VRISHANK MAHATME
vrishank@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: Weakened panchayats with constant monitoring from the government have not been able to make the desired changes at the village level, feel panchayati raj activists.
Issues that come under the purview of the panchayats are being repeatedly stepped upon by other authorities, leading to confusion as various panchayat works and other task are being claimed by the Zilla Parishads (ZP) as well as the District Administration and even by the local MLA and MP.
Government control over the village bodies has led to the panchayats seldom proving to be effective and the masses at the grassroots level are yet to gain any benefits from the existing system.
It was to bridge these shortcomings, that Part IX, consisting of Article 243 to 243 was inserted by the Constitution (73rd Amendment) Act, 1992, but has not proved effective.
Speaking to Herald, Panchayat Raj activist Soter D’Souza said, “It is the same problem. Panchayats were to operate as local self governments with clear cut functions and all those are listed in Schedule 11 of the Act. Now, these areas are specific to panchayats but what has happened is that in Goa the powers lie with panchayats as well as with State government agencies so there is parallel governance running.”
Giving an example he said, “There has been a case in St Cruz where a drain has been tendered by three different agencies – the panchayat, ZP and PWD – so basically it is a scam and there may be many such cases. As far as accountability and transparency is concerned, it is a very bad practice that is going on.”
It was also revealed that village panchayats are controlled and supervised by ZPs, Panchayat Samitis and their officers. The State government also has direct control over panchayats through the District Collector. District village panchayat officers work under the ZP to supervise and control the village panchayats, and are appointed by the State government. There is however, no proper machinery for the public to air their grievances and control malpractices in ZP.
“Today there is more of government interference in panchayats. In terms of funds sent to the panchayats, they are not sufficient for the development and betterment of the village,” said former sarpanch of Goltim Navelim, Prasad Harmalkar.
Another expert said that parallel administrative bodies were created and government reduced funds considerably. During the period of national emergency, bureaucracy got the upper hand and these institutions lost their significance. The village panchayats were made subordinate units of government to implement its programmes, he said.
Experts state that the only solution is that clear demarcations should be made and that the reason for why the CAG has not included this in their report is a matter of concern.
