The Hindu
(Friday, Jul 20, 2007)
Karnataka
- Bangalore
Governor returns
Bill to legislature
Staff Reporter
|
Houses asked to reconsider amendment to Karnataka Panchayat Raj Act |
Bill
was passed by the two Houses in April
It
seeks to take away some powers from panchayats
Deputy Speaker Y.S. Gopalakrishna,
who was in the Chair, read out the 10-page ‘message’ sent by the Governor, who
reasoned that the Bill was not in consonance with the
73rd and 74th Constitution amendments.
The Governor also said that the amendment
brought about by the State government was not consistent with the
forward-looking democratic approach envisioned by the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi when he piloted the Bill in Parliament in
1989. The taking away of powers from panchayats and gram sabhas
signified a major reversal and retreat of panchayati raj and seemed to violate the spirit of the concept as
enshrined in the Constitution, he said.
Contravenes Article 14
Taking away the powers of panchayats with
regard to housing schemes and other programmes as intended in the Bill seemed
to contravene Article 14 of the Constitution.
The Governor said he was sending the
message to the members for reconsideration of the need, propriety, timeliness
and relevance of the Bill, keeping in view the observations, wide-ranging
implications, the constitutional mandate and the likely long-term impact the
amendments may have on the future of panchayati raj in the State. Several members of the Legislative
Council on Wednesday petitioned Mr. Chaturvedi, urging
him not to give assent to the Bill. They said the amendment allowing
legislators to have a say in decisions made by gram panchayats was against the
principles of decentralisation.
Reminding the members that Karnataka had
been hailed as the pioneer in panchayati raj, the Governor said many States had largely followed its
example and established decentralised local bodies.
He said a Joint Select Committee had scrutinised the
original Bill, which was passed unanimously in 2003. The existing arrangement,
he said, was a product of very thorough work, discerning scrutiny and the
combined wisdom of the legislature.
Referring to representations made by
citizens, panchayats, NGOs, intellectuals and a few members of the legislature
opposing the Bill, the Governor said gram panchayats and, more so, gram sabhas had been given primacy in selecting beneficiaries
for various schemes because of their proximity to people living in villages.
“The law, as it exists, is unambiguous and is in keeping with the spirit of the
73rd amendment.”
‘Not justified’
The Governor said the Bill did not justify
the proposed changes, except for the bald assertion that gram panchayats had
not been functioning effectively and, hence, it was considered necessary to
make a provision for constituting Ashraya committees
to select beneficiaries. It was not known on what basis such a conclusion had
been arrived at, he said. He wanted to know whether an objective study had been
conducted on the present system and whether local bodies or NGOs were
consulted.
“The reinstatement of legislators and
officials in the set-up in this manner and vesting them with authority may be
misconstrued as conflict of interest between them and panchayats,” he said.
Governor hailed
Bangalore Special Correspondent writes:
In the Legislative Council, Leader of the
Opposition H.K. Patil demanded that the Government
should resign owning moral responsibility for introducing the Bill.
“I salute the Governor for his historical
message to the legislators,” Mr. Patil said. The
Congress, which had opposed the Bill, had now been vindicated.
M.P. Nadagouda
(JD-U) demanded that Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister C.M. Udasi should resign for piloting the Bill.
Basavaraj Bommai (JD-U), who led a
delegation of MLCs to the Governor and urged him to
return the Bill, said the Governor’s message had come as a victory for the
Constitution and democracy. He appealed to the ruling and the Opposition
parties against looking at the Governor’s message as a political victory or defeat.
Council Chairman B.K. Chandrashekar
reserved his ruling on whether a debate on the Governor’s message should be
allowed.
(http://www.hindu.com/2007/07/20/stories/2007072053960400.htm)