The Hindu : Front Page : Panchayati Raj will stay in State List

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Saturday, May 10, 2008
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Panchayati Raj will stay in State List

Special Correspondent

Centre “implacably opposed” to any shift, says Mani Shankar Aiyar

Mani Shankar Aiyar

CHENNAI: Asked by The Hindu to explain the Centre’s stand on the proposal to shift the subject of Panchayati Raj from the State List to the Concurrent List of the Constitution, Union Minister of Panchayati Raj Mani Shankar Aiyar on Friday stressed that the Centre was implacably opposed to any move to shift the subject out of the State List.

He pointed out that the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had repeatedly emphasised -- in the Lok Sabha on May 15, 1989 and August 7, 1989 as well as in the Rajya Sabha on October 13, 1989 -- that there was no question of shifting Panchayati Raj out of the State List, and that the purpose of his Constitution amendments was to strengthen local self-government, not alter Centre-State relations.

The Minister added that he had himself several times clarified in Parliament that the Centre would not countenance any change. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made this clear once again at the recent National Convention on Panchayati Raj held in Delhi during April 22-24, 2008, where the Minister said: “The Constitution clearly mentions that State governments and State Legislatures are fully responsible for setting up of Panchayati Raj.”

Mr. Aiyar reiterated this in his lecture on ‘Panchayati Raj: Inclusive Growth through Inclusive Governance,’ at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India in Chennai on Friday.

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