Soiru Velip
Panaji
As the state heads for the December 20 zilla panchayat elections, one incontrovertible fact remains firmly established: more than 25 years after their creation, both district panchayats are largely ineffective, with successive state governments reluctant to devolve meaningful powers to them.
Despite their intended role as district-level rural governance bodies for North and South Goa, they have functioned mostly to fulfil a constitutional requirement rather than to drive grassroots development. Only a few powers and functions have been devolved to them.
Established in the year 2000 under the then BJP-led coalition government, the zilla panchayats appear powerful on paper. The Goa Panchayati Raj Act, 1994 assigns them a wide range of responsibilities — agriculture, minor irrigation, water and watershed management, animal husbandry, fisheries and small-scale industries, to drinking water supply and poverty alleviation.
The Panchayati Raj Act also assigns them education, culture, health and sanitation, primary healthcare, women and child development, and welfare of weaker sections.
In practice, however, these institutions have little authority. With only a few functions actually devolved and virtually no financial independence, the bodies remain dependent on the state government for funds.
As a result, they have become more of a financial liability for the state than functional units of governance.
Goa, as a small state, is constitutionally required to have a two-tier Panchayati Raj system — unlike larger states that operate with three tiers. Yet this structure remains largely symbolic. The zilla panchayats are expected to examine and consolidate annual development plans submitted by village panchayats, but this process is seldom followed.
For many, the zilla panchayats have served more as a political stepping stone for members aspiring to become MLAs than as platforms for decentralised administration.
As the two district bodies head into their sixth election, it remains to be seen whether the state government will finally empower them with greater authority and financial autonomy after the December 20 polls.
