Devolution of funds due to the rural local bodies continues to be an issue even after the formation of Telangana State. The major complaint is about non-release of seigniorage fee by the government pending over a decade.
Crores of rupees are due for release towards the share of local bodies from the Mines Department. The main source of revenue for local bodies is funds allotted by the Central Finance Commission. The situation improved slightly for the gram panchayats after the 14th Finance Commission changed the guidelines to release the funds directly to the panchayats based on their population.
But seigniorage fee, transfer duty (component of stamps and registration fee) comprise major source of income for the local bodies and the amount has to be released by the State departments concerned.
A ZPTC member from Chevella in Ranga Reddy filed a petition in the High Court over the pending seigniorage fee dues and the court directed the government in July, 2017 to disburse funds among local bodies in Ranga Reddy, Vikarabad and Medchal districts within two months.
But of ₹532 crore due to the local bodies of Ranga Reddy since 2005, only a meagre amount is released till now, sources disclosed.
Government sources said since year 2000, no government released full amounts to the local bodies for various reasons though the panchayats are supposed to be self-reliant.
One of the reasons was government started bearing the salary bill of employees of local bodies and also their water supply and electricity charges. Panchayats were left with only taking care of sanitation and maintenance of street lights.
Official sources, however, agree that Kerala followed by Karnataka have decentralised governance with delegation of powers to the local bodies. In these States, gram panchayats are much bigger and all works are taken up under the purview of panchayats, with computerisation and all e-seva activities executed through the GPs. Every work undertaken at the local body is allocated online and payments are released online and open to public scrutiny.
In Telangana, the new Panchayat Raj Act gave final decision making power to Collectors while MLAs wield power even over representatives of local bodies diluting the concept of local governance, sources added.
