A STATUS REPORT
of
PANCHAYATI RAJ IN
JHARKHAND
Prepared By
State
Planning and Monitoring Unit (SPMU)
Department
of Panchayati Raj
Jharkhand
Chapter -1
Evolution of Panchayati Raj: brief note
The popular name for local self
governance in India is “Panchayati Raj”. It has been operational in India since
ancient times when people in rural areas use to solve their problems and issues
in their own self defined way and rule. In tribal community, the system of self
rule prevailed since ages. The self rule, by whatever name it was called then
had the responsibility to satisfy the local needs and aspirations of the people
living in villages. Recognizing the importance of democratic institutions at
the grass root level, the Indian constitution laid down in Article 40 of
Part-IV of the directive principles of state policy that the “State would
initiate steps to organize village panchayats and endow them with such powers
and authority as may be necessary to enable them to function as units of self
government”.
Balwantrai
Mehta Committee
In 1957, Balwantrai
Committee report recommended “Public participation in community works should be
organized through statutory representative bodies.” It was foreseen that
without an agency at the village level that could represent the entire
community and take responsibility with firm leadership, actual progress in
rural development could not be visible. Consequently, the National Development
Council also certified the basic principle of democratic decentralization
enunciated in the Balwantrai Mehta Committee report. During this phase,
“Panchayati Raj” gained prevalence as a process of governance linking will of
the people from the Gram Sabha toi the Lok Sabha. The first three tier system
was inaugurated in Naguar, Rajasthan in 1959.
Ashok
Mehta Committee
By the early
seventies, panchayats had gone from a phase of early dominance to one of
decline and stagnation. The Ashok Mehta Committee made far reaching
recommendations to amend the situation and recommended that panchayati raj be
included in the constitution. Focusing on the recommendations of the Ashok
Mehta committee, some states revisited their panchayat acts and also took new
initiatives.
Constitution
73rd Amendment Bill
The congress
Government under the Prime Minister P.V. Narsimha Rao introduced the 72nd
(Panchayat) and 73rd (Municipalities) constitution amendment bill
based substantially on the bill which was proposed during the regime of Rajiv
Gandhi but also incorporated recommendations of National Front Government. The
bill was passed by both the houses and the acts came into force as the
constitution (73rd amendment) act 1992 and (74th
Amendment) act 1993. This added two new parts to the constitution, namely Part
IX tiled “The Panchayats” and part IXA tiled “The Municipalities”.
Local
Governance in the Tribal Areas
Article 244 of the
constitution envisages three categories of the Tribal Areas, namely:
·
Areas notified as
“scheduled areas” in the specified states (fifth schedule)
·
Areas listed as “Tribal
Areas” in the sixth schedule in NER (Administration of Tribal areas)
·
Areas not covered in the
above two categories.
Under the fifth
schedule nine states are included. Hailed as a constitution within the
constitution, PESA is historic because it legally recognizes the capacity of
tribal communities to strengthen their own systems of self governance or create
new legal spaces and institutions that cannot only reverse the cultural and
political onslaught on them but can also create the opportunities to control
their own destinies.
Salient features of the 73rd Constitutional Amendment
·
A three- tier panchayat
system shall be constituted in every state, comprising panchayats at the
village, intermediate and district levels.
·
The panchayats will work
for a five year term; if dissolved earlier, fresh elections will be completed
within six months of the date of dissolution.
·
The gram sabha will
consist of all persons registered on the electoral rolls.
·
In the directly elected
seats of members in all panchyats, there will be reservation of seats for
scheduled caste (SC) and scheduled tribes (ST), in proportion to their total
population in a panchayat area. And one third of these seats will be reserved
for women belonging to these groups. Of the seats to be filled by direct
elections in every panchayat, there will be not less than one third reservation
of seats in panchayats for women, including the seats reserved for SC/ST women.
·
The offices of the
chairperson in the panchayats at all levels will be reserved for SC/ST women
and women as the state legislature may decide, provided that not less than one
third of the chairpersons’ positions shall be reserved for women. Similarly,
there will be reservation in the offices of chairpersons in panchayats at all
levels for members of the SCs and STs in proportion to their population in the
state.
