic.
· The Gram Sabha, on paper has a very important role to play but this does not translate so in practice. This is one of the critical areas where we have been failing and is a biggest impediment in the decentralization process. Unfortunately both bureaucrats and politicians do not encourage gram sabhas to take the lead in decision making matters.
· Panchayats are dependent on state and national government for financial resources. The recommendations and reports of State Finance Commissions (SFC) are grossly neglected by the state governments. SFCs can only make recommendations and have no role further. SFCs needs to be strengthened to work closely with LSGIs to suggest better financial management.
· Capacity Building initiatives for elected representatives are not sufficient in most of the states. SIRDs alone cannot deliver effective capacity building to address the need hence a partnership between SIRDs and CSOs is the only solution to cater the capacity building need of ERs. The partnership model has been tried in many states but it requires more institutional and sustained arrangements.
· Affirmative action has been successful in bringing people from socially excluded groups in leadership positions. Their needs for capacity building need careful attention given their historic social discrimination and continued non-cooperation from officials and fellow representatives given their social grouping. One time training doesn't meet the requirement and they need hand holding and support mechanism at the time of need.
As mentioned decentralization is crucial and significant step towards collective responsibility. While, much has been achieved, there are still challenges that lay ahead of us. The expert committee report is in place. Declaring 24th April National Panchayati Raj Day is welcome step. We must set some milestone to be achieved by the time we enter into the silver jubilee year of Panchayati Raj.
Regards,
Rajpal
Poorest Areas Civil Society Programme (PACS)
Patna, Bihar
From the Discussant
Moderator's Note: As a part of our on-going activities leading up to the 20 years of Decentralization in India, we are starting an E-discussion. You may agree that this is a time that many of us in the sector feel the need to come together, share experiences, successes, failures, look at opportunities and talk about the roadblocks vis-à-vis decentralization. This E-discussion is a space for Members to "say it out". The questions are open ended and we look forward to uninhibited responses!
Dear Members,
Society for Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA) (www.pria.org) has been working with panchayats since the 73rd constitutional amendment in 1993. In the year 2000, PRIA published Panchayati Raj Institutions: A Balance Sheet in which it raised critical issues for the effective functioning of panchayati raj institutions (PRIs) including issues like constitution of State Election Commissions (SECs), State Finance Commissions (SFCs), District Planning Committees (DPCs), holding of regular elections, reservation etc. Though these issues have been largely addressed but the functioning of these institutions in many states is still questionable.
The perception survey undertaken in three states (Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan) in 2012 reveal that the devolution to PRIs, clear activity mapping, capacities of panchayat representatives, strong and vibrant gram sabhas, increased revenue of panchayats, decentralized planning, efficient service delivery and accountability…. are still a distant dream for PRIs. It appears that the strengthening of panchayati raj institutions have been supply driven and not demand led. As a result, panchayats have become implementing agencies for national and state governments rather than emerging as local governments.
I request members of the Decentralization community to pen their reflections and ideas (below are some guiding questions):
a) What is the relevance of decentralization in today's India (a nation caught between high economic growth and extremely poor socio-development indicators)?
b) What are the (positive or negative) repercussions of using panchayat as vehicles of implementations of schemes?
c) What according to you are the efforts at the level of policy makers and at the level of civil society to make panchayats more effective?
Additionally, if there are any other experiences or thoughts that you would like to share, please feel free and enrich the discussion
With regards,
Anshuman Karol
PRIA, New Delhi
Previous Responses
From: Nishu Kaul and Santosh Kaushal [mailto:nishu.kaul@pria.org]
Sent: Friday, April 26, 2013 4:11 PM
To: se-decn@solutionexchange-un.net.in
Subject: Re: [se-decn] E-DISCUSSION: Relevance of decentralization in India and ways to strengthen Panchayats
Dear Members,
April 24, 1993 was a landmark day in the history of Panchayati Raj in India as on this day, the institution of Panchayati Raj was accorded constitutional status through the Constitution (73rd Amendment Act 1992), thereby seeking to transform Mahatma Gandhi's dream of Gram Swaraj into reality. The 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act of 1993 envisaged Gram Sabhas as the bedrock of the Panchayati Raj System through which participation of the people in self-governance and planning for development has been targeted. However 20 years of Panchayats formation bring some implementation issues –
· Strengthening Gram Sabha is still out of the priority list of many bureaucrats and policy makers. Gram Sabha has become a mockery of the PRI system, with the agenda for Gram Sabha been released from the block and district level.
