Panchayat Raj Act: Without Substance

Author(s): K. R. Sastry
Source: Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 30, No. 30 (Jul. 29, 1995), pp. 1909-1910
Published by: Economic and Political Weekly
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KERALA

monitoring the development schemes rather

than planning. That said, one cannot

Panchayat Raj Act

underestimate its importance in the planning

Wiffiout Substance

due to dense population, the geographical

phase for those schemes which are of transvillage in character. It may be surmised that
area coming under the district panchayat
(DP) is not so vast; and, thus it could be

K R Sastry

easily managed without the middle tier. It

remains to be seen whether the new tier, i e,

The Kerala Panchayat Raj Act negates the very concept of

decentralisation by providing for interference from above.

the BP, can emerge as a fulcrum of activity

THE Kerala Panchayat Raj Act (KPRA),

BPs and DPs has not been received

and consequently dilute the importance of

upper and lower tiers.
The inclusion of MLAs and MPs in the

sabha will have to meet twice a year, at a

was passed by the state Legislature on

venue decided by the GP, on being convened

favourably since this may lead to over-

May 22, 1994, as a sequel to the 73rd

by the member of that panchayat constituency

centralisation in the democratic decision

constitutional amendment, incorporating

and the meeting would be presided over by

making process. It is apprehended that such

numerous amendments, but rejecting much

the president/vice-president of the GP. The

of what was suggested by the members in

grama sabha is empowered to suggest, plan

the assembly. In the process, it deviated

or help developmental activities, to discuss

an incursion into PR theatre would be

detrimental to the emergence of a vibrant
local leadership. The debate, though
inconclusive, over the nature and desirability
of involvement of MPs in the local bodies
takes a new turn with the allotment of rupees
one crore foreach MP to take up development
activities in his constituency. It may not

drastically from the original version of the

administrative affairs, to approve the

bill that was introduced in the assembly on

accounts of the past year, etc, among other

March 16, 1994.

things. The president of grama sabha will

The people of Kerala witnessed a series

have to explain the reason for non-compliance

of acrimonious debates, all round protest

of any decision taken by it earlier. The

and even an unprecedented public dharna by

intellectuals like K N Raj, I S Gulati, etc,
staged in front of the secretariat on some

sabha in clear-cut terms.

vital issues concerning the bill, while the bill

a ward committee comprised of members of

KPRA has delineated the role of grama

The act also provides for constitution of

cause any surprise if MLAs demand a similar

largesse from the state. In such an eventuality,

creation of a smaller grama sabha comprising

the exclusion of these elected representatives

is not a feasible proposition. How this eliteelite conflict could be avoided is a moot
question; and, the KPRA is more or less
silent on this aspect. Thus, one may get a
feeling that the act is not a sincere exercise
of 'decentralisation' and at the most may be

was being discussed in the assembly. A

GP and villagers for suggesting

former speaker, and now a sitting member

developmental activities of that village,

of the assembly, well-versed in various

aspects of the bill, had a 90 minute deposition
before the 27-member select committee of

besides encouraging public participation in

local governance. The rationale behind the

the bill and explained how the bill was

approximately 1,000 members belonging to

construed as a step toward 'deconcentration'.

strategically tailored to concentrate power

in the hands of government and officials
under the pretext of decentralisation of
power. Social activists like V R Krishna
Iyer, M P Narayanan Nambiar, and others,
organised a People's Assembly (Janakiya
Sabha) at about the same time to reflect the
mood of the common man on Kerala
Panchayat Raj Bill and to create public
awareness on the government's move to
include certain undesirable provisions in the

each constituency rather than the whole

grama panchayat is reflective of practical

Similarly, presidents of all GPs and BPs

have been included as ex-officio members

reasons to conduct the meeting conveniently

at the respective upper tier of the panchayat

and effectively, considering the Kerala

situation rightly. The detailed provision
regarding grama sabha contained in the act
is a welcome step but the functioning of it
will have to be carried forward further to
make it a basic unit of grass roots level
governance.
The head of the panchayat is designed as

and this is intended for establishing an organic

act. In spite of all the protests, KPRA as

the 'president' and the executive officer, the

link between various levels. The presidents,

thus, included in the upper tier panchayat
have all rights of a member, including voting
power, except for electing/removing the
office bearers.
ADMINISTRATIVE AND

