A shot at self-governance

As many as seven ministerial-level round table conferences on panchayati raj have been held in just six months to spur the states to put these grassroots democratic institutions in order.

This bears out the importance the UPA government is giving to this issue, for understandable reasons: the promise of local self-government has rarely been matched by delivery on the ground, but the promise exists. Among the things needed is an effective devolution of powers to enable the local bodies to plan and implement development projects.

From this viewpoint, the 150-odd recommendations made in these seven conferences address most of the issues that have been impeding the effective functioning of the panchayati raj institutions.

Going a step further, these resolutions also stipulate a regular monitoring of the empowerment of the panchayats and municipalities, as also of their performance.

For this, the Planning Commission is sought to be involved in creating a devolution index of functions for panchayat bodies. State governments have been urged to bring annual "state of the panchayats reports" containing an informed appraisal of their work.

Civil society is sought to involved in these tasks to ensure transparency. Since the availability of funds is crucial for the success of any developmental effort, state finance commissions have been asked to pay attention to this aspect.

Besides, local bodies have been asked to generate their own resources through taxation as allowed under the new statute. District-level bodies are to help in resource augmentation by issuing bonds.

One of the problems faced by local bodies is the dominance of the district rural development agencies (DRDAs). This issue was addressed in the very first round table meet, which suggested re-naming and re-orienting them as district panchayat development agencies.

One resolution also laid down the creation of district planning commissions with a greater say for local bodies, and discouraged the creation of parallel bodies for implementing development schemes.

In fact, great faith has been reposed in the gram sabhas, which are to function as mini-assemblies. The general public which constitutes these gram sabhas is supposed to conduct an audit of the functioning of the panchayats and keep a check on the misuse of funds.

As far as the capacity building of the panchayati raj functionaries is concerned, an elaborate training plan has been outlined.

The effectiveness of these measures will depend on how they are implemented, and this is of course the usual problem. The past record of state governments does not inspire confidence.

The proposed council of panchayati raj ministers for overseeing implementation, therefore, will have a real job on hand. Otherwise, the good work done in these round table conferences will be of little avail.