· Resources for capacity building under Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF) have not been utilized while Panchayats lack institutional capacities to deliver their constitutional mandate. Why?
· The institutional functioning of Panchayats has limited to Sarpanchs only. Rest of the members often look for their relevance and identity. How did it happen?
· Decentralized planning has not yet progressed in many states. The whole planning process has become supply driven ritual rather people demanded initiative. Gram Panchayats are not involved in the realistic planning process; rather the exercise has become template filling exercise and more top-bottom in nature. The current District Planning Committee's (DPCs) in most of the states are just acting like rubber stamps for the approval of draft district plans. Why is it not been institutionalized at local levels?
With this background, PRIA and partner organizations with financial supports from UNFPA initiated their interventions to strengthen roles of Panchayats in addressing issues of Maternal Health and Sex Selection in selected villages (about 400 in 70 GPs of 13 districts) of the state. Today quite significant positive changes have been noticed in terms of measurable reductions in indicators influencing Maternal Mortality Rates. Gender sensitivities at the level of people and Panchayats and maternal well-being at the level of mothers and families are very obvious and much talked about by the villagers, visitors and the media. Sensitization, Facilitations by local support groups, Capacity Building, Multi-stakeholder dialogues, Co-working and Co-ownership, participatory planning are some significant milestones that were achieved in the programme.
The continued Non-Governmental and Local Government interface and support provided opportunities to Panchayats to deliver better. Gender became an important development mandate of Panchayats, which can be seen through significant case - studies. Panchayats engaged in decentralized health planning and implemented around more than 50% of these health plans through their own resources. Gram Sabha was strengthened which forced the implementation of their own health plans, pressurized Government for better health services and in many cases it contributed generously for development of health infrastructure and betterment of services. Convergence of different departments and sectors with Panchayats was made possible through multi-stakeholder dialogues, which led to significant support systems for Panchayats. This over-all support and convergence made Panchayats to widen their scope and move from performing "delegated functions" to "statutory and potential functions" too.
These experiences have been compiled and presented in a document, which brings forth 30 success cases of Panchayat strength and convergence at local levels -
http://www.pria.org/pdf/Improve_Maternal_Health_Services-Rajasthan_Case_Study.pdf
Regards,
Nishu Kaul & Santosh Kaushal
PRIA, New Delhi
From: TR Raghunandan [mailto:trraghu@yahoo.com]
Sent: Thursday, April 25, 2013 5:31 PM
To: Decentralization Community
Subject: Re: [se-decn] E-DISCUSSION: Relevance of decentralization in India and ways to strengthen Panchayats. Open till 25 April 2013
Dear Friends,
The situation in my opinion, reveals what I consider is an immutable truth. I believe that whatever service is provided for Panchayats through CSOs should be paid for by the Panchayats themselves. Basically, it should be demand based and supply driven. A system of welfarism can only work in a limited context. Unless Panchayats pay for the services they get, they cannot hold CSO's accountable for the quality of what they provide.
One of the greatest weaknesses of our capacity building efforts is that is it State promoted and paid for. No wonder the money is not drawn, or even if it is, the quality of programmes leave much to be desired. The question is, do Panchayats have the ability to pay for their capacity building efforts? I believe it is largely possible, if the funds that are now given to training institutions such as State Institute for Rural Development (SIRDs), or to CSOs that are contracted in to implement programmes, is placed with the Panchayats and the latter have the latitude to choose their service provider, we will get better quality of capacity development. This is not in the realm of the impossible. In Local Governance strengthening programmes in Bangladesh and Nepal, a modicum of demand driven capacity development systems are in place.