·
The Governor of the state
shall appoint a State Finance Commission to review the financial position of
the panchayats and make recommendations regarding the principles which should
govern the distribution of the taxes, duties, tolls and fees between the state
government and the panchayats.
Chapter-2
Panchayats
in Jharkhand :
The newly constituted state of Jharkhand has
completed the the Panchayat elction after a gap of 32 years , where 56 % a elected members are women.
Majority of the elected representatives belongs to the age group who have never
seen or experienced the functioning of panchayat.
Panchayati Raj in Jharkhand: Some Facts and Figures
S.No
|
Name of
Position
|
Number
of Elected Positions
|
|
|
Others
|
Women
|
Others
|
1
|
Gram Panchayat Member
|
18219
|
24382
|
17654
|
2
|
Gram Panchayat Mukhiya
|
2063
|
2353
|
2058
|
3
|
Panchayat Samiti Member
|
1970
|
2435
|
1959
|
4
|
Zila Parishad Member
|
199
|
245
|
199
|
Total
|
22451
|
29415
|
21780
|
With reference 73rd
Constitutional amendment and PESA, Jharkhand Panchayat Raj Act was drafted in
2001. On 10th May’2001, State Election Commission was constituted
and state election commissioner was nominated. First, State Finance Commission
was also constituted in 2004. Out of 24 districts in the state, 13 districts
fully and 3 districts partially are under the 5th schedule of the constitution
i.e. under PESA.
S.No
|
Districts
|
Total Number of Blocks
|
Total Gram Panchayats
|
1.
|
Ranchi
|
18
|
303
|
2.
|
Khunti
|
6
|
86
|
3.
|
Gumla
|
12
|
159
|
4.
|
Lohardaga
|
7
|
66
|
5.
|
Simdega
|
10
|
94
|
6.
|
West. Sighbhum
|
18
|
216
|
7.
|
East. Sighbhum
|
11
|
231
|
8.
|
Saraikela Khjarsawa
|
9
|
136
|
9.
|
Dumka
|
10
|
206
|
10.
|
Jamtara
|
6
|
118
|
11.
|
Pakur
|
6
|
128
|
12.
|
Latehar
|
9
|
115
|
13.
|
Garwa
|
1
|
10
|
14.
|
Godda
|
2
|
35
|
15.
|
Sahebganj
|
9
|
166
|
16.
|
Palamu
|
0
|
166
|
Total
|
|
134
|
2071
|
Salient features of Jharkhand Panchayati Raj Act’2001
·
Gram Sabha has the right
to recommend all the socio economic plans, programs and schemes of the
government. It has also the right to select beneficiaries for government
schemes. Selection of schemes, their priority and its approval all has to be
done by the gram sabha.
·
To ensure participation of
women in gram sabhas, it is necessary to have 1/3rd participation of
women in the meetings or else, the gram sabha meeting will be cancelled.
·
In PESA areas, the gram
sabha will be headed by traditional priest (Mahto, Majhi, Munda) or head. In
these areas, Mukhiya or Panchayat Samiti members are restricted to head the
meeting.
·
In Non PESA areas the gram
sabha meetings will be chaired by Mukhiya and Up Mukhiya.
·
Under the Panchayati Raj
Act, there is provision to constitute Village Development Committee, Village
Education committee, Infrastrure committee and Social justice committee. Constitution
of these committees will ensure participation of people in gram sabha meetings.
·
Gram Sabha can make
provisions for food bank, cash bank, material bank and labour bank. This will
strengthen the existence and self reliance of gram sabha.
·
In PESA areas, gram sabhas
can put forward their rituals, traditions and laws in front of Gram Panchayats,
Panchayat Samiti and Zila Parishads for solving any problem or social issue.
·
In PESA areas, the gram
sabhas have been given special rights to select local schemes, control tribal sub
plans, plan and implement local water resources, forest resources and local
market.
·
The Gram sabha has been
given the provision to collect utilization certificate from Gram Panchayat of
expenditure of plans approved by Gram Sabhas.
