| Policy watch January 2007 |
- Jharkhand pays for not having panchayats
- Rs 1,58,310 crore deficit in rural infrastructure
- Panchayats to have say in GM crop trials
- In 2007, 22 crore people will be below poverty line
- Karnataka to fight its own land grabbing
- States sign MoU on cooperative societies
- Assam Hill Land and Ecological Sites Bill passed
- Tamil Nadu’s new panchayat scheme
- National federation of panchayats formed
Jharkhand pays for
not having panchayats
Jharkhand has lost Rs 1,800 crore in rural development assistance from
the Union government in the last six years, as it doesn’t have panchayats.
Jharkhand is the only state in India, which has not conducted elections to
local bodies after the 72nd and 73rd constitutional amendments. At an
average, every year the Centre should have transferred Rs 200 crore to
Jharkhand as aid for rural development through panchayats. Add to this the
annual Rs 100 crore for municipalities for which also the state has not held
elections. This puts the total loss at Rs 1,800 crore in last six years.
Most of these funds are meant for construction of roads, renovation of
ponds, and construction and augmentation of irrigation.
Rs 1,58,310 crore
deficit in rural infrastructure
The National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER) has estimated
that rural India has a deficit of Rs 1,58,310 crore in the
telecommunications, power, roads and transport, and water and sanitation
sectors. NCAER’s recently released India Rural Infrastructure Report points
at lack of both governance and finance as the causes. It strongly recommends
decentralisation of delivery of the services mentioned above, and seeking
fresh financing sources. Going by this estimate, even doubling of current
allocations will not be enough to finance the deficit.
Panchayats to have say
in GM crop trials
From now on, companies will need the consent of panchayats and village
councils before taking up trials of genetically modified (GM) crops. The
Centre took this decision after a series of incidents in which seed
companies started trials without informing local communities. This was
followed by protests in Chhattisgarh, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. The Genetic
Engineering Approval Committee has decided that from now on, approval for
field trials will be issued only after companies specify the location and
get consent from local bodies.
In 2007, 22 crore
people will be below poverty line
The Union ministry of housing and urban poverty alleviation’s compendium
on urban poverty and slums estimates that in 2007 the number of people
living below the poverty line (BPL) category will rise to 22.01 crore. Bihar
(with 5.35 crore people in the BPL category) will be the poorest state in
India, displacing Orissa. Among union territories, Delhi will top the list
with over 3.38 lakh persons. The summary says that Daman and Diu, Goa,
Chandigarh, Pondicherry and Lakshadweep will wipe out poverty -- reporting a
negligent number. States in which the BPL population will cross the one
crore mark include West Bengal, Orissa and Maharashtra. Madhya Pradesh’s BPL
community will rise to two crore during 2007.
Karnataka to fight its
own land grabbing
Karnataka’s agriculture department has revived its State Land Use Board
to fight the industry department’s aggressive land acquisition drive. The
decision came after the state’s Industrial Development Board made public its
plan to acquire 25,000 acres of land -- mostly farms -- for setting up
industrial townships. The State Land Use Board had been rendered
non-functional by successive governments. Now, it plans to regenerate 10
lakh hectares of wastelands for agricultural purposes. A few years ago, the
board had prepared a 25-year perspective plan for development of barren
land. However, it could not work on it, as there was no staff to implement
it.
States sign MoU on
cooperative societies
Eleven states have accepted the Centre’s revival package for short-term
cooperative credit structure. This move will make farmers debt free and
raise their capital base. The decision was taken based on the
recommendations of the task force headed by A Vaidyanathan. Andhra Pradesh,
Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim,
Tamil Nadu, Uttaranchal and Uttar Pradesh and union territory Dadra and
Nagar Haveli have already signed a memorandum of understanding with the
Centre and the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development in this
regard. These states account for 60.7 per cent of the country’s Primary
Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) and 70 per cent of the total district
central cooperative banks (DCCBs). The financial assistance under the
package is estimated at Rs 13,596 crore -- to be shared by the Centre, state
governments and cooperative credit structure.
Assam Hill Land and
Ecological Sites Bill passed
The state legislative assembly has passed the Assam Hill Land and
Ecological Sites (Protection and Management) Bill, 2006. The Bill was
introduced to prevent indiscriminate cutting of hills and filling up of
water bodies in urban areas, which had led to serious ecological problems in
places like Guwahati. Prior to this, many assembly members had expressed
apprehension that the Bill would take away traditional settlers’ rights over
the hills. However, the state government assured them that it is committed
to granting land rights to those who have been living on the hills for the
past 15 years or more. It also promised a new land use policy for such
settlers. Under the Bill, the state government can bring any hill under its
purview for protection.
Tamil Nadu’s new
panchayat scheme
Tamil Nadu has announced a new rural development scheme, which will be
implemented through panchayats. Under the scheme, Rs 500 crore (Rs 20 lakh
for every panchayat) will be channelised through local bodies annually. The
panchayats can spend one-fourth of the annual allocation as they wish within
the functions devolved for them. One-fifth of the village panchayats in each
block will be covered under this scheme every year. The bodies will be
selected on the basis of their per capita income. In this way, all
panchayats will come under the scheme in the next five years.
National federation of panchayats formed
Panchayat bodies from various states have come together to form a
registered society called the Association of Local Governance in India. The
federation will work as the national level union for local bodies. It will
try to achieve better power devolution and to operate as a unified pressure
group. The Delhi-based Indian Institute of Social Sciences has facilitated
formation of this society. Similar state-level federations will also come up
soon to make the process of forming the national federation participatory
and democratic.
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