All major schemes like MGNREGA, rural housing, Jal Jeevan Mission and rural roads are suffering in villages in Belagavi district,” according to Vishveshwarayya Hiremath, coordinator of the Grameena Koolikarara Sangha.
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Some activists and political leaders want the new State government to begin the process of conducting rural local body elections that have been delayed for over two years.
Polls to the zilla panchayat at the district level and taluk panchayat at the taluk levels have been delayed by over two years.
The gram panchayat polls that were delayed for over a year were held a year ago, after the association of gram panchayat members and other groups approached the High Court. But the taluk panchayat and zilla panchayat polls are yet to be held.
Activists maintain that this has affected governance in rural areas. “All major schemes like MGNREGA, rural housing, Jal Jeevan Mission and rural roads are suffering,” said Vishveshwarayya Hiremath, coordinator of the Grameena Koolikarara Sangha, a group working in the fields of rural development and panchayat raj.
He said that the lack of elected representatives at the taluk and district levels, lack of supervision at the block and district levels and lack of decentralised planning are affecting the fixing of targets and release of funds. “Holding elections to taluk and zilla panchayats should be the priority of the new government,” he said.
The State government has cited the stay given by the Supreme Court to the OBC reservation quota fixation order by the Maharashtra government in the R.R. Wagh case for the delay. However, it has been able to hold elections to various urban bodies in the State, after complying with the order.
However, some say that the prime reason for the delay is the reluctance of the government to move towards decentralisation.
“The strongest opposition to decentralisation comes from MLAs. They do not want their authority to wane,” said Shankar Madalagi, Janata Dal(S) district president in Belagavi, who has been a zilla panchayat member in the past.
“The BJP government denied power to the people and they showed them the way out. The new government should learn from the follies of the outgoing government,” Mr. Madalagi said.
He just lost the Assembly elections to Congress nominee Mahantesh Koujalgi from Bailhongal.
Kadashettihalli Satish, president, Karnataka State Gram Panchayat Members Association, feels that such undue delays can cause long-term negative impact on the system of grassroots administration.
“To begin with, people have very little awareness about the extent of power and responsibilities of rural local bodies. That is why they expect the MLAs or Ministers to do every small thing. That is why, the rural local bodies are not getting the importance they deserve in public life,” Mr. Satish said.
He pointed out that long gaps between gram panchayats or other rural local bodies elections will make the people grow weary of them and approach the State government or the MLA instead.
“MLAs are choosing beneficiaries for all welfare schemes and development programmes, as against the rule that the selection has to be done by gram sabhas where every adult resident of the village is a member. A gram sabha held every six months should be able to draw up plans for development of the village and send it to the zilla panchayat. But that is not happening either,” he said.
He said that his association is focusing on creating awareness among villagers about their rights and about the need to make the gram panchayats more effective by holding gram sabhas.
He suspected that Ministers in the last government and MLAs from all parties conspired to delay rural local body polls.
“In 2021, they opted for delimitation of constituencies in taluk and zilla panchayats. They have taken more than 20 months to complete the process. The State government has submitted an affidavit to the High Court that delimitation has been completed. This admission should goad the State government to go ahead with the polls,” he said.
“The Karnataka Panchayat Raj Act describes the gram panchayats as institutions of perpetual succession with a common seal. It implies that elections to such bodies be held without delays. I request the next government to issue orders to hold the polls immediately,” said Ujwala Tonne, who has been a zilla panchayat president in the past. Her family members have served in taluk panchayats and town municipal councils.
“Some officers and senior leaders keep dismissing the taluk panchayats as redundant institutions. They are wrong,” said Ramesh Dakulagi, who has served as a taluk panchayat president in the past.
“Such people forget that the taluk panchayats act as mentors for gram panchayats. They are the first level of supervision and grievance redressal. An effective taluk panchayat reduces the number of complaints going up to the district and State levels. Though the law does not specify when elections should held after the term of a taluk panchayat has ended, it is common sense that it should not be more than that of an Assembly, which is 180 days,” he said.