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GOVERNANCE
& INSTITUTIONS
III. Putting Restructured
Governance in Practice
1.
Functional Intervention
a) Principles and
Practice of Functional Interventions
The prime objective of functional intervention is to
restructure the political institutions of Bihar to respond to the present
socio-economic needs. The steps for rectifying the malfunctioning of political
institutions discussed earlier would require an institutional structure that:
·
Distributes available developmental resources judiciously and
equitably.
·
Brings out the ‘desired’ transformation in society not through imposed
ideas but through allowing the participation of stakeholders in the decision
making process.
·
Control over the development process in order to bridge the gap between
political empowerment and economic deprivation.
Box-5 State- Society Interaction |
|||
Paradigm Developmental |
State Hegemonic
leader |
Society Object
of transformation |
Institutional
Process Bureaucracy, rationale planning (Source:
Mitra & Singh: 1998) |
Participatory Governance |
One
of the players, albeit a major
player |
Partner
in transformation |
De-centralised political
and bureaucratic institutions, Civil Society Institutions/ Organisations,
Plan generated from below |
·
Introduces maximum transparency in information sharing in the
development related data and processes [21].
In such an endeavour, it should be recognised that a
viable system has to be centralised and decentralised at the same time. It has
to be decentralised for local initiative and centralised for the purpose of
coordination and harmonisation of the conflicting needs of the various parts of
the system.
The Bihar State
Planning Board, which is characterised by a severe handicap, has to be
urgently revived and restructured. It has to play the role of coordinator and
distributor of resources, resolve conflicts and recommend and supply technical
skills demanded/claimed by the District Planning Boards (creation of District
Planning Board is discussed in the next section). The recommendations of the
Board on all the aspects have to be based on data obtained through extensive
research. One can learn the lesson from the Central Planning Commission, which
executes innumerable studies for such purposes. This in turn will necessitate
the revival of state
level research institutions[22],
formation of specific committees with representation of elected government
bodies, people’s institutions and civil society actors to review and give
specific policy suggestions.
Once
the central coordination and local initiative mechanisms are in place, the
planning process needs to be initiated from the local to the state level. Plans
of relevance to local problems must be first made at the lowest level (third
tier of the local elected bodies) and pulled up to state level via the
intermediate level of integration. This process of decentralised planning
culminating in an integrated state plan alone can avoid the reality of local
misappropriation and subversion of central plans during implementation. The
democratic and scientific formulation of plans again needs to be implemented in
a decentralised way through local level institutions. That is to say that the
third tier of the local bodies will be at the base of the planning and
implementation process as well. Keeping in mind the above discussion the role
of governance in the context of newly created Panchayati Raj Institutions
(PRIs) is discussed below. Regional and state level problems would require
corresponding levels of planning capabilities and institutions that may lie within
the jurisdiction of the state planning board.
With 90 per cent
of the population in rural areas, PRIs have to play an important role in
translating the vision into practice.
Article 243 –G of
the Indian Constitution endows the state legislature with sufficient power and
authority to enact the necessary legislation for enabling the Panchayats to
function as institutions of self –government.
The latter indicates Panchayats should be made responsible for
preparation of plans and their execution for economic development and social
justice with reference to the 29 subjects listed in the 11th
schedule of the Constitution. Accordingly, the Bihar State Panchayat Raj Act,
1993[23]
was passed and operationalised. Panchayat elections
in Bihar were held after a lapse of 23 years. This has unleashed the potential
for the operationalisation of democratic and decentralised political and
administrative governance structures through people’s organisations in the form
of 8471 Gram Panchayats, 529 Panchayat Samitis and 37 Zila Parishads.
Representation
and Historical Significance
Accordingly, constitutional space was
created for the direct election of 116036 Gram
Panchayat members, 8471 Gram Panchayat Mukhias, 11611 Panchayat Samiti
members and 1162 Zila Parishad members. These elections have also
democratically articulated the political assertion of the hitherto politically
and economically depressed castes/ classes (See Annexure II)
Status of
Devolution of Responsibilities and Powers Upon Panchayats: A Macro View
Delegation of
responsibilities to these constitutionally elected bodies took place with the
issue of executive orders from the respective departments in October 2001. The
avowed aim of these orders is to make the local level governance structure the
real centre of power and hence they gave a list of 17 departments and their
activities, responsibility and schemes to be transferred to Panchayats.
The Panchayat’s
duties and functions can be clubbed under the following heads.
