Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually inaugurated Panchayati Raj Parishad, a two-day training conference held in Haryana. He was expected to give concrete guidance on how the Panchayati Raj system can be made stronger but he used this opportunity to talk about what Congress did not do in this regard. He said that Congress could not understand for four decades how important it was to implement the Panchayati Raj system and that no concrete efforts were made to strengthen the Panchayati Raj institutions during the Congress rule.
Modi’s statements are partially true but people have elected BJP to power so that they do what needs to be done. BJP should take steps to strengthen the Panchayati Raj system otherwise the future governments will accuse the current government likewise. For how long is this chain going to continue? Indeed, it is not true to say that the Congress did not do anything in regards with Panchayati Raj. The Panchayati Raj system was not given enough importance in the initial years after the country became independent. The panchayat elections were not held in many villages. Zilla panchayats and taluka panchayats did not exist in many states. However, it’s the Congress government which brought in the new law through the amendment in 1992 to strengthen the panchayati raj system.
The amendments to strengthen local bodies are famously known as 73rd Amendment Act & 74th Amendment Act(for municipalities). The amendment aimed at decentralisation of power by creating a three tier Panchayati Raj system. The three tiers included zilla panchayats, taluka panchayats and gram panchayats. Ofcourse, the smaller states were given the liberty to accept a two tier system but zilla panchayat and gram panchayat levels were made mandatory. The introduction of this amendment started a new era in rural India. Apart from decentralisation of power, increasing public participation in the administration was another main objective of the amendment. The objective of increasing public participation seems to be fulfilling however the decentralisation of power is questionable. Everything depends on how much funds and rights the State governments and Centre provides to zilla, taluka and village panchayats.
The Act currently in force is Congress’ gift so it would not be right to say that the Congress regime did not do anything to strengthen the Panchayati Raj system. The governments, at the Centre and in the states both, are largely responsible for the implementation of the Panchayati Raj Act. It would be a matter of study if that goal has been achieved.
Considering Goa, many questions could be asked to the government. The panchayats will be strengthened when they attain stability however the constant no-trust votes tabled against sarpanchas is a matter of concern. The ruling MLAs in order to elect a sarpanch of his choosing put pressure on the panchayat members to table a motion of no confidence on the existing sarpanch. Sometimes such motions are tabled within 24 hours of panchayat member being newly elected to the post of sarpanch and this incident has happened during the BJP regime in Goa. The saffron party has been ruling Goa since 2012 and many of such incidents have taken place during their rule. So for how long the ruling party aims to blame Congress? There are zilla panchayats in Goa which were established according to the Central government’s policy and as per the Amendment. However, these zilla panchayats hold no major importance. Every candidate elected to the zilla panchayat complains about not having any rights.
How can this situation be improved? The distribution of funds and the rights should happen in the order of the State government, zilla panchayat and then the village panchayat. However, the zilla panchayat is sidelined in this regard. How will they be strengthened then? Zilla panchayats hold great importance in states such as Maharashtra and possess powers too. In the interim, the tier of taluka panchayat was included in Goa’s Panchayati Raj system but it never was implemented. No elections were held for the taluka panchayat either but it is there in the Act. It is necessary to remove it from the law. Presently the garbage management and the approval to the constructions are the subjects which are hotly discussed. The government will have to resolve these issues on their own. It would be advisable to hold a similar training conference on Panchayati Raj system in Goa too so that the improvements can be discussed and implemented.
