Streamlining autonomy

THE Union ministry of panchayati raj has suggested amendments to streamline local governance in the tribal areas of north-eastern states.

The draft amendments to existing laws governing local bodies in the Sixth Schedule areas would help fight insurgency prevailing in the region and effectively implement Central government programmes, such as the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, at the grassroots level, ministry officials said.

In recent years, several government panels and civil society groups had suggested amending the Constitution to dissolve the autonomy of local bodies in Sixth Schedule areas, following reports of dysfunctional local governance, corruption, siphoning money from state schemes to fund insurgency, exclusion of women and ethnic divides, rendering local governance ineffective.

Instead of amending the Constitution the ministry has now suggested amending laws to make local bodies more powerful and independent. “An amendment to the Constitution would be an external imposition,” said Hrushikesh Panda, additional secretary in the ministry. “These amendments are an attempt to make the process of decentralisation inclusive rather than imposing laws,” Panda said. The amendment is also to avoid opposition from tribals who have so far enjoyed certain autonomous powers, he added. But dissent seems inevitable.

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