In addition to reconfiguring capacity development funds to kick-start demand driven capacity development programmes, there is nothing to stop Panchayats from raising property taxes and increasing their revenues, and paying from these funds for capacity development activities. In my view, the slack in estimating, fixing and collecting local taxes is a huge opportunity lost for Panchayats.
Regards,
T.R. Raghunandan
Independent Consultant, Bangalore
From: Debraj Bhattacharya [mailto:bhattacharyadebraj@yahoo.co.in]
Sent: Wednesday, April 24, 2013 2:33 PM
To: Decentralization Community
Subject: Re: [se-decn] E-DISCUSSION: Relevance of decentralization in India and ways to strengthen Panchayats. Open till 25 April 2013
Dear Members,
Following from what Ramit Basu has just said, I would like to make a few points about PRI-CSO collaboration. Institute of Social Sciences as a national level CSO is linked to several CSOs across the country who work with PRIs at the grassroots level. We have also created a network of CSOs and individual activists working on PRI issues, known as Association of Local Governance of India (ALGI). We formally have members in 11 states and informally in many more. I am looking after this network for the last 4 years and therefore have come across several good CSOs working with PRIs. For more information see: http://www.issin.org/algi.asp
Between 2009 and 2011 we received external support from an international agency but that funding stopped after 3 years. Since then it has not been possible to impress any donor agency to fund this network as their priorities are different. The CSOs which are members of this network are doing their work but are mostly struggling to survive. On the other hand, international funding organisations in India are giving financial support to state governments to work with PRIs at a time when state governments are not able to utilize the funds that Central government gives them. State Governments have more money than they can spend while CSOs who want to work on PRI issues are struggling for resources.
Why such a skewed situation persists is a pertinent question.
Regards,
Debraj Bhattacharya
Institute of Social Sciences
Delhi/Kolkata
From: Ramit Basu [mailto:ramit4development@gmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, April 24, 2013 11:08 AM
To: se-decn@solutionexchange-un.net.in
Subject: Re: [se-decn] E-DISCUSSION: Relevance of decentralization in India and ways to strengthen Panchayats. Open till 25 April 2013
Dear Members,
Please allow me to respond to Vidhya's response -
When you talk of institutionalization, yes it can be done and let us not wait for the Govt. to pass an order or a formulate a law for this. NGOs themselves can decide to henceforth route all their interventions through the Panchayats as a policy in their organization. That there will be no such project to be implemented which will not have the involvement of the Gram Panchayats and the standing committees. Once this starts happening we are close to institutionalization in our own way.
As regards outreach of NGOs are concerned, I do agree that for a single NGO it might be a tall order but (correct me members if I am wrong) a few years back I came across a report which said there is 1 NGO for every 2 Panchayats in the country. If this be the number and we are talking of Civil Society as a community, I dont see any reason why it cannot be done.
It's wrong to believe that Panchayats can do everything by themselves and hence they do not need any support. Its quite contrary to the principle of devolution of functionaries. Its like saying that municipal bodies or even any wings of the Government can do anything without any technical support!! What should rather happen is that the officials that Vidhya has mentioned should be reporting to the Panchayats and should work under the control and supervision of the Panchayats so that the Panchayats are able to monitor the quality and pace of work.
I don't understand why are we again and again emphasizing on people's participation in the Gram Sabha and its strengthening and empowerment when we have not been able to empower the Gram Panchayats in real terms so far. Its like telling the Gram Sabha that look, since your Government cant function, its your responsibility now to ensure that it does with no support, no or fully tied funds and members of the Gram Sabha should take turns and should skip their work and livelihood just to ensure that work gets done, money gets utilised properly, children are fed, drains are cleaned - something which the Panchayat is supposed to do. Lets have a very clear cut distinction between the Gram Panchayat and the Gram Sabha. So if there is no participation in the Gram Sabha, its because they have lost interest because the Gram Panchayat has not been able to perform because it has either not been allowed to function or it has functioned with no or negligible support which further creates disorder.