Development Role- Planning, execution,
supervision, ensuring compliance of government schemes, monitoring, inspection
and reporting of policies of social and economic development. Further the
Panchayats are also supposed to maintain common property and common pool resources.
Mediation- Various
levels of Panchayats, namely, Zila Parishad, Panchayat Samiti and Gram
Panchayat are supposed to facilitate liaisons between government,
banks, training institutions and the people as well as provide linkages between
people and various tiers of local self government.
Promoting People’s Institution – The creation of the local tier of the
governance structure has also provided space for these organisations to throw
up people’s institutions[24]
thereby allowing the centralised government apparatus to make a shift
from direct decision making to local level decision making. Such institutions
can range from beneficiary committees in minor irrigation, rural development
schemes, education committees, vigilance committee, social justice committee
etc. These institutions are bound to
have a positive impact because they
i)
are controlled by locals.
ii)
will reflect local priorities.
iii)
will promote and gradually
ensure local vigilance.
iv)
empower the locals.
Empowered institutions that plan and execute schemes of economic and
social development can only work efficiently and effectively provided
sufficient powers and authority are devolved in multiple directions, that is,
there is power and authority in respect of the following:
i)
Functions – The functions of
planning and execution related to 29 subjects listed under the 11th
schedule should be under the jurisdiction of Panchayats.
ii)
Functionaries – The functionaries
of various staff and line departments should be under the administrative
supervision and control of the elected representative body. Supervision and
control over the level(s) of the administrative hierarchy should correspond to
the type of functions entrusted to the level(s) of the elected representative
body. This would entail sanctioning of leave, making the official accountable
to the elected representatives for her/his absence, authority to take
disciplinary action against erring officials, transfer of officials within the
same district/block(s), having a say in the writing of the annual confidential
report.
iii)
Funds – Any institution of self-government can only
respond to the local level social and developmental needs provided it has
corresponding funds to do the same. This demands transfer of required funds
corresponding to the functions transferred. This should also be complemented
with sufficient financial autonomy.
Financial autonomy connotes a broad framework of rules and regulations
coupled with required checks and balances that may allow Panchayats to raise
and spend funds in respect to the functions devolved without taking prior
approval of district or block level officials.
The effectiveness of Panchayats in accomplishing the expected tasks
concerning local self-governance can only be realised provided sufficient funds
are available[25] and
functionaries are under the administrative supervision and control of the
Panchayats. However, any disjunction between these three essential variables
can at best stifle the effective functioning of the Panchayats. If there are no
funds, the authority to carry out the functions remains on paper. More
importantly delineation of functions and availability of funds will be of use
only if the Panchayats have the power to administratively supervise and control
the functionaries responsible for such functions. In the absence of any power
of Panchayats to hold the functionary accountable for her/ his presence as per
the demand of the function(s), recommend initiation of disciplinary action for
gross misconduct of duties etc, there will always be a conflict between the
supervision authority of the Panchayats and administrative control of the
department heads. Presently, there is a lack of compatibility between functions
devolved and, functionaries assigned and funds allotted (See Annexure III).
Most of the roles delegated to the Panchayats are of a supervisory
nature without sufficient powers to control the programmes, activities and
development schemes. The conflict between the supervisory authority of the
Panchayats and administrative control of the department heads over the staff of
their respective departments and financial control of Chief Executive Officer
(CEO) of the Zila Parishad also known as Deputy Development Commissioner (DDC)
at district level and Block Development Officer (BDO) has left behind a trail
of issues, which needs to be immediately resolved in the interest of the
original vision of local self-governance.
There is massive mutual distrust amongst the senior bureaucrats with
regard to capacity of the elected bodies to discharge their functions
effectively. This distrust of the bureaucracy emanates more from the patterned
political economy of corruption and political violence and ills of majoritarian
democracy (dominant/ entrenched[26]
social category cornering the benefits) rampant in the state rather than the
physical capacity of the elected bodies to carry out a planned development
initiative. Similarly the Panchayat’s elected representatives believe that
senior bureaucrats are more interested in sustaining their prime postings
through investing their energy and time in pleasing their political masters
rather than thinking of innovative ways to strengthen the local governance structure.
Moreover it is also argued that strengthening of Panchayats will also mean
weakening of the control and power of the bureaucracy and hence the latter is
not interested in making Panchayats effective.