To strengthen the
PRIs in the state, the state department of Panchayati Raj initiated training
programs for the elected representatives which focused on role and
responsibility and functioning of Panchayats. The training programs were
conducted in collaboration with various development agencies. In Jharkhand
Panchayati Raj Act, there is provision of 50% reservation for women in all the
three tiers. In 2010 elections 56% of women became successful in all the three
tiers. In spite of this success, their participation in general meetings and
occasions is not satisfactory.
Chapter-3
State
Finance Commission (SFC) : Article 243 (I) of the Constitution mandates setting
up of SFC with the objective of reviewing the financial position of the
Panchayats and making recommendations as to the principles which should govern
the following:
•
Distribution
between the States and Panchayats of the net proceeds of the taxes, duties,
tolls and fees.
•
Determination
of taxes, duties, tolls and fees to be assigned to Panchayats.
•
Grants-in-aid
to the Panchayats.
•
Measures
needed to improve the financial position of the Panchayats.
SFC in Jharkhand : 1st
SFC was constituted in 2004. A report on ULB was submitted by SFC under the
Chairmanship of Sh. Shiv Basant. Since the elections of PRI had not taken place
so it could not contribute much.
2nd SFC
was constituted in 2009. PRI elections took place in Dec, 2010. The tenure of
the commission is till 2014. So the gigantic task of submission of
recommendation is to be completed in next 18 months. The present SFC under the chairmanship of Dr.
Vinod Agrawal is moving ahead in direction of providing recommendations in
respect of ULB and PRI’s.
SFC at
present is working on distribution between the States and Panchayats of the net
proceeds of the taxes, duties, tolls and fees. The broad agenda is :
¢ Revenue collecting departments should mobilize the defined
revenues from the districts.
¢ Such revenue requires to be parted away to PRIs and ULBs.
¢ Concern department should work out the rationale for such
sharing.
District Planning Committee (DPC) :
DPC is the committee created as per article 243ZD of the Constitution of India at the district level for planning at the district and
below. The Committee in each district should consolidate the plans prepared by
the Panchayats and the Municipalities in the district and prepare a draft development plan
for the district.
Functions of DPC : The Constitution of India provides
the DPCs two specific responsibilities. In preparing the draft development
plan, the DPC shall have regard to matters of common interest between the Panchayats
and the Municipalities including spatial planning, sharing of
water and other physical and natural resources,
the integrated development of infrastructure and environmental conservation and the extent and type of available
resources, both financial or otherwise. The DPC in this endeavor is also
mandated to consult such institutions and organizations as may be specified. In
order that the plans at different levels are prepared, there is need to
strengthen the system comprising the machinery of planning and the process of consolidation of
plans at the district level.
Jharkhand has
fulfilled the constitutional provisions of holding the Panchayat Raj elections in
Dec, 2010 and by notification of the state government dated 2nd Aug,
2011 the District Planning Committees (DPCs) are formed. (Annexure – 1). The
state now faces the challenging task of making decentralized governance work. TO
meet the challenge a well accepted tool constitutionally provided is the
preparation and implementation of decentralized district planning. Before
embarking on the approach the department of Panchayati Raj is in the process of
reviewing the legal framework, institutional arrangements and processes adopted
in few of the states where it has yielded results so that based on the good
practices of these states Jharkhand is able to put together a roadmap for
effectively implementing decentralized district planning.
Chapter-4
Capacity Building Programs for PRIs
Capacities
building of PRI members are being undertaken by Dept. Panchayati Raj in
collaboration with SKIPA and SIRD. However, after the first round of capacity
building of PRI members and setting up of district planning committee at
districts, the role of Panchayati Raj department hass emerged as key player to
establish active communication channels with PRI members to improve knowledge
management, establish mechanisms for transparent devolution processes, work
closely with finance commission, activity mapping, capacity building on
district planning etc. Detail of the training imparted under BRGF and RGSY (as
On 31.03.2012)
Total No. of ERs
|
Under BRGF
|
Under RGSY
|
Under Other Schemes
|
ERs Trained
|
Functionaries Trained
|
ERs Trained
|
Functionaries Trained
|
ERs Trained
|
Functionaries Trained
|
53207
|
48217
|
0
|
621
|
1168
|
0
|
1385
|
In
the first round mostly the ZP Members, PS Members and Mukhiya were included in
the training programme. The programme was more a foundation course to develop
the understanding of the Elected Representatives regarding their Roles and
Responsibilities. For the Year 2012-13 a capacity building proposal under BRGF
and RGSY has already been sent to MoPR. The proposal is more on scheme
literacy, making the PRIs computer friendly. Some exposure visits has also been
planned to take the PRI representatives to the places where the system is
working smoothly.
