However, is this the best possible solution, or should the government give these bodies a chance to prove themselves by devolving powers to the Zilla Panchayats and see how they then fare?
It is clear that the zilla panchayats in Goa have not been able to deliver. They are merely a constitutional formality created because the Constitution mandated a two-tier Panchayati Raj system for small States like Goa, instead of the three tiers in the bigger States. The Zilla Panchayats have not been a success in Goa, having to wait for the government to give them funds for everything. Consider this, the only source of income that they have is from the sale of tender forms. For everything else they depend on grants from the government.
It is essential, if the Zilla Panchayats are to be successful, that there be a separate fund created for them. The grants ¬to the ZPs are mainly for financing development works in their urisdiction and to meet administrative expenses, but they have been hard to come by. Until now the district bodies have remained at the mercy of the government that decides to dole out the finance at its discretion. Is it possible for the Zilla panchayats, or for that matter any other body, to undertake development projects with such a model of adminstration? If they are to be successful, this model has to change.
As envisaged, the panchayats were to be grassroots bodies that would empower the people through local governance, giving the people what they most required. It was the belief that the people in the villages knew what was best for them and so the development would be in tune with the aspirations of the people. But, even 28 years after the amendment to the Constitution, Goa has not seen this change take place.
In Goa, besides a few development works that the Zilla Panchayats can undertake, their role is restricted to being somewhat supervisory in nature. The institutions themselve have no important functions where work and development are concerned, but in 2015, when the then government decided to hold the Zilla Panchayat polls on party lines, the elections had drawn more interest than they merited. It turned out to be a referendum on the government functioning, as politics played out and BJP that was in power at that time did not fare as expected, having three years earlier won a majority in the Assembly.
The Zilla Panchayats have become poltical bodies that are expected to bend to the will of the government, even as the members are beholden to the local MLA. In the past, Panchayati Raj activists have termed them as ‘extension booths’ of the government and not local self-governments. Their creation did not lead to reposing power with the people, as is envisaged by the Panchayati Raj system. This can happen only when the elected representatives begin to collectively act like the local self governments ther are meant to be. The question is whether the government in a small State like Goa will allow this devolution of powers to ever take place.
Scrapping the Zilla Panchayats in Goa will weaken grassroots democracy, instead of strengthening it. What has been missing in the State is the spirit of Panchayat Raj. The State is merely doing what has been mandated by the law. The panchayat system needs to be strengthened. A weak local self governing body dependent on the government for funds and for programmes, places the reins in the hands of the government and this will not do. Any proposal to scrap the Zilla Panchayats should have a corresponding plan to strengthen grassroots democracy. Then it will work.
