Deliberate set back for decentralisation?

Deliberate Setback to decentralisation?

        Hubli, 6^th May 2011

           

            Has the  BJP government been giving a short  shrift  to the more than  two decade old experiment in democratic decentralisation in Karnataka, a state which was once a pioneer in the nation wide movement.?

            It appears to be positively so, going by the manner in which the gram panchayats  have been starved of the funds  ever since the BJP rule in Karnataka started three years ago.

            The gram panchayats form the cutting edge of a  three tier panchayat system (the other two, being the zilla and taluk panchayats) which works on the principle of the people joining hands to meet their development needs, instead of depending on somebody in the state capital, as is happening now. The GP is the only tier which comes in direct contact with the people at the grass root level, who have been given a right to monitor the functioning of the body through the gram sabhas.

            The resources to the panchayat bodies come from state and central plan funds , which are allocated on the basis of the clear delineation of the functions within the three bodies   Karnataka, which was among the first of the states in the country to introduce what is called as “panchayat window” in its annual budget, detailing the flow of funds directly to the three bodies directly for discharging responsibilities.

            When  the new pattern was introduced in Karnataka for the first time in 2005-2006, the GPs had been almost placed in parallel with the ZPs , in the matter of funds, with the middle level TP placed last it. The ratio of the sharing of the funds  stood at  40% (ZP), 38% (GP) and 22% (TP) And this remained so for the next three years till the BJP's rule began in Karnataka in 2008.

            A cursory study of the budget figures brings about the story of the slide back.

Year	Total allocation	Zilla Panchayat	Taluk Panchayat	Gram Panchayat
	(All in Rs. Crores)
2011-12	6041.65	3390.6	1503.59	1138.45
%		56.12	24.88	18.84
2008-09	4420.61	2330.38	779.43	1310.79
%		52.17	17.63	29.63
2007-08	3570.84	1436.69	779.39	1354.75
%		40.23	21.62	37.93

·        Zilla Panchayats: The allocation has crossed  the halfway  (56.12%). There is whopping  12% rise in its allocation, In terms of actuals it  is more than doubled   It has  moved up from Rs, 1436.69 crores to  3390.6 crores  in the past four years.

·         Gram Panchayats,: From the second position, they get relegated to third position. It finds itself relegated to the third position. Its percentage share in the allocation has plummeted from 37.93% to 18.84%. And in terms of actual, while the total allocation is undergoing an upswing, the GP sector has suffered erosion to the tune of Rs. 216 crores.

·        Taluk Panchayats have got a better deal than the gram panchayats. TPs have moved up from the third to the second position. The percentage share in the allocation has improved from 21.62% to 24.88%. Interestingly, it has recovered from erosion; it suffered in 2008-09. In terms of actual allocations, it has been more than doubled from Rs. 779.39. Crores to 1503.59 crores.

            The implications of the development are quite serious indeed. The most important tier in the three tier panchayat system, where the people can directly influence the decision making, is starved of the funds, thereby cutting down its efficacy of the instrument in serving the local population.

            The question is whether the development is deliberate or product of ignorance? There are enough indications that it could be both.

            It is a common knowledge that as a party, the BJP is not exactly enamoured of the concept of decentralisation notwithstanding the constitutional amendments brought it and enactment of state acts. (The commitment of other parties, which brought about the changes, is not in any way better. But it is a different matter).  After assuming reigns in Karnataka, it has not lifted a single finger in improving the system. It has tried its best to undermine the same.

            It’s four and half year regime in Karnataka including its stint in the short-lived coalition government with JDS, has been marked with two abortive attempts to withdraw the powers given to the gram panchayats. During the coalition government, the party held the portfolio of the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj and got an amendment curtailing the powers to the gram panchayats.  But the then Governor Mr Chaturvedi put its foot down, and returned the same on the grounds that it was violative of the Constitution. During its own three year regime, the government did try to revive the old bill but somehow held back when the details were spilled over publicly.

            The reason why the gram panchayat has been started of the funds resulting in the ratio of devolution going down is obvious. It has cut back on the allocations made.

            One glaring feature of the same has been the manner in which the gram panchayats have been totally denied the funds in the rural employment programme, especially the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, which promises 100 days of employment to the rural poor. Though the entire scheme is to be executed in the rural areas, and under the superintendence of the gram panchayats, not a single paisa has been allocated to the gram panchayats in the budget for the past three years.

            The gram panchayats did get the around half of the total allocation of Rs. 421.48 crores in the year 2007-08. But they did not get a single paisa in the years that followed, when the allocation of the scheme, has constantly increased to touch a whopping figure of Rs. 1272 crores for the current year.

            While official website of the Union Ministry of Panchayat Raj, shows how the funds are distributed between the zilla and the gram panchayats, there is no mention of the allocation of any fund to the gram panchayats in the budgets presented including the one for the present year. The inference is obvious.

Eom  06.13 hours  6.05.2011

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