There is burgeoning conflict between the different levels of
representative authorities and executive authorities emanating from lack of
power and control over funds and functionaries of the former. For instance, the operational provisions of
the Panchayats propose a ‘functional’ control of the Panchayats over the
functionaries and funds of district development schemes. In practice it has
meant the CEO/DDC is responsible for all the money that is to be withdrawn
though overall control is with the elected chairman. Similarly (BDO) at the
block level controls the funds. There are numerous instances where a mismatch
between the worldview of executives and elected representatives has strained
the working relationship between them resulting in stalling of crucial
development policies. This is more so in the case of mutual distrust as
discussed above.
Presently the work of the higher tier of Panchayats (Zila Parisahad,
Panchayat Samiti) is limited to the supervision and monitoring of the works of the lower tier of Panchayats,
implementation of development schemes, functioning of the educational
instititutions, preparation of plans for social forestry, rural development
schemes[27],
forwarding of leave applications and other work of a similar nature. The staff remain accountable to their
respective district heads though in certain matters they are supposed to move
the papers to the elected representatives for their formal consent. However there are a couple of exceptions to
this normal rule. The Department of Health, Medical Education and Family
Planning has allowed the Zila Parishad as a body to initiate disciplinary
proceedings against the erring doctors but again it is silence in the case of
other erring department functionaries. Similar is the case with the Department
of Adult and Primary Education that goes to the extent of granting the
Chairperson and Pramukh power to initiate disciplinary action as well as the
power to transfer teachers within their districts or blocks respectively but
the same order is absolutely silent over similar issues pertaining to other
department functionaries.
At the level of Gram
Panchayats, the functions mostly boil down to identification, selection of
beneficiaries and delivering the services to the beneficiaries. But it should
be taken into account that Gram Panchayats have relatively more executive
powers with respect to administrative control over various department
functionaries posted at this level. In most cases it has meant the salary of
the Panchayat level worker will be released by the officers of the department
concerned after getting their attendance cleared from the Panchayat Mukhia. The
parent department can only initiate disciplinary action for negligence of duty.
However, with regard to the staff of a few departments such as Department of
Water Management and Minor Irrigation, Department of Energy, Department of
Primary and Secondary Education, the Panchayat can recommend disciplinary
action or have their views taken into account while writing the Annual
Confidential Report.
Nevertheless an ideal mix is yet to be achieved in terms of functions
devolved, functionaries put under their control and transfer of funds at the
level of Gram Panchayat. For instance, Department of Aid and Rehabilitation
explicitly makes the Mukhia responsible for any death due to hunger while food
items are available at the PDS shop. This ideally demands that PDS shops at the
village level should be under the control of the elected representatives.
However, the powers devolved by the Department of Food and Civil Supplies is
limited to inspection of the PDS shop through the vigilance committee and if
any discrepancy is found, the Panchayat should approach the concerned
government state government official. Similarly in the case of the Social
Welfare department, the Panchayat makes the selection of anganwadi worker but
the government departments make the appointment and she remains under the
control of their department superiors. Likewise the Department of Water
Management and Minor Irrigation entrusts the management and maintenance of
minor irrigation schemes to the beneficiary committees under the supervision of
the Gram Panchayat but revenue collection remains the prerogative of the
government. The Department of Rural Development entrusts the Panchayats with
the preparation of local level plans. But the manner in which funds have to be
spent, what should be the priority of the schemes and the amount of money to be
spent is decided beforehand by the executive orders.
The nature of analysis with respect to each and
every department can be multiplied. The point, which we wish to draw with the
help of the above example being that despite all the rhetoric, the actual
functioning is controlled by the district administration and there is a major
inconsistency with respect to functions devolved and the corresponding
functionaries as well as the funds for carrying out the functions.
State of Finances
The exercise to devolve power to the Panchayats started from October
2001 onwards. The funds that should be
transferred to them for their activities is decided by the State Finance
Commission. The report of the State Finance Commission is still awaited. This
delay can be partially attributed to the absence of the full time appointment
of a chairperson and members of the commission.
However in the interim the State Finance Commission recommended that
the money given by the central 11th Finance Commission which amounts
to 108.75 crores per year will be distributed amongst the Gram Panchayat,
Panchayat Samiti and Zila Parishad in the ratio of 93: 6: 1 respectively. All
Gram Panchayats are given equal amounts irrespective of the size of the
population though the Panchayat Samiti and Zila Parishad share is decided by
the provisional population figures published by the Census 2001.
