Departments Should Step Out of the Way

and allow rural folk to streamline their development

editorial:

It is rare for auditors from the CAG office to record praise for constituents of the State machinery, their job after all is to help streamline financial propriety and this they do by needling out examples of embezzlement and misappropriation. Yet, hidden in the data and figures of a Technical Inspection Report conducted by the office of the Accountant General of Sikkim, is strong praise for the Lunchok-Kamarey Gram Panchayat of South Sikkim. In a section highlighting how gram panchayats in Sikkim have not levied taxes, rates and fees even though they are authorised to do so, the Auditors mention Lunchok-Kamarey GP which had levied such fees and taxes “and realised revenue meriting appreciation”. Interestingly, the failure of the remaining GPs was not due to their failing, but because the control mechanism for levy and its collection by the Panchayati Raj Institutions was not prescribed despite the accepted recommendation of the Second State Finance Commission. Also ignored was the commitment to transfer 1% of tax revenue to PRIs. The Audit also discovered that release of funds by various departments to the panchayats was “not based on sound rationale” but as per their own discretion. Given this whimsical release of funds, it only follows that planning by the panchayats is crippled with ad-hocism. The draft development plans for the districts are also handicapped by preponderance of bureaucratic presence and hence lacks the priority commitment it requires. The Audit also highlights gram panchayats were slack in preparing budget estimates and he District Planning Officers accommodating in that they did not insist for one, perhaps in acceptance that projecting budget estimates in the absence of clear indications of available funds is impossible.  The governmental support required to keep MGNREGA works on track and adequately monitored have been slow as was the deputation of expert support for the PRIs. When it comes to MGNREGA works, between 2006-09, 75,000 households received employment on execution of 1,869 works involving funds to the tune of Rs. 56.23 crore. Despite the scale of funds involved, the number of households touched and sheer ambition of the scheme, the concerned officials did not even meet conditions included in the operational guidelines to inspect works in progress. It only follows then that some of the works were mismanaged and funds wasted. 

What is significant in the matter is that despite slack support from government departments, panchayats in Sikkim have performed exceptionally well. They regularly win accolades at the national level and figure prominently in award ceremonies for panchayati raj institutions. Their successes become even more significance in the light of general departmental lethargy towards grassroots rural development. Recently, the Ministry of Rural Development, impressed by the State’s success in implementing MGNREGA, has lavished a 33% hike in the outlay for this sector. As per the Rural Management & Development Department, individual GPUs stand to receive an average of Rs. 70 lakh exclusively for MGNREGA works. That is huge. One hopes that the entire fund is secured for Sikkim’s villages and job-card holders, something which is possible only if the schemes are flawlessly executed since the allocation is to be released in instalments based on performance. The Technical Inspection Report of the AG illustrates that what is holding back panchayati raj institutions from delivering on the potential of the Acts and empowerment devolved to them, is not their own failings or limitations, but the resistance/ disinterest of the departments to extend them the support system require to plan and deliver more effectively. The policy commitment to do so has been clearly communicated, what should be ensured now is that the departments and its officers respect the policy commitments and learn to share and assist. The Department head-office driven model of development planning stands exposed as being too short-sighted, and village-level planning for rural development offers itself as the obvious alternative. It needs to be reinforced and streamlined.