IRMA to host two-day financial conference

On a request from the Thirteenth Finance Commission of the Government of India, the Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA) will be organising a two-day conference on December 22-23 on ‘Issues Before the Finance Commission: Empowering Panchayati Raj Institution s (PRI)’.
 
The event, to be inaugurated by Dr. Vijay Kelkar, chairman of the Finance Commission, and Prof. YK. Alagh, chairman, IRMA, will deliberate on issues concerning fiscal devolution to PRIs and creation of devolution systems from the centre and states to panchayats at different levels.  More specifically, the conference will focus on the measures needed to augment the Consolidated Fund of a state to supplement the resources of the panchayats and municipalities in the state on the basis of recommendations made by the Finance Commission of the state. The conference will review the past experience and identify ways and strategies which could help in arriving at an effective financial devolution mechanism to PRIs and municipalities as per the TOR.
 
The discussions at the conference is expected to help Finance Commissions, both at central and state level,   to evolve specific policy initiatives that may streamline and strengthen the process of fiscal devolution to the PRIs.
 
Around 40 participants comprising scholars and experts working in the field of financial decentralisation to the PRIs, representatives of the Panchayati Raj and rural development departments of the Government of India and the state governments will be presenting papers on select themes of ‘Review of earlier recommendations’, ‘Financial devolution to PRIs and incentivising states’, ‘Working of state finance commissions’, ‘Accounting, data base and capacity building of PRIs’, ‘Issues concerning broader decentralisation’ and ‘Analysis of the constitutional asymmetry in devolution between centre and state and state and local bodies’.
 
The conference grows out of IRMA’s completion of the ‘State of Panchayats report 2007-08,’ which was released by the Prime Minister in April 2008.  Based on the conference proceedings, a framework of recommendations will be submitted to the Thirteenth Finance Commission.