If we are striving for transparency amongst the Panchayats, we should direct our efforts towards ensuring transparency at the block and district level. Why do we expect a total ideal situation existing at the Panchayat level when there is not any at the higher levels. Before fixing responsibilities, lets us talk about empowerment in the real sense as with empowerment comes responsibilities. The MPs and MLAs do not have the capacities so why shall we expect everything to be perfect at the Gram Panchayat level.
So coming to the point, NGOs have a huge responsibility not only to provide hands on support to the local bodies through its own programmes as well as Govt, schemes but to initiate advocacy with the Government on a serious note on further devolution and sharing of best practices so that its replication can be considered. NGOs can equally engage with the Zila Parishad / District Planning Committee standing committee members and can orient and educate them on theme specific issues in the district, so that the latter is more informed while endorsing the plans and can seek clarifications from the line departments wherever required.
Best wishes,
Ramit Basu
Independent Development Consultant
New Delhi
From: Vidhya Das [mailto:vidhyadas@agragamee.org]
Sent: 23 April 2013 13:59
To: se-decn@solutionexchange-un.net.in
Subject: Re: [se-decn] E-DISCUSSION: Relevance of decentralization in India and ways to strengthen Panchayats. Open till 25 April 2013
Dear Friends,
I agree with Ramit Basu that NGOs need to do much more, but the major question is: can this be institutionalised? An NGO may be able to work with the Panchayats or not, but if one insists that NGOs need to play a much bigger role, but the fact is that the outreach of NGOs is limited.
NGOs can set an example, and help to show the way, but vested interests tend to counter constructive actions. In the Gram Panchayat of Dumbaguda, the Sarpanch, Vishnu Majhi went on a hunger strike about 4 years back because the payment for the NREGA works in his Panchayat were not being made. This brought the Sub-Divisional Officer to the Block office of Dasmantpur. However, Vishnu's demands were only partially fulfilled by the offer of direct cash, no account payee check or anything was made. It was just a cover up. Sometime back I enquired about Vishnu again, he had lost the elections, and had become a contractor himself. The system is out to defeat all those who would strive to improve the situation.
Several times, village youth working with us have tried to make sure the Gram Sabha was organised in a transparent manner. But it is observed that when the quorum is complete, the Executive Officer makes an excuse and does not allow the proceedings to continue. In Odisha, on October 2nd, last year, the Government declared that model Gram Sabhas would be organised in all the Panchayats, which will be video recorded. Things did take place as per the wishes of the Government, but this did not represent decentralisation as not even one Panchayat could come up with its own plans for development. Where is the transparency that is the basic foundation of decentralisation? Where are the people, and where are women? Discussions on women's participation stops by mere presence of women elected representatives, but there is little or no space for these women leaders to voice their demands in a Gram Sabha.
I know for a fact that local communities are completely capable of planning for their own development in the greatest detail and carrying it out with the greatest perfection. They would surely do thousand times better than the millions of Junior Engineers, who very often leave uncompleted and poorly-designed structures. The resources spent on irrigation structures that do not harvest a single drop of water, school buildings that can only be used by cattle or roads, which only make transportation more difficult. We need to question the authority, discretion and roles of Junior Engineers, Block Development Officers, Head Clerks, Village Level Workers, Panchayat Election Officers and contractors, to carry out works, which people can carry out themselves.
It is a pity, 20 years after the 73rd Amendment, decentralisation is still a dream. Civil Society might have a role in making decentralisation more effective, but will their successful models be accepted?