The proposed training programme and estimated budget for the year
2012-13 as follows:
S.N.
|
Activities
|
1.
|
Support for training on ;
·
Decentralized Planning
·
Natural Resource
Management
·
Livelihood
·
E- Governance
·
Thematic issues like
Drinking Water, Health & Sanitation, Primary education, Child and Maternity
health care. And exposure visits.
|
2.
|
IT Support for strengthening e governance in PRIs
|
3.
|
Establishment of SPMU
|
To strengthen the
PRIs in the country, Government of India has initiated many programs to empower
the PRIs, namely: PEAIS, BRGF, PMEYSA, RGPSA and RGSY. Since, PRIs in Jharkhand
are still in settlement stage, many programs are still in planning phase.
Brief, status of each programs are as follows:
PEAIS
(Panchayat Empowerment & Accountability Incentive Scheme)
The Panchayat Empowerment & Accountability Incentive
Scheme (PEAIS) is being implemented by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR)
since 2005-06. The scheme aims at (i) incentivizing
States to empower Panchayats through devolution of funds, functions &
functionaries; and (ii) incentivizing PRIs to put in place accountability
systems to make their functions transparent & efficient. Performance of
States in these respects is measured through a Devolution Index (DI). Token
awards are also given to the States, which rank high on the DI. For evaluating
States on the DI, MoPR takes the assistance of expert institutions like Indian
Institute of Public Administration (IIPA), New Delhi.
The state government is in process of devolving 3Fs to the
PRIs. Each department is also in process of preparing plans to devolve
functions and proposals are being made by them which will include trainings and
orientation sessions on various issues related to every department. Before
devolving any powers and functions to PRIs, it is very important to know the
present status of PRIs in the state and for this PEAIS program is appropriate.
In the year 2011-12, Jharkhand did not participate in PEAIS
program but this financial year, the department of panchayati raj is in process
of implementing the program. On 11st September’12, one day consultation meet
was organized by department of panchayati raj in collaboration with Unicef. In
this meet, district panchayati raj officer along with block panchayati raj
officers participated. Agenda of the meet focused on aims and objectives of
PEAIS program. MOPR indicator list was shared with the participants and attempt
was made to get their views on the same. Group discussion gave clear insights
into the changes needed in the indicators.
Revised questionnaire has been shared with MOPR, and has
also been circulated in districts for undertaking the survey. The nominations
are expected to be received by 1st week of December’2012.
Formation of State Panchayat
Performance Assessment Committee (SPPAC): The department under the chairmanship of Secretary
Panchayati Raj has constituted SPPAC which also has representation of
education, water and sanitation and health department as members. This
committee will finally decide on recommendation of panchayats for the awards.
Formation of district and block
verification team: The
panchayats which will be recommended by the gram panchayats will be verified by
the block verification team and further by the district verification team. Both
the teams will comprise of reputed NGOs representatives, district officials and
social activists of that district. Discussions on formation of teams are in
process in department.
Final recommendations: As per the plan of department, final
recommendation of panchayats will be by 31st Dec’2012.
PMEYSA (Panchayat Mahila Evam Yuva Shashaktikaran Abhiyan)
The
political and social empowerment of women with respect to Panchayats is one of
the significant achievements of India. Millions of women because of this
legislation today are liberated from their usual household chores and have
entered into the positions of authority and responsibility in their village
communities.
To
steer the momentum, government of India has also positioned flagship programs
namely Panchayat Mahila Evam Yuva Vikas Abhiyan (PMEYSA) which focus directly
only on capacity building of elected women representatives.
Objectives of PMEYSA:
enable women to come together to:
·
Articulate their problems as women
panchayat leaders.
