Panchayati Raj Act yet to implement fully in State 21 April 2014:Even though it has been more than 20 years since the Manipur Panchayati Raj Act 1994 was enacted, the state government is yet to fully implement the act in the Panchayati Raj Institution in the state. The Act, which was enacted with the aim to make the PRIs in the state an autonomous and powerful body, is just for namesake in the state. Expert opinions claim that such situation is an outcome of the negligence of government machineries and Panchayati Raj Institute’s lack of proper knowledge in this regard. Sources said that Panchayat in the state are rather not interested in the actual rights and power of the Panchayati Raj as they seem to be interested in some projects or schemes only. They are unable to submit utilisation certificates in time and they always submit lump sum amount for various projects instead of submitting a detailed project report and this has led to loss of various benefits and funds from the Centre. As per the provisions of the Act, Panchayat Committee should submit detailed project reports of various projects and schemes for one year after discussing the matter minutely and it is mandatory to have a minimum of four Panchayat meetings in a year. However, Panchayat Institutes in the state are only submitting some projects or schemes, which they are interested in instead of carrying out the actual processes. In 2005, State cabinet resolved to handover 16 departments to the Panchayat and subsequently decentralise power of five departments to them. However, Panchayati Raj Institutes in the state are not aware of the power decentralisation of the five departments and they are unable to exercise their powers. Highly placed source said that the government has sanctioned funds for projects and schemes of Panchayat for Fisheries, Horticulture, Tribal Development, Science and Technology and RD&PR. At present, the PRIs are able to get funds from RD&PR only, which are sanctioned by the state and Centre. In an exclusive interview with People’s Chronicle, RD&PR Director Dr Shyamsundar said that Panchayati Raj Institutions in the state do not have proper knowledge of the power they have in various departments of the state. There has been a huge gap of communication between the government and the Panchayati Raj Institutes. However, RD&PR Minister Francis Ngajokpa is putting his efforts in bringing a major developmental change in the Panchayati Raj Institutes in the state. Based on the General Area Performance, the state has won a grant of Rs 16.38 crore from the 13th Finance Commission. Out of this amount, Rs 2.46 crore is for Zila Parishad while the remaining 12.93 is for Gram Panchayat. Besides, Panchayat has got Rs 20.62 crore grant from the 2nd State Finance Commission, of which Rs 2.09 is for Zila Parishad while the remaining Rs 17.53 is for Gram Panchayats. As per the guidelines of the Act, PRIs in the state should put its efforts to have their own income and utilise the income in development of the areas under their respective jurisdictions. However, PRIs in the state seem to have no knowledge in this regard. In such situation, the department is planning to prepare action plans for the PRIs to generate their own income. Under the new planning, all the Zila Parishads and three PRIs from each district would be selected based on their performances and award them incentives, he added.
Posted on: Mon, 21 Apr 2014 05:01:47 +0000
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