Regards,
Vidhya Das
Agragamee, Kashipur, Orissa
From: Ramit Basu [mailto:ramit4development@gmail.com]
Sent: 22 April 2013 10:29
To: se-decn@solutionexchange-un.net.in
Subject: Re: [se-decn] E-DISCUSSION: Relevance of decentralization in Indiaand ways to strengthen Panchayats. Open till 25 April 2013
Dear Members,
I have been going through the discourse and most of the learned members has stressed on the role that should be played by the Govt. - both Central and State. Let me point to the fact that the civil society has an equally important role to ensure strengthening of Panchayats across the country as much as the Government.
Despite the hue and cry by the civil society on devolution and capacity building, not many NGOs today would like to work through Panchayats and putting Panchayats at the centre stage of activity / programme planning. They will still prefer to implement programmes through parallel bodies thus keeping Panchayats at an arms' length. There has been very negligible role by Gram Panchayats in reviewing the programmes implemented by NGOs and although NGOs never fall short of conducting social audit, public hearings and run for transparency of Government programmes, such practices are hardly encouraged and seen in its own programmes which many a times has huge financial implications.
I have not seen a single NGO having a member of the Panchayat in its governing body or council and hence these factors do point to the fact that the civil society also has to pull up its socks if it wants to see real decentralization and decision making at the grassroots. We need to come out of our comfort zones and stop adopting double standards of blaming the Government for not doing much and accept responsibilities ourselves. Civil society groups like VANI, initiatives like PACS etc. which has a considerable number of NGOs under its umbrella should invest in organizing special sessions for its partners on how to engage more constructively with PRIs if they are really serious in making their initiatives sustainable with increasing local ownership.
I would not like to stop at this but would like to take this argument to a level higher - that of the funding agencies. I have even interacted with a relatively small number of organizations who do feel the urge and have the inclination of working with Panchayats but have candidly admitted that the donors do not agree or are not very comfortable to the strategy and hence they had to change their work plans. I believe it's equally the responsibility of International development agencies providing support to Indian agencies to respect the law of the land and most importantly the Constitution and encourage NGOs to develop strategies which would lead to the real empowerment of PRIs. Rather than the agency conducting its own or a third party evaluation, it should depend on the testimonies of the local body as to what has been the real impact of the work done on the ground in terms of final evaluation.
Last but not the least, the effort has to be at all the three tiers of the Panchayats and not just remain concentrated at the Gram Panchayat level. NGOs can play an important role in building the capacities of Block level elected representatives in areas like programme facilitation, conflict resolution, community mobilization, information dissemination, consolidation of GP level plans, prioritization of activities etc. and similarly that of the ZP and the DPC for better and improved synergy between the three tiers of PRIs. NGOs should also refrain itself from activities like mobilizing the Gram Sabha or CBOs against the Gram Panchayat and should rather focus on building an amicable working environment between the Gram Sabha, parallel bodies including CBOs and the Gram Panchayat for optimum results.
There needs to be a serious attempt by all and not just mere lip service if we are to ensure that the capacities of PRIs truly improves.
Best wishes,
Ramit Basu
Independent Development Consultant
New Delhi
From: B.P.Syam Roy [mailto:bpsyamroy@yahoo.co.in]
Sent: 18 April 2013 13:05
To: Decentralization Community
Subject: Re: [se-decn] E-DISCUSSION: Relevance of decentralization in India and ways to strengthen Panchayats. Open till 25 April 2013
Moderator's Note: Syam Roy shares that the idea of devolution and how it gets outplayed in India are on two different tangents. There is confusion on the ground as handing over executive functions to Panchayats, which is merely delegation is increasingly being misunderstood for devolution. We thank Syam Roy and invite more responses before we close the discussion, date extended to 25th April 2013.