·
Discuss issues regarding the
institutional mechanisms for their empowerment
·
Come up with charter of issues to be
mainstreamed into policy and advocacy support so that their concerns are
addressed by the process of development adopted by the state and the three
tiers PRI system.
·
Form an association of the EWRs with
elected office bearers.
The
approach of the scheme is to organize 2-3 days residential state level sammelan
with representation of EWRs from all the three tiers. After the state level
sammelans division level sammelans on the same pattern have to be organized.
The objective of these sammelans is to acquaint the EWRs with their rights and
responsibilities so that they can come up with a charter of issues affecting
them.
Present status of the Program:
Convener
of the Core Committee: The department has suggested 7 names
of elected representatives who are active in their areas and have good
knowledge of PRI. Out of seven names 3 names have to be sent to GoI. One name
will be selected by the Ministry.
Formation
of core committee: Core committee has been formed in the
state with representation of 15 elected women representatives and 3 NGOs. The
representatives have been selected on basis of their presentation during the
orientation workshop.
Orientation
Program for Core Committee members: On 5th
October’12, orientation of core committee was organized at ATI auditorium. In
this orientation meet 48 EWRs participated, out of which 15 were selected for
core committee. In this one day meet, the participants were oriented towards
the aims and objectives of PMEYSA program. They were made acquainted with the
advantage of the scheme, once it is implemented across the state. The purpose
of this program is to make the EWRs realize their roles, responsibilities,
rights and entitlements as elected representatives. The crust of the program
revolves around building leadership skills in women elected representatives so
that they can be torch bearers for the other women. The meet also focused on
drafting of women charter highlighting the needs and issues of EWRs which could
be addressed at policy level.
Jharkhand
Women Charter: First draft of Jharkhand women charter
has been prepared, in light of the orientation meet. The charter will further
be shared in the division sammelan and final shape will be given after all the
division sammelans are over. The final charter will be shared during the state
sammelan.
Division
Sammelan: First division sammelan was organized on 14th
of Dec,2012 at Hazaribagh. EWRs from 7 districts of North CHotanagpur Division
actively participated in the sammellan and shared their view on the Draft
Charter of Demand prepared by the core committee.
BRGF
(Backward Region Grant Fund)
The
Backward Regions Grant Fund is designed to redress regional imbalances in
development. The fund will provide financial resources for supplementing and
converging existing developmental inflows into 250 identified districts, so as
to:
·
Bridge critical gaps in local
infrastructure and other development requirements that are not being adequately
met through existing inflows.
·
Strengthen, to this end Panchayat and
Municipality level governance with more appropriate capacity building, to
facilitate participatory planning, decision making, implementation and
monitoring, to reflect local felt needs,
·
Provide professional support to local
bodies for planning, implementation and monitoring their plans
To
improve the performance and delivery of critical functions assigned to
Panchayats, and counter possible efficiency and equity losses on account of
inadequate local capacity. Integrated development will commence with each
district undertaking a diagnostic study of its backwardness by enlisting
professional planning support. This will be followed by preparing a
well-conceived participatory district development perspective plan to address
this backwardness during 2006-07 and the period of the Eleventh Five-Year. The
Panchayats at the village, intermediate and district level, referred to in Part
IX of the Constitution, will undertake planning and implementation of the
programme, in keeping wi th the letter and spirit of Article 243 G, while the
Municipalities referred to in Part IX A will similarly plan and implement the
programme in urban areas in conformity with the letter and spirit of Article
243 W, read with Article 243 ZD of the Constitution. The Programme has two
components namely: a district component and a state component.
BRGF
in Jharkhand:
There
was no elected PRI in the state before Dec, 2010 in Jharkhand; so it was
difficult to make plans under BRGF in the state. Considering the problem the
Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) in India gave its approval in the
relaxation of the mandatory condition under Backward Regions Grant Fund (BRGF)
for Jharkhand. As per the relaxation, participatory plans will be prepared by
Panchayats at the district, intermediate and village levels and they will be
consolidated by the District Planning Committee into the district plan. The
CCEA stated that Jharkhand would be eligible to draw funds under BRGF provided
that they undertake a participative mode of preparation of the district plans
from the grassroots upwards, through Gram Sabhas and traditional tribal bodies
in Schedule 5 areas which would be approved by State High Powered Committee
chaired by the Chief Secretary. This relaxation would apply till such
reasonable time as may be required for the state to constitute Panchayats in
accordance with the final decisions in the pending litigation before the
Supreme Court. The CCEA further said that this would help in implementation of
the BRGF programme in Jharkhand.
