It has been 20 years since the local body polls were first conducted in Tamil Nadu and as the State heads for another civic polls next month, opinion is divided on the efficacy of local bodies, rural and urban, as institutions of self-governance.
In the last two decades, several village panchayats have come in for appreciation from different quarters for their imaginative work. They include Odanthurai village panchayat in Coimbatore district for harnessing new and renewable energy; Michael Pattinam in Ramanathapuram district for rainwater harvesting and Kuthambakkam in Tiruvallur district for poverty alleviation.
“Wherever you have enterprising panchayat leaders, the outcome has been very impressive,” says G. Palanithurai, Chair for Panchayati Raj Studies, Department of Political Science and Development Administration of the Gandhigram Rural Institute.
At the same time, the present system of the local bodies has its share of critics. M. G. Devasahayam, social activist, goes to the extent of saying that the local bodies, as institutions, have not taken off and they have not been able to assert their position.
On many occasions over the years, the authorities had removed presidents of the village panchayats for misappropriation of funds. Also, there is a perception that reservation for women in the local bodies, which was 33 per cent till recently [now increased to 50 per cent], has not yielded desirable results in every place.
However, Prof. Palanithurai, who is not oblivious to weaknesses of the village panchayats, says gram sabhas, which are convened on four days a year, have facilitated the establishment of a “robust deliberative process” in many panchayats and women are raising a number of issues in a critical manner.
On the problem of women panchayat leaders facing pressure from their husbands, Elavarasi, president of the Puthuppalli panchayat of the Keelaiyur Panchayat Union in Nagapattinam district, says if women leaders are firm, the problem is not insurmountable. She adds that she did not experience the problem with her husband, who had been panchayat president earlier.
Though there is a clamour for more powers, C.G. Kanakasundaram of the Kameshwaram panchayat, also in Nagapattinam district, says many presidents are unaware of what is available to them. In some cases, they are unwilling to assume responsibilities.
There must be a comprehensive training programme, covering all the panchayat leaders.
Urban local bodies
As regards the urban local bodies (ULB), an official who has studied both the rural and urban local bodies says that in recent years, funds have been made available to the ULBs substantially.