The money is supposed to be utilised for the creation of basic social
infrastructure (education, health, hygiene, lighting etc,)
Functioning of Panchayats: A
Micro Analysis
A field visit was undertaken to four Panchayats, all in Patna district
to ascertain the perception of the lowest level elected representatives and
villagers with regards to the functioning of newly elected local governance
structure. The names of the Panchayats are Dhanarva, Patoot,
Aktiyarpur-Majhauli and Danhara Kathari.
The following pages generalise the strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities, threats of the elected bodies.
Strengths
Increase in Financial
Absorption Capacity: The financial absorption capacity at the lowest
level of implementation has tremendously increased. The money transferred to
these Panchayats as part of the grant from the Finance Commission and Centrally
Sponsored Schemes was put into use immediately without any delay. The money
received from the former source was used mostly for construction of the village
main road, sanitation and so on.
Social Accountability: The coming of Panchayats has not meant
decentralisation of corruption but it has actually lowered the amount of
bribery given for getting clearance of individual grants from schemes such as
Indira Aawas Yojana. Villagers feel that local level
leaders are continuously under watch and any disproportionate increase in their
wealth will put them in bad books of voters and hence they will prefer not to
be blatantly corrupt.
Space for Preparing Local
level Plans: The Gram
Panchayats provide a platform, though it has not still been institutionalised
both by the executive orders (save in certain centrally sponsored schemes) and
political practices of Gram Panchayats, to prepare plans for the local level
development needs.
Accountability of Local
Level Departmental Functionaries: As discussed
before certain government staffs are officially accountable to the Mukhia of
Gram Panchayat. It is felt by the villagers that the attendance of teachers in
school and health workers in the dispensary has increased after the coming of
Panchayats. Further with the Panchayats given the power to appoint Para
teachers, it is also felt that attendance of the students in the school has
increased.
Wide Social Space: The Panchayats
have provided a space for the hitherto marginalised social categories a
political and social space for asserting their livelihood needs. However, this
is highly dependent on the technical
and legal capacity of the Panchayat and consequent institutionalisation of the
opportunities.
Weaknesses
Not All Provisions of the
Act Operationalised: The Bihar State
Panchayat Raj Act, 1993 was passed and consequent elections held. However not
all sections of the act have been operationalised by executive orders.
Ambiguity of Roles and
Responsibilities: Most of the elected representatives are still not
aware of their duties and responsibilities. The potentials of the act are still
to be demystified. An urgent need is there to build the technical and legal
capacities of the elected bodies so that they can at least efficiently perform
their assigned functions.
Role of Elected Members Not
Clear – The power of the members of Zila Prishad, Panchayat Samiti and Gram
Panchyats have not been delineated properly by the act itself. This becomes
very clear at the lowest tier of governance, where the Panchayat Mukhia has
appropriated all the powers. Ward member responsibilities are not defined by
the act
Gram Mukhia’s Whims– Local level plans
and distribution of development resources are supposed to be distributed as per
the decision taken by the Aam Sabha. The rules require that the Aam Sabha should pass any plan for the
execution of development schemes and if the required quorum is not obtained,
the Mukhia in the presence of five adult members of the Gram Sabha can pass the
same resolution at the next meeting. Therefore in absence of good publicity, it
is highly unlikely that the required quorum can be achieved and it gives the
opportunity to the Mukhia to carry on the work as per his wisdom.
Opportunities
Planning and Implementation
from Below: The local level governance structures have provided an opportunity for
the people to put their act in motion and enable their development needs and
priorities to get reflected in the development plans. This basically means the
possibility of the plans being first made at the lowest level (third tier of
the local elected bodies) and pulled up to state level via the intermediate
level of integration. This process of decentralised planning culminating in an
integrated state plan alone can avoid the reality of local misappropriation and
subversion of the central plan during implementation.
Raising of Revenue: The available
political space can be used for raising the revenue through several means
(users charges, leasing out village property, toll taxes etc) for providing a
catalyst force to development funds received from a higher level of government.
Threats
Conflict between Executive
and Elected Representatives: As discussed before there is a burgeoning conflict
between the elected representatives and the executives over jurisdiction of
their respective authorities. If the rules and regulations are not changed
progressively as per the requirements of the original act of the parliament,
the local level governance structure is bound to collapse.
Lack of Transfer of
Resources: Presently the activities of the Panchayats are limited to the
implementation of the centrally sponsored schemes. This is definitely a step
forward for the state of Bihar. Nevertheless promoting and sustaining the
financial health of these institutions, especially by the state government is
crucial for their expected vibrancy.
