Dr Sanjeeb Patjoshi, IPS
India is a multi-level federalism, which can be broadly characterized as a functional co- operative federalism, with the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments in the year 1993, providing the basis for the local self-government institutions. The Indian system mandates to create institution of self-government at the local level and bestows the responsibility of preparing plans for economic development and social justice on them. Twenty nine subjects responsibilities of eleventh schedule of the Constitution have been delegated to panchayats. Such mandate is a unique feature in the annals of local governance across the world. Equally unparalleled and distinguishing are the provisions for Central and State Finance Commissions to provide for adequate devolutions of funds to the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs). The panchayats in Jammu& Kashmir during its state status has also been benfiting out of the devolutions made by the Union Finance Commissions. All panchayats have also been enlisted in Local Government Directory database with unique numerical code for benefit of digital convergence. For digital payments to vendors, to comply with clarion call of Honorable Prime Minister, more than 1.5 lakhs panchayats, including that of J&K, have also been in forefront to adopt Public Finance Management System along with PriaSoft accounting real time online application. Panchayats have been functioning effectively as third tier self government institutions as well as agencies to execute many programs and schemes of central and state governments.
Jammu & Kashmir also has three tier system of Panchayats. The Halqa (Gram) Panchayats have been the benerficiaries of the Fourteenth Finance Commission (FFC) Grants. As the due elections to the Panchayats were temporarily delayed due to then absence of conducive situation in the State, the release of FFC grants was also slightly deferred after the full allocated amount of Basic Grant released during year 2015-16 & Performance Grant released in January, 2017, as the FFC Grants were mandated to be given only to duly constituted Gram Panchayats after holding of elections. However, the elections to the Gram Panchayats were completed towards the end of December, 2018 with about 22214 Panches and 3459 Sarpanches elected and the subsequent installments including arrears were released from January, 2019 onwards.
The Panchayats of Jammu and Kashmir have been strengthened and empowered by the funds released from central government under the Fourteenth Finance Commission. In the years from 2015-16 to 2018-19 the amount released each year was Rs 367.72 Crores. Rs 474.41 Crores, Rs 470.97 Crores, Rs 544.83 Crores respectively, thus totaling Rs .1858 Crores.
The Jammu & Kashmir Government has recently announced a life insurance cover of Rs. 25 lakhs each to all elected members of panchayati raj institutions of the Union Territory in case of death due to a terror-related incident. This decision is aimed at strengthening the grassroots democracy by providing a sense of security and morale boosting to the elected members of local bodies who are under constant threat from terrorists.
Role of Panchayats in Corona Control
The country and all states are facing the corana crisis together with all efforts. Jammu & Kashmir has played an important role in implementing the lockdown and normalizing economic activities thereafter. In the wake of the rising number of corona virus-infected persons in the Union Territory, panchayats in Jammu and Kashmir have taken a lead by stitching handmade masks , sensitizing people about social distancing, frequent hand sanitizing with soap or alcohol based sanitizer to contain the spread of the disease.
The Government of Jammu and Kashmir also has taken important steps to bring migrant workers and for their further local employment. Throughout the country, workers were sent to their native villages by running special trains from many states. MNREGS has also become a major employment base for migrant workers returning to villages in Jammu and Kashmir. Along with assessing the skill of the workers, the work of re-skilling and skill upgrade is also being done. At the same time, Gram Panchayats also are handling the work of cleanliness mission, fumigation and disinfection of villages.
In J&K during the pandemic COVID-19, the theme to control Infection is based on service delivery, public distribution, disaster management & institutional convergence. Gram panchayats have formed cadre of volunteers for awareness generation. They have also done identification of persons who have recently returned from outside state or abroad.and then to quarantine of the person , suspected with the Corona symptoms, at home.
In some panchyats , awareness generation of community on prevention of COVID-19 through loudspeaker is also being done. Instruction is also given to ensure proper availability of essential commodities at village level so that village community member should not face any kind of problem. In the period of lockdown, essential kit distribution with the help of merchants, volunteers and government officials has won praise from many quarters. Many panchayats also are serving cooked food to needy through community kitchen. Some GPs have identified houses of the elderly or those with an underlying comorbidity medical condition to provide essential supplies such as grocery and generic medicines at the doorsteps.
While interacting with the Sarpanchs and elected heads of panchayati raj institutions from across the country through video-conferencing on the occasion of National Panchayati Raj Day on 24th April 2020, the efforts and proactive measures adopted by Chairperson, Block Development Council, Narwav Block, Baramulla District to contain the spread of Corona virus pandemic were lauded and appreciated..
Capacity Building of Elected Representatives
The recent panchayat elections have strengthened the panchayati raj system in Jammu and Kashmir. The elected public representatives have also been given training under centrally sponsored scheme of Rastriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan for their capacity building to enhance capabilities of panchayats for inclusive local governance with focus on optimum utilization of available resources, raising their own resources and convergence with other schemes to improve performance of panchayats in addressing subjects of national importance like primary health and children immunization, nutrition, education, sanitation, water conservation etc.
Under the scheme, grants from the central share are provided to J&K based on the annual action plans (AAP) of Jammu & Kashmir . For the years 2018-19, 2019-20 & 2020-21 the AAPs have been approved with the amounts of Rs. 49.15 Crores., Rs. 197.21 Crores & Rs. 173.48 Crores respectively. Already central share Rs 31.25 Crores have been released during years 2018-19 and 2019-20. During the current financial year 2020-21, it is expected that the releases to J&K may improve to substantial levels based on utilization of funds of previous years. By utilizing the RGSA and FFC funds , the UT has been able to improve the physical infrastructure and basic services of water supply, sanitation, roads etc in its gram panchayats as well as implementation of various training programs for the elected representatives and other functionaries.
The author is Joint Secretary to Government of India, Ministry of Panchayati Raj
