HUBLI, Jan 26,2006
Panchayat raj institutions have been caught in vortex of political polemics in Karnataka.

In the hype created over the imminent fall of the Congress JDS government in Karnataka, and new combination of the JDS led by Kumaraswamy the son of Devegowda taking over with the support of the BJP, the poor panchayat raj institutions find themselves totally neglected.
The political cataclysmic changes have been product of the hung verdict given by the electorate in the elections to the zilla and taluk panchayats in Karnataka held in December. But all attention in Karnataka is on when the new combination would assume office in Karnataka rather than how exactly the newly elected members of the taluk and zilla panchayats begin their reign.
To be true, none of the three main line political parties in Karnataka were eager to have panchayat elections. They had tried their best to postpone them. But their efforts were thwarted by the intervention of the Supreme Court. Under the circumstances all were very reluctant players in the elections. Though they had some premonition about the effect of the panchayat verdict on the political scene, none of them even in their wildest dreams had bargained for the wholesale change of political equations in Karnataka. The developments may bring far-reaching changes in the political scenario of Karnataka but have certainly not augured well for the panchayat raj institutions, which are eagerly waiting to begin their five-year reign.
The panchayat elections held in December, it may be noted here mark an important phase in the history of the panchayat raj movement in Karnataka. For the first time the State Government had empowered them both functionally and financially to the extent that an amount of more than Rs. 100 crores on an average is kept for the first time at the disposal of the panchayat raj institutions in each of the 27 districts in Karnataka. Two thirds of the amount would come to the newly elected bodies, the taluk and zilla panchayats and their area of operation are clearly demarcated and funds come to them directly. This is for the first time that these institutions have been given the kind of right and responsibility and financial wherewithal to manage their institutions.
But the problem is that whether they can discharge their obligations fully. The functional and financial empowerment had been introduced formally through the budget with greater infusion of funds to the extent of Rs. 2880 crores. This started from the month of April.
But the bodies whose five-year term expired in June-July have remained under the control of the government appointed administrators. The uncertainty over the elections contributed to the further delay. Only this month the administrators are poised to hand over the charge to the people’s representatives. This means for the first nine months of the financial year, these bodies will not be exercising the powers given to them. How much can they do in the last quarter of financial year remains to be seen.
There are other problems, which need to be straightened out for them. All of them have been put on the backburner as a consequence of the political crisis of the ministry formation. Nobody is there to care or listen to the panchayat institutions as such. (ends)
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