Capture by Dominant/
Entrenched Interests: Any institutions through which development funds
are chanellised is prone to collapse under the weight of vested interests. This
demands not only the creation of institutions for promoting transparency and
accountability but also pushing in place micro level institutions under the
leadership of Gram Panchayats for channelising development funds.
The disturbing
trends emerging from the macro and micro analysis of the Panchayat regime in
the state has thrown up some questions which need to be addressed for the
success of the larger vision behind the enactment of the central legislation on
Panchayats. The paper proposes that the Panchayats should take the following
trajectory in order to meet the professed goal of economic development and
social justice.
·
Tracks of the
Future
Any successful initiation of the rural governance
structure would result in further maturity of the local level political
institutions. This will encourage a strong case for further devolution of
powers and functions which are at the moment, though provided by the act, are
still under the control of the executive.
This will require a shift at multiple levels, though
cautious optimism is called for.
The first step in this direction would be the
creation of a District Government and a District Planning Board. A district
government with the representation of the Zila Panchayat, Panchayat Samitis and
the Gram Panchayat should be entrusted with all district level plans, their
monitoring, evaluation and restructuring if required[28].
All such initiatives in the local governance institutions have to be
complemented with a right to information so as to make the governance more
responsive, transparent and accountable.
This involvement of stakeholders in the planning
process is important because institutions of formal democracy may exclude the numerically
underrepresented social groups. This kind of exclusion may create a politically
destabilising situation. Here comes the role of institutions that are
compatible with the local socio-political and economic milieu. Such institutions represented by the stakeholders
can be of a varied nature: seed bank committee, grain banks committee,
irrigation club, water users committee, education committee, development
programme beneficiaries committee, street lighting committee, health committee,
joint forest management committees, cooperatives of different kinds etc.
Creation and acknowledgment of such institutional initiatives coupled with a
facilitating decentralised bureaucracy will increase the funds absorption
capacity of the government. Further:
(a) Stakeholders
should help the District Planning Board in the formulation of specific local
plans under the supervision of gram panchayats, panchayat samitis and zila
parishads;
(b) Delivery of the development
benefits should be routed through the beneficiary committee constituted by the
gram sabha under the supervision of the gram panchayat; and
(c) The creation,
operation and maintenance of various social and economic infrastructures
(irrigation assets, schools, water users, health facilities, street lighting,
community taps, soil and water conservation etc) can be routed through users
groups, cooperatives which can not only manage but also decide and collect the
suitable user charge for operation and maintenance expenditure[29].
Fiscal Autonomy
The fiscal autonomy[30]
should be adequately high. In another words the revenue dependency[31]
should be very low. This can be achieved by a high level of revenue
decentralisation[32]. Since the Panchayati Raj institutions are in
its formative year, it is not possible to comment on the effectiveness of these
parameters in the context of Bihar. However based on the experience of the
other states, their successes and constraints, few broad principles can be
delineated for establishing effective fiscal autonomy. This requires working
from the lowest tier to the highest that is, from Gram Panchayat to Zila
Parishad.
A broad trajectory can be drawn based on the
experience of other states for satisfying the second sub-principle. Therefore
the sub-tenet flowing from the primary tenet demands that the tax base should be inelastic, that is,
the commitment of paying tax should not lead to lowering of the consumption of
goods. Hence it demands adhering to the following norms:
1. Pure Public Goods – Capital costs, for instance the cost incurred in
constructing/installing a school building, roads, electricity transformers etc
should be borne by the inter and intra government transfer. However, it should
be maintained through taxes collected by local authorities[33].
2. Goods, which have the excludability characteristics – For instance
irrigation water, electricity charges etc should be financed by users charges.
3. Externalities – Any contingency and
urgent unplanned expenditure should be borne by inter and intra-governmental
transfers.
Rationale for
Levying User Charges- Experience of other states point out that the Gram
Panchayat has been empowered to levy more than 20 taxes but in practice most
Panchayats impose not more than four to five types of taxes. Even this tax
collection is not optimum owing to administrative lacunae and local political
compulsions.
It should be
remembered that user charges are the most important source of local revenue.
They are also a means to finance the recurrent costs and raise surplus for
other social investments. Further, access to free public service tends to be
limited and those who have to resort to private means are often the most
poor. It follows that user charges of various services must be sufficiently
high to maintain effective service, deter overuse and avoid rationing by less
efficient and less equitable means. The ability of the gram panchayat to
finance its own expenditures (expenditure de-centralisation) from its own
revenues will invariably make these bodies move progressively towards fiscal
autonomy/ lower revenue dependence and finally ushering in an era of genuine and
empowered decision-making.