FINANCIAL CENTRALISATION

passed by the legislature is an instrument

'secretary', irrespective of the tier to which

aimed at maintaining centralised powers with

he belongs. The presidents, at all levels, are

The KPRA ensures reservation in

the state government. All the same, it can

elected indirectly. If the state legislature

had exercised its discretion in favour of
direct election from among the people in
the case of a GP, it would have got a
president deriving authority from the people
rather than from the political parties,

proportion of their population in the case of

SCs/STs and one-third for women at all

be said that the framework provided by the

73rd amendment was fully retained.
CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS IN KPRA

The KPRA broadly incorporates almost

all the essential features envisaged by the

Constitution. It provides for a three-tier
system with the village, block and district
panchayats as institutions of local selfgovernance. The formation of grama sabha comprising all the voters in each constituency
of grama panchayat (GP) - has been made
the lowest rung in the ladder entrusted with
the responsibility to supervise and accelerate
local planning and development. The grama

Economic

and

although it may possibly lead to friction,

in case where he belongs to a particular
faction in the GP.
The block panchayat (BP) at the
intermediate level is a new democratic body
in the scheme of PR in Kerala. Most of the

non-officials and officials at the panchayat

and district levels opine that the BP is an

undesirable tier thrust upon the people by

the constitutional amendment. This new tier
can be entrusted more with the task of

Political

Weekly

levels. Even in the reserved seats earmarked

for SCs/STs, one-third are reserved for

women. In case, the population of SCs/STs

is insufficient for reserving one seat, the

act ensures that one seat is reserved to the

category of SCs/STs, whichever is more

in population in that given area. Under the
act, the state government, or an officer
authorised by it, can exercise power to fix
the number of reserved seats and determine
the constituencies which are reserved for
each category without resorting to any
predetermined norm. It is feared that this
provision is liable to be misused for political
gains.

July

29,

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1995

1909

The act, in accordance with the stipulation

of the 1th Schedule of the Constitution,

major task ahead for all panchayats to

the 'horizontal' connotes a shift in p(iwer

accomplish.

from appointed (officials) to elected people

provides powers and functions enlisted in

The act contains many provisions that

(non-officials); whereas, the 'diagonal'

Schedules III, IV and V to GP, BP and DP,

allow the state government's interference in

implies power shift from the MLAs and MPs

respectively. There are 32 obligatory

the form of inspection and supervision on

to the panchayati raj functionaries. Unless

functions of GP, eight for BP and 21 for

the working of panchayats. This power,

such power shifts are effected, creation of

DP uwider the act. But the government can

retained by the government, will pose a

a decentralised polity remainis a utopia.

meddle with the elected bodies by

threat to the autonomy and freedom of the

The act allows the state government to

formulating rules and procedures, in

panchayats and the whole scheme of

interfere in the working of the panchayats

accordance with thiis act which allows it to

panchayati raj will deteriorate to a

by invalidating the action orresolution passed

formulate rule.s ;*d procedures in about 140

subordinate position vis-a-vis the state. What

by the panchayat or any of its committees.

instances. The aict, as well, provides for the

is more, the provision for dissolution of

Thus, it negates the very concept of

transfer of all grants pertaining to the

panchayats by government on the ground of

decentralisation by interference from above.

mandatory items to the panchayats. The act

abuse of powers can be a perpetual threat.

In short, the purpose of the ruling UDF

also approves of transfer of all buildings,

The authority of the state government to

government in enacting the KPRA is more

institutions, etc, to the grama panchayats as

remove a member/president/vice-president!

to meet the constitutional requirement rather

soon as possible.

standing committee chairman and to debar

than to implement panchayat raj in letter and

The act does not make any earnest effort

them for misuse of power, dereliction of

spirit. If one takes a dispassionate look at

for ensuring adequate financial resources to

the legislative process behind the enactment

panchayat raj institutions (PRIs) to perform

duties, etc, is liable to be misused forpolitical

gains, particularly, because the terms 'misuse

self-governing functions effectively. The

of power', 'dereliction of duty', etc, are not

taken by the state government. it would be

devolution of resources, other than the above

clearly defined in the act. The act empowers

clear that it does not like to have a meaning-

mentioned grants pertaining to mandatory

the government to exercise control,

ful decentralised system of governance in

functions, is conditioned by the' words,

discipline, etc, on the staff including the

the state.

