Centre plans direct link to panchayats

Panel discusses non-devolution of powers by state governments to local bodies.

The Centre, frustrated with the cold response from state governments on devolution of financial powers to panchayats, especially with regards to centrally sponsored schemes, has chalked out a plan to get states to shed their powers over panchayats. The move is likely to meet with stiff resistance from state governments.

A meeting of the empowered sub-committee of the National Development Council, presided over by Panchayati Raj Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar, discussed some of these issues yesterday. Two members of the Planning Commission and eight representatives of state governments also attended the meeting.

If implemented, the move will strip states of their powers over a major chunk of annual funds, giving the Centre direct control. The funds will be eventually devolved to panchayats.

It is big money. Centrally sponsored schemes account for Rs 81,000 crore annual funds to states, with 12 or 13 schemes under the Bharat Nirman programme accounting for Rs 71,000 crore.

As a first step, a meeting of the National Development Council chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will discuss the empowerment of panchayats.

Yesterday's meeting also discussed a total recast of centrally sponsored schemes to make them panchayat-centric. Previous efforts towards this had failed, Aiyar admitted.

A committee has been notified to operationalise the recast, according to the panchayat raj ministry, which is acting as an intermediary between state governments and the Planning Commission. The committee, supported by the commission, will work under the Cabinet Secretary and the Panchayati Raj Secretary.

The Centre is also concerned about the delay by states in declaring the exact devolution of funds and functions and functionaries through activity mapping. Only Assam, Bengal, Sikkim, Kerala and Karnataka have done activity mapping so far.

The panchayati raj ministry, which had earlier asked states to show where they stand in devolution, is also rethinking this unilateral strategy. It now feels that states should be consulted on activity mapping.

Conscious of the radical implications of the proposal, officials said the minister's announcement was on the spur of the moment and the modalities were yet to be worked out.

Ministry officials denied the Centre was trying to strip states of their powers to directly control its funds to panchayats. It was not disempowerment of states, said a top official, adding the move was aimed at better implementation of the schemes.

Meetings between panchayati raj secretaries and the secretaries concerned with centrally sponsored schemes are likely in the near future.