Some incentive mechanism should develop in shared
resource transfer for the panchayats which perform well in the collection of
user charges and other taxes. For instance if some percentage matching
contribution is expected from the Panchayats for availing of government grants,
there may perhaps be some revenue generation effort at the local level.
The experience of other states also points out that
Zila Parishads and Panchayat Samitis are heavily dependent on inter and intra government
transfers. There own revenue earnings are almost negligible and they mostly
work as forwarding agents of the developmental funds earmarked for Gram
Panchayats. The three tenets of taxation also apply to this level of local
bodies but at the same time substantial inter and intra government transfer of
funds is required for translation of the vision of a District Planning Board
and District Government into practice.
Capacity Building
of Local Bodies
The success of these local institutions is dependent
on its ability to perform the crucial roles which it has been entrusted with.
This will urgently require a capacity building exercise for the members elected
to these local bodies. Hence there is a crucial need to train these local
governance functionaries in the following skills.
i)
To imbibe a vision of de-centralisation
ii)
To plan developmental programmes and processes and their skilful management
iii)
To comprehend the constitutional and legal aspects of local bodies
iv)
To study the procedural aspects of local bodies
v)
To learn the audit and accounting System
vi)
To understand the necessity to pursue governmental policies in an
equitable manner.
vii)
To submit to sensitisation over caste and gender issues.
The Role of NGOs
NGOs have an important role to play in the context
of rural development. They can serve as
an agency for mobilising people for promoting participatory development, act as
delivery agents, and execute the rural development policies in association with
the panchayats, user groups and the community. NGOs can also be effective in
making the local government more transparent and accountable, articulate
people’s needs and train people towards decentralised empowered governance. For
instance the Tamil Nadu Women Development Corporation has successfully employed
local level NGOs for mobilising women into self-help groups. The role of these
NGOs has been so effective that many of the members have not only started their
own income generating enterprises they have also been successful in getting
elected to important posts in the local political institutions.
The government has to consciously create space for
NGOs in development efforts. For instance many schemes and acts of the central
government in health, juvenile justice, monitoring and distribution, rural
development and so forth, explicitly demand involvement of NGOs in promoting
participation of the most vulnerable. But such initiative has so far been
lacking in the state. The governance apparatus has to facilitate the coming up
of NGOs through specific policy directions and guidelines. This is more in the
form of constructive interface between government institutions, PRIs, and NGOs
rather than a total transfer of role and responsibilities.
Bihar has a rich history of peasant
movements. The history of development reforms across the globe as well within
the country informs us that reforms based on local social strength and culture
have greater chances of success. The
state should consciously promote organisation of the rural poor. This obligation
of the state arises legally from its ratification of the ILO convention number
141 on rural workers organisations. Such organisations once encouraged by its
very logic will be able to articulate the interest of the majority and will
force the political executive to understand and address the needs from the
standpoint of the people. Some scholars have argued that the contemporary
peasant movement in some parts of the state have not only empowered the poor,
they have also helped in the better execution of government programmes and
policies, albeit in a limited way. Apart from peasant organisations, other
beneficiaries' have also played such roles (Sharma, 1995).
In the light of the vision of
decentralised planning and implementation discussed above it also becomes
essential that a broad framework of administrative and financial powers of
Panchayats be delineated.
Proposed
Administrative and Financial Powers of the Panchayats
Premises
Underlying the Proposed Devolution of Power
i) To
facilitate preparation of plans first made at the lowest level (third tier of
the local elected bodies) and brought up to state level via the intermediate
level of integration.
ii) To
facilitate such institutional arrangements that may allow the most socially and
economically marginalised section of the citizenry to articulate their concerns
in preparation of plans and execution of development policies.
iii) To
ensure that the functions appropriate for a given tier of Panchayat are not be
usurped by a higher level.
iv) To
ensure complete harmony between the function to be performed by the
decentralised governance structure and the availability of the financial
resources. Thus expenditure decentralisation[34]
and fiscal autonomy are different sides of the same coin.
v) To
see that the sources of revenue generation have a local base while also
avoiding multiple or overlapping jurisdiction
Keeping in view the above principles,
administrative and financial powers can be devolved among the three tiers of
Panchayats as under.