Slow pace of Panchayati Raj due to lack of political will: VP

"Lack of political will" was the reason for the "slow and halting pace" of Panchayati Raj which does not enjoy autonomy as institutions of self governance given that the Centre and the states control the financial and administrative powers, Vice-President Hamid Ansari said today.
He also said that an expert committee to examine how Panchayats could be leveraged for more efficient delivery of services found that there was a need to devolve powers to Panchayati Raj Institutions for their effective collegial functioning.
"I will only draw attention to its (expert committee's) finding that, despite unprecedented progress made in the scale of operations, the reason for 'the slow and halting pace and pattern of Panchayati Raj is lack of political will to proceed with the Constitutional scheme'.

"It adds that in the absence of real devolved powers relating to functions, finances and functionaries, there can be no effective collegial functioning by Panchayati Raj Institutions nor any responsibility of the elected Panchayati Raj representatives towards the Gram Sabhas," Ansari said.
The Vice-President was speaking at the inauguration of the international conference on 'Federalisms and Localisms' organised by the OP Jindal Global University in collaboration with Europaeum, Oxford (UK), at Sonipat in Haryana.
Ansari said that in 2002, a Commission had examined the functioning of these structures and highlighted the gaps in the implementation of the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments.

It had pointed out that Panchayats and municipalities do not enjoy autonomy as institutions of self-governance since the Union and State governments continue to exercise financial and administrative powers.

He also expressed concern over "galloping federalism" and "crawling localism", a situation in which there is a propensity to acquire power at one level and a reluctance to concede it to other levels.
Professor C Raj Kumar, Vice-Chancellor of JGU, said the conference was organised to advance the knowledge and understanding of issues relating to "federalisms" and "localisms" that have become a central aspect of governance in India.
The conference was also attended by Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Governor Jagannath Pahadia, MP Mani Shankar Aiyar, judges, MPs, MLAs, JGU professors and participants from around the world.