Dear Members,
While agreeing broadly with Shri Rahul Banerjee that both the Union government and the State governments are at fault for not taking required follow-up actions during the last 20 years, I feel the same but for different reasons. The State governments are responsible for not meeting both the necessary conditions and the sufficient conditions for decentralised governance at the same time. Most of the states have met the necessary conditions, namely, enactment of the State Panchayat Act and also the State Municipal Act; set up the State Finance Commission and also the State Election Commission and also constituted District Planning Committee and Metropolitan Planning Committee. However, the sufficient conditions which enable the state to take proper legislative actions were not met. Fine-tuning the domain of functional responsibilities between the state government on the one hand and the Panchayats and the Municipalities on the other hand, keeping in mind common functional items in between the state responsibilities under Seventh Schedule and those envisaged for the Panchayat and Municipalities under the Eleventh Schedule and the Twelve Schedule respectively, have not been done and properly incorporated into the Acts. This apart, Article 243G also requires to devolve distinct functional items for the levels of Panchayat i.e Gram Panchayat, Block Panchayat and Zilla Panchayat.
Despite 20 years since the 73rd Amendment being enacted there seems to be no functional clarity within the tiers of the Panchayats in conformity with Articles 243G. A spurious concept of Activity Mapping has infected the system and stands equated with devolution. No tier specific distinct powers and responsibilities has seen the light of the day and the old PRI concept of subordinate relationship among the tiers of Panchayats still rules the day even in the face of Article 243(d). Let us keep in mind that devolution does not permit concurrent jurisdiction.
Another sufficient condition has been to exclude devolved items from the functional boundary of the line departments of the state government from the Rules of Business through a notification under Article 166(3) of the Constitution. This alone would have ensured non-interference of devolved responsibilities onto the Panchayats or the Municipalities by the state government. This, to my knowledge, has not taken place in any State of the country.
A corollary requirement has been the adoption of separate head of accounts for all devolved items for the distinct tier of Panchayats or the Municipalities which would guard against infringement of functional domain by anybody. This has yet to be sorted out through the Accountant General of the State.
In this given scenario, the Union government has started assigning Centrally sponsored Schemes (CSS) to the Panchayats under Article 282 of the Constitution knowing fully well that the Union government has no role in assigning any CSS falling under the 7th Schedule of the Constitution to the Panchayats in general or to a particular tier of the Panchayat in particular. However, in the given situation, the Assigned schemes of the Union government are viewed as Devolved responsibilities and deepens the state of confusion in the devolution scenario. This is because devolution can be attained through legislative action while the above is clearly an executive function.
Under item no 5 falling in the State List, the concerned State government enjoys the unfettered right on matters connected with the Panchayats or the Municipalities but the right based concept of Devolution through the State Legislature, as mentioned at Article 243G, has not been achieved. In my opinion, the focus should be on devolution which leads to empowerment rather than mere assignment of roles implementation of schemes which relates to performance of tasks.
Let us hope that the vision and perceived architecture of decentralised governance of the 73rd and 74th Amendments of the Constitution would get proper shape early through right-based decentralised movement by the Panchayats and the Municipalities in the States of India.
Regards,
B.P.Syam Roy
Independent Consultant, West Bengal
From: A Sivasankaran [mailto:avis7371@dataone.in]
Sent: 05 April 2013 17:24
To: se-decn@solutionexchange-un.net.in
Subject: Re: [se-decn] E-DISCUSSION: Relevance of decentralization in India and ways to strengthen Panchayats. Open till 15 April 2013
Dear Members,
While the predominance given to PRIs and the 73rd CA, is necessary and appreciable, decentralisation is a philosophy encompassing every aspect of a Democratic set-up. Urban and Tertiary situation is very precarious especially as the migration from villages to these areas pose great challenges and while I have noted the occasional queries and postings on the 74th CA and its effects or lack of it on the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) show a certain lopsided approach.