'subject to availability' and this provision

is liable to be misused to make PRIs run

secretary. The GP is empowered to have

only nominal control on the staff and this

contains many discretionary provisions

short of funds. In the present set up, the

can be construed as a tilt towards the

allowing the state government to enact a

government can dilute the process of

officialdom in the scheme of local

meaningful panchayat raj legislation that

decentralisation of power by avoiding

governance.

brings 'power to the people'. However, the

adequate devolution of financial resources

In order to enhance people's participation

in local development, the act provides for
constitution of ward committees, working

interested in extending the bureaucratic

and by not extending technical support to

the PRIs.

of KPRA and the follow-up action so far

The 73rd constitutional amendment

Kerala statL government seemed more

control over the elected panchayat raj

The act provides for constitution of a

committees, and sub-committees, consisting

bodies. But in the final analysis, it was

three-man State Finance Commission (SFC)

of members of panchayat and citizens for

torced to compromise on many provisions

with one memberexperienced in economics/

speedier execution of developmental

in the bill due to the evcr-vigilant public

financial matters and other two with

activities. These provisions can be used as

experience in public/local administration.

an effective means to bring power to the

However, the government soon after enacting

people and torinvolvingthem in local affairs.

The act provides for constitution of standing
committees at all levels, consisting of

protest and have enaicted the law which can

be better described as a car-icature of
Gandhian idea of 'grama swaraj' or Rajiv
Gandhi's dream of 'delegation of powers
to the grass roots. The KPRA should have

bureaucratic stream. Similarly, the act

members of panchayat. It would have been

provides for having a State Election

better if the provision for inclusion of experts,

taken care to incorlporate the wisdom of

Commission (SEC) to conduct regular

elections quinquennially. But the

at times, from outside is provided for in the

studies on panchayat raj, whose main thrust

formation of stainding committees lor

commission is not endowed with adequate

discussing and dealing with specialised

autonomy and power to decide on all matters

subjects in depth.

has consistently been how to make the grass

roots institutions more eftective.
It cani however he considered a blessing
that we have a panchayat raj act in Kerala
at last, having constitutional buttress to start
with. Basing on the recent pronouncemnents,

the law, constituted the commission with all

the three members coming from the

pertaining to elections without relying on

the state government. The de-limitation of'

wards, determination of reserved seats, etc,

The KPRA doesi not uplhold the cardinal

principle that what can he done at a given

various committees, reviews and evaluation

are not entrusted to SEC, and this raises

level should be entrusted to that level itself

and not to the higlher level for distributinlg

doubt in the public on the intention of the

poweris and functions at each level. While

state government. Even though, the

constitutional provision for creating an

formulating the Kerala Panchayat Raj Bill,

it seems that no serious effort was made to

independent SEC notwithstanding, the

delineate various functions that can

on the minimrium periodl by which state

governments should condluct elections a'lter

the elections to PRIs may he delayed till

April 1995. This is due to the tact that the
73rd Constitutional Amendment was silent

KPRA has made the SEC dependent on the

etfectively be performed at each level of

giving statutory recognition to PRIs. It must

state government for getting many things

panchayat in the context ot Kerala. If true

done before setting the election process on.

democratic decentralisation is the real goal,

it is imperative that the centralised powers

be adde(d that the KPRA appears to be

skeleton legislation as it bestows maximlum

Furth.er, the act does not contain any

discretion and initiative in the hands of the

so tar held by central and state governments

state government through subordinate

legislation. It is left to the politically articulate

departments for carrying out and co-

be decentralised from the centre down to the

panchayats. For effective decentralisation
three types of shifts in power become

ordinating developmental activities at the

imperative in the panchaya raj context - viz,

panchayat level. It would have been better

if the power to pool the sectoral officers

vertical, horizontal and diagonal. The

at each level by the PRls had been

to the state, from the state to the district level

elite groups in Kerala to carry forward the

idea of democratic decentralisation by
invoking the positive provisions to strengthen
PRIs and thereby discouraging the
centralising forces which have a debilitating
etflect on the growth and development ol the

incorporated in the act itself. This is a

and from the district level further downward;

panchayat raj.

clear provision that ensures the availability

of existing technical manpower through
re-deployment from the state government

1910

Economic

'vertical' implies powershirt from thecentral

and

Political

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July

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29,

1995