Gram Panchayat Hakkotaya Andolana – Press Release (26/2/2018)
Posted on March 01, 2018
Gram Panchayat representatives assert their right to self governance and for the implementation of the Karnataka Gram Swaraj and Panchayat Raj Act 2016, during the symposium ‘Gram Swaraj Chinthana Manthana’ (February 23-24, Manipal)
“The State must transfer all the Gram Panchayat Funds – which are our entitlements. (according to the Grama Swaraj Act) These amount to crores of rupees which are presently held up in the Escrow account and denied to the citizens. They should be transferred with immediate effect to the respective grama panchayats. ESCROW account should be closed down within 10 days; if not, the state government will face a collective protest by all Gram Panchayats throughout the state” This was the ultimatum issued to the State Government that emerged from the two day symposium ‘Gram Swaraj Chinthana’, organised by the Gram Panchayat Hakkotaya Andolana ( of which the Concerned for Working Children is the secretariat ), and Kundapur Taluk Panchayat Raj Ookoota.
In addition to the demand related to Escrow Accounts, the key demands are: Complete and holistic implementation of the Gram Swaraj and Panchayat Raj Act 2016, to its true spirit b) Further Amendments to the Act to include the omissions of the Karnataka Panchayat Raj Amendment Committee Recommendations c) Discussions on the further strengthening of the 73rd Constitutional Amendment. (Full list attached ).
These were endorsed by the 25 MCL’s Collective representing the Local Self Government constituency, Grama Panchayat Hakkotatya Andolana, the Karnataka Panchayat Raj Parishat, organisations such as Action Aid, BREADS, Equations and Sugrama.
The symposium saw the participation of around 200 and 250 members including elected representatives of Panchayats from different districts of Karnataka; concerned authorities; civil society organizations working in the field of local governance; and representatives of Children’s Sanghas.
Panelists included Sri Meenakshi Sundaram (Former Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India and Government of Karnataka) ; Smt. Nandana Reddy ( Member of Panchayat Raj Amendment Act drafting committee, Convenor –Gram Panchayat Hakkotaya Andolana); Sri. S.M.Vijayanand (Former Chief Secretary, Kerala State Government); Sri P.P. Balan ( Former Director- Kerala Institute of Local Administration; advisor to Government of Bhutan ); Sri Damodar Acharya ( Co-convenor, Gram Panchayat Hakkotaya Andolana ); Sri Krishna Kottaya (Coordinator, Poornaprajna Research and Development Centre, Udupi); and Sri T.B.Shetty (Member of Panchayat Raj Act Amendment Committee, Legal Advisory member of Gram Panchayat Hakkottaya Andolana).
Discussions highlighted Karnataka’s role as pioneer in Panchayat Raj in the country. Sri Meenakshi Sundaram presented the political context in which the 73rd Constitutional Amendment came into being and raised few points for consideration in relation to further amendments to the Act. Smt Nandana Reddy presented the salient points related to the Karnataka Gram Swaraj and Panchayat Raj Act 2016 which upholds the true spirit of the 73rd Amendment and mentioned major highlights of the present Act which include autonomy, mandate and accountability of the local self governments, the participation of the constituency with an emphasis on the most marginalized, the provisions for Habitation Sabhas and Special Gram Sabhas for vulnerable sections; the finality of decisions taken during Gram Sabhas; priority ranking tools and mechanism to identity beneficiaries ; mechanisms to hold elected representatives accountable. She elaborated on the ‘Responsibility map’ referred to in the Act that provides clarity regarding the responsibility to the three tiers of local governments based on the Principle of Subsidiarity. Lack of political will in operationalising the Act came under severe criticism.
Sri Vijayanand shared the Kerala Model of Local Governance. He pointed to the large size of the Gram Panchayats in Kerala , which allows them to have several institutions under them; and the independence and non hierarchy of Gram, Taluk and Zilla Panchayat. Sri P.P.Balan spoke about the experiences of local governance in Bhutan and attributed the high Gross National Happiness Index to the pivotal role played by Local Governments.
Sri. K. C Kondiah, the Chair person of the MLC’s Collective representing the Local Self Government Constituency and two other members of the same, MLC s Sri Srinavas Poojary, Sri K.C.Kondiah extended their support to all the demands from the participants. Sri Narayana Swamy expressed the solidarity of the Panchayat Parishat. Dr K. Gireesan (of Rajeev Gandhi Institute and Youth Development) and Dr. Jos Chathukulam (Institute of Social and Economic Change) in addition to lending their solidarity to the movement and the recommendation , asserted that the hierarchy between the various tiers of local governments should be done away with and raised the need to keep the collective struggle alive so that the powers of local elected representatives are not usurped by officials or members of the state or central legislature.
Gram Panchayat Hakkotaya Andolana
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