In a 4 day seminar on Participative Democracy conducted by the Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA ) in Kerala recently, I presented an audio-visual presentation on problems and solutions in the Decentralisation scene in ULBs, and the same was received with good response by the delegates. The disparities in income, housing, electricity supply, civil supply activities are all in urgent need of decentralised administrative measures. Wherever the issues have been addressed in a participative approach, there has been remarkable change for the better in living conditions of the Urban Poor and the Middle class in Bangalore, for instance.
I wish that a serious discussion on 74th CA and Decentralisation for ULBs would be arranged at the earliest. The presentation and report are attached for your reference.
Regards,
A.Sivasankaran,
Jago Federation, Bangalore
From: Rahul Banerjee [mailto:aarohini@rediffmail.com]
Sent: Friday, March 22, 2013 3:25 PM
To: se-decn@solutionexchange-un.net.in
Subject: Re: [se-decn] E-DISCUSSION: Relevance of decentralization in India and ways to strengthen Panchayats. Open till 15 April 2013
Dear Members,
It is well known that Panchayati Raj Institutions have not been able to evolve into full-fledged autonomous institutions of local governance because of a reluctance on the part of State Governments to devolve functions, functionaries and funds in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity which ordains that local governments should be trained and funded to do those functions which can best be done at the local level. These functions have been listed in Schedule 11 of the Constitution of India. Even the Centrally Sponsored Schemes which mandate that they should be implemented by the PRIs are not handed to the latter but are managed by line departments of the State Governments. An analysis of this retrograde trend is necessary to understand why State Governments are reluctant to devolve powers and funds to the PRIs.
The Constitution has left it to the States to enact legislation and effect administrative changes to implement the PRI provisions of Part IX because of the delicate balance that is there between the powers of the Union and the States in the Constitution. The Union Government has much more powers than the States and there has been a tendency on its part to acquire more powers through legislation. One very important example being the enactment of the Environment Protection Act 1980 which took away the lucrative power to divert forest land for non-forest use from the State Governments. Since the Union Government is itself not devolving important powers to the States, the latter are wary of ceding what little powers they have to the PRIs. The political power of the States vis-a-vis the Union Government is much greater than that of the PRIs vis-a-vis the State Governments. So the State Governments have consistently ignored the directives of the Union Government to implement the Constitutional provisions with regard to Panchayati Raj without facing much opposition from the PRIs and their elected representatives.
The most important inhibiting factor against devolution is that the State Governments, themselves, have limited fiscal powers and are strapped for funds most of the time. In the fifteen years from 1989 to 2004 the fiscal deficit of the States had increased due to higher debt burden and as a result interest payments constituted the single largest item of revenue expenditure. So they have to rely heavily on grants and transfers of their share of the taxes levied by the Union Government. This too makes the State Governments chary of devolving fiscal powers and funds to the PRIs as this will further erode their own financial buoyancy.
The Union Government has further compounded matters by tying up transfer of substantial funds in innumerable Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS). The contribution of the Union Government to the State Governments in 2001 was 52% as direct transfers, 30% as support to state plans and 18% in the form of CSS. The CSS funds were 45% of the States' own resources. With the initiation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in 2006 the proportion of tied transfer through CSS has gone up substantially to 75% of the States' own resources. Consequently the State Governments are funds starved and can initiate little development on their own. Given this situation there is an understandable reluctance to constitute State Finance Commissions as mandated and after that to implement their recommendations regarding funds devolution.
Finally, the Union Government has formulated guidelines that a substantial portion of the funds for the CSS is to be spent by the PRIs and rigidly restricted the interference of the State Governments in this regard. However, the Central departments overseeing the implementation of these CSS have not always been very diligent in ensuring that these guidelines are adhered to. Consequently, the State Governments have got around the CSS provisions for involvement of PRIs in implementation by retaining line control of the bureaucracy of the various departments responsible for the implementation of the CSS and have thus been able to indirectly have a say in the spending of these funds. This is an important reason for the lack of adequate devolution of activities and functionaries to PRIs.
