More powers and funds for panchayats

CHENNAI: There is an urgent need to increase funds for panchayats in Tamil Nadu as governments at the State had failed to strengthen local bodies.At a two-day meeting of women panchayat representatives from the four southern States in Chennai on Thursday, it was pointed out that only 9 per cent of Tamil Nadu’s budget is allocated to local bodies.However, in Kerala the allocation is 45 per cent, in Karnataka 35 per cent and in Andhra Pradesh it is 27 per cent.Organised by the Tamil Nadu Federation of Women Presidents of Panchayat  overnement(TNFWPPG), the meeting found that that successive governments in Tamil Nadu had failed to strengthen panchayat government, in comparison to the other three southern states.  Jesu Rethinam, advisor, TNFWPPG said, “It is high time, the Tamil Nadu government took a serious look at the fund allocation. We lag behind when it comes to the real empowerment of grassroots leadership and Lack of proper funding for development at village-level is one major reason.” The other long standing demand from the Federation was to repeal section 205 of the Tamil Nadu Panchayat Act which gives the district collector powers to remove a panchayat president.  Krishnaveni, coordinator, Human Rights Advocacy and Research Foundation(HRF) said, “Section 205 of the Tamil Nadu Panchayat Act has to be repealed, as it violates the essence of the constitutional mandate and the rationale of decentralised governance.”  In 2006, 25 panchayat presidents were removed by the district collector.She pointed out that even now it was only the district collectors who set the agenda for grama sabha meetings, which is against the principle of local government.  The  district collector has the power to veto any resolution passed by the grama sabha.  In Kerala, the State government had amended the Kerala Panchayat Act and the Kerala Municipality Act and had empowered the grama sabhas and ward sabhas by giving them powers to discusss budgets, audit reports, plan documents and estimates of public works.  In Tamil Nadu successive governments had failed to strengthen panchayats.The federation also passed a resolution condemning police inaction in the recent assault on the Dalit Panchayat  president Krishnaveni(36) from   Thazhaiyuthu, Tirunelveli district.