District Plan :
The
process was initiated with the support of selected TSIs and the plans were made.
Fund was received by the state. Under District Planning table below depicts the
status of BRGF fund in the state till Mar, 2012.
Per Year
Allocation
(Rs. in Lakh)
|
Amount
Released in
2008-09
|
Amount
Released in
2009-10
|
Amount
Released in
2010-11
|
Amount
Released in
2011-12
(1st
Installment)
|
|
|
|
|
60720.00
|
51101.80
|
36785.208
|
56733.00
|
31748.00
|
|
Current
status is that out of 23 districts under BRGF only 9 has submitted their plan.
Others are either lagging behind due one or other reason. Regular follow up is
done by the department but things are not moving at the pace it should have.
The department organized review meet from 2nd to 6th
Nov’2012 of all the concern CEO of Zila Parishad with the District Planning
Officer and Technical Support Organization. In the review meet, challenges and
constraints faced by TSIs and DPOs were addressed by the state department. TSIs
were directed to establish their district offices with potential staff that can
undertake studies and plan the activities in consultation with DPOs. DPOs were
also directed to give their support and cooperation to recommended TSIs, so
that programs do not suffer.
e- Panchayat:
Mission Mode Program
e-
Panchayat was conceived as a mission mode project (MMP) under NeGP with the primary
objective of introducing and institutionalizing e Governance in Panchayats. The
primary aim was to transform panchayats into efficient units and to strengthen
their business functions and processes with the ultimate goal to ensuring
effective local area development. In the seventh round table conference
convened by MOPR in 2004, IT was primarity positioned as a vital input for
building capacity of panchayats so that they perform their constitutionally and
legislatively mandated functions better.
The round table set the following major objectives for introducing e
governance in panchayats:
·
A decision making support system for
panchayat themselves.
·
A means for improving internal
management and efficiency of Panchayats
·
A means for better and convergent delivery
of services to citizens
·
A tool of transparency, disclosure of
information to citizens social audit
·
A means for capacity building of
representatives and officials of the panchayats
·
An e- procurement medium
Based on various
studies taken up by GOI, inputs became available to MOPR to design e Panchayat
MMP. The results identified twelve functional areas of panchayats for
automation and process of software development started for core common areas.
Common
areas of automation:
·
Local Government Directory
·
Area Profiler
·
Plan Plus
·
Panchayat Accounting
·
Scheme/Works Management
·
Asset Management
·
Service Delivery Public Grievance &
Redressal
·
Social Audit
·
Training/Skill Management
·
Websites of Panchayats
·
GIS
In 2009, NIC was
assigned to implement the program.
Status in
Jharkhand
The
state has adopted PRIA SOFT and Plan Plus in all the districts. Training
schedule for other applications is going to start from 10th Dec’2012
for district officials and state officials. Basic Computer course for PRIs has
also been done in the state. 400 PRIs have been trained so far. Technical support institutions have been
identified by Government of India to prepare district plans and upload the
plans in PLAN PLUS software. These TSIs are responsible to undertake activity
mapping for the districts.
To
implement the MMP program, the department of panchayati raj has to set up
“State Planning and Management Unit and District Planning and Management Unit”
in the state. The state unit will have five technical specialists and district
unit will have two specialists. This team will roll out the entire program
across the state. In Jharkhand, JAP/IT has been given the responsibility to
establish SPMU and DPMU in state. MOU with the JAP/IT is in process.