If the PRIs at the district level and below were to indeed become autonomous local governments with full control of the departments that are to be devolved to them as per the eleventh schedule then these departments would have very little left to do at the state level as the bulk of the staff and activities are concentrated at the district level and below. It is true that the overall guidance would still be provided by the higher level staff of the State departments but this would not compare with the huge responsibility currently being shouldered by them regarding the overall planning and implementation right down to the ground level. In other words the Ministers, Secretaries, Directors and the like in charge of these departments at the higher levels would lose considerable power. Moreover, the control over a substantial portion of the state tax revenue also would go to the PRIs and the State Governments would be left with even lesser financial leeway than they have at present.
This has been highlighted by the Second Administrative Reforms Commission which has noted the reluctance of State Governments and the bureaucracy to let PRIs become independent self-governing entities in accordance with the "principal of subsidiarity" which states that any activity that can be done at a lower level should not be delegated to a higher level. The ARC report also blames the skewed concentration of political power at the higher levels for the prevailing state of affairs.
This crucial clash of political interests between the State Government and the PRIs remains unaddressed and the reality is that awareness and mobilization of the politicians and the people at the PRI level is much less than that of the State level politicians. In fact what little awareness, governance skills and political power have been garnered by politicians at the PRI level is due to the management of the increased works and funds under the CSS and especially the MGNREGS and this too has not been without contradictions with State level political leadership and the bureaucracy. In fact given a situation in which presently the CSS funds are equivalent to 75% of the State Governments' own revenues, these funds are a major bone of contention between the State Government and the PRIs. By keeping the PRIs starved of infrastructure and human power the State Governments effectively ensure that the expenditure of CSS funds remains in their control.
Consequently, for effective devolution to take place and true local self-governance to materialize in the long run, there has to be a three way dialogue between the Central, State and PRI level politicians to allay the fears of the State level players regarding their marginalization. A drastic reorganization and redesigning of the political and administrative system at the state level is required to accommodate strong district and lower level PRIs on the principle of subsidiarity otherwise devolution will never be accepted by the State Governments due to the fear of their own redundancy.
Regards,
Rahul Banerjee,
Independent Consultant
Indore, Madhya Pradesh
From: JC Sharma & Ravishwar Sinha [mailto:se-decn@solutionexchange-un.net.in]
Sent: Thursday, March 21, 2013 1:08 PM
To: JC Sharma & Ravishwar Sinha
Subject: Re: [se-decn] E-DISCUSSION: Relevance of decentralization in India and ways to strengthen Panchayats. Open till 15 April 2013
Moderator's Note: We are happy to post responses from JC Sharma and Ravishwar Sinha, both of whom while highlighting the significance and relevance of decentralization in a democratic set up, also alert us to the responsibilities that come with it. We would also like to share a paper written by M. Govind Rao and T.R. Raghunandan on Panchayats and Economic Development (shared by M. Govind Rao). The paper does an in-depth analysis of relationship between development and decentralization, in addition to outlining wide range of experiences on the impact of decentralization on economic development. We hope you learn from the paper and share further responses on the discussion!
JC Sharma, Independent Consultant, Mandi, Himachal Pradesh
I am presently working as Ombudsman in district Mandi in Himachal Pradesh (HP) towards addressing complaints /problems in implementation of MNREGA scheme in the area. My observation is that there are many schemes being implemented in the HP creating employment opportunities for women which besides economically empowering them has strengthened their decision making powers at home. Additionally empowering women has resulted in an overall improvement in living standards in the area. At the same time, I wish to highlight instances where the Panchayats being invested with power, take advantage of the same, than be responsible and sincere. This is the reason for ineffective implementation of MNREGA in Mandi district, where the workers are being exploited due to increasing corruption by the panchayat officials. Even though there is public knowledge about such practices, the Gram Sabha has not conducted any social audit of the scheme. Moreover despite a full of team of District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) being present in the area, till date no monitoring exercise has taken place. In conclusion, I wish to say that such an abuse of power in schemes meant
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