Status of Panchayat Bhawans
Jharkhand
|
Total GP
|
Total GP with Bhawans
|
NO. of GP where Bhawans are planned
|
NO. of GPs where bhawans are under
construction
|
NO. of Bhavans that need
repair/expansion
|
NO. of Rajiv Gandhi Sewa Kendra
|
|
4423
|
2000
|
923
|
1525
|
-
|
1551
|
Status
of ICT infrastructures
|
NO. of ZPs
|
ZPs with Computers
|
ZPs with internet connectivity
|
NO. of Panchayat Samitis
|
PS with Computers and internet
connectivity
|
No. of GPs
|
No. of GPs with connectivity
|
24
|
24
|
24
|
259
|
259
|
4423
|
2243
|
RGPSA
(Rajiv Gandhi Panchayat Shashaktikaran Abhiyan)
RGPSA
is aimed at strengthening the Panchayati Raj system and local elected
governments where Part IX of the constitution does not apply. RGPSA allows a
range of activities to be undertaken by states as per their need, to strengthen
their panchayats systems and infrastructures. Under this program, states are
required to prepare annual (Dec’2012- Mar’2013) and perspective plan which will
be for 5 years coinciding with 12th five year plan. Perspective
plans have to articulate goals for strengthening the panchayati raj system in
the state, while taking stock of and analyzing the current situation.
To
prepare the mentioned plans, the states have to recruit professionals and
consultants who will be responsible to carry out research studies and conduct
workshops with different stakeholders. “State Institute for Rural Development”
Jharkhand has been entrusted to prepare the annual and perspective plans.
RGSY
(Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Yojana)
Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Yojana (RGSY) is a
scheme of Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Govt. of India for Training &
Capacity Building of PRIs. It’s
a scheme being implemented with the objective of assisting efforts of the State
Governments for training and capacity building of elected representatives of
Panchayati Raj Institutions only in non-BRGF districts. The scheme focuses
primarily on providing financial assistance to the States/UTs for Training
& Capacity Building of elected representatives (ERs) and functionaries of
Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs). Assistance is provided for Distance Learning
infrastructure for the ERs and Functionaries of the PRIs including Satellite
based training infrastructure. In respect of Hill States and States in the
North Eastern Region, assistance is also given for capital expenditure on
establishment of Panchayat Resource Centres/ Panchayat Bhawans at Block/Gram
Panchayat levels. The scheme has a small component of Infrastructure
Development under which the construction and renovation of Panchayat Ghars in
all the States is funded. The scheme is demand driven in nature and provides
for funding on 75:25 sharing basis between the Central and State Governments
concerned. Assistance under the Training component is also given to
Non-Governmental Organization (NGOs), where the central assistance may
be 100% and such proposals are required to be forwarded with the
recommendations of the State Government concerned.
Status
of Devolution in State
Article 243 G of the Indian Constitution enshrines the basic
principle for devolution of power to the rural Local Bodies. As per this
article, subject to the provisions of this Constitution, the Legislature of a
State may, by law, endow the Panchayats with such powers and authority as may
be necessary to enable them to function as institutions of self-Government and
such law may contain provisions for the devolution of powers and
responsibilities upon Panchayats at the appropriate level, subject to such
conditions as may be specified therein, with respect to the preparation of
plans for economic development and social justice; the implementation of
schemes for economic development and social justice as may be entrusted to them
including those in relation to the 29 matters listed in the Eleventh Schedule. Success of PRIs very much dependent on the
process of devolution, otherwise it becomes a body without soul.
Jharkhand
Government is very much concerned on the issue of devolution, so even when
there was no panchayat, right from day of its inception meetings, consultation
were organized to prepare a road map of devolution of 3F i.e. Fund, Function and Functionaries to the PRIs.
Once
the election of PRI took place in Dec, 2010; demand for devolution from PRIs
become more sensitive. Taking into consideration the sensitiveness of the issue
the Hon’able Jharkhand High Court had to intervene. Finally Govt. of Jharkhand
took a decision to go step by step and paved the path for devolution from five
key departments like in Rajsthan. Till date, the Agriculture & Welfare
Department has already devolved the power and notified the activities to be
done by different tiers of PRIs. Others are expected within a month.
Things
are in the pipeline and needs to be speedup to strengthen the PRIs in the
state. On one hand the state has to devolve 3F, simultaneously the PRIs needs
to be capacitated to take advantage of the situation and as an end result the
deprived section of the society could take active part in this format of
participatory democracy.
किनके कहे से मैं परेशान हो रहा था
