From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network

BANGALORE, APRIL 30: Karnataka’s grama panchayats will see an expenditure of Rs 4,600 crore on development programmes in grama panchayats during the current year against an actual expenditure of Rs 2,800 crore during 2009-10.

The hefty expenditure target for the current year in grama panchayats marked a whopping increase of Rs 1,800 crore over last year, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Jagadish Shettar said pointing out that the BJP government was keen on ensuring quantum jump in the developmental programmes in rural areas.

He said the government was keen to put an end to the irregularities and tardy pace of development in the grama panchayats under the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Act and said the proposal to appoint retired district judges as ombudsmen would be implemented shortly. As many as 15 retired district judges had already applied for the jobs and the government was likely to finalise the appointments soon, he said.

The government has decided to request  ISRO to take satellite pictures of the works done by panchayats, he said pointing out that action would be initiated against the erring panchayats based on the ISRO study reports. ISRO would also be asked to conduct a survey on the works done in Bangalore district and then it would be extended to the entire state.

Expressing his anguish over the failure to hold grama sabhas by the village panchayats at least twice a year for approving the action plan of works and distribution of Ashraya sites to the beneficiaries, the minister said that he was making surprise visits when the grama sabhas were held. He said that he would even sit in the meetings.

A high level vigilance committee under his chairmanship has been constituted to monitor the quality of works would also be constituted, he said disclosing that another committee comprising senior officials would check the works done under the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment General Act. It was also planned to videograph the works.

On the progress in investigation into the criminal cases against officials and contractors, Shettar said that 145 cases had been registered and 100 persons including engineers, secretaries and
presidents of village panchayats had been arrested.

Shettar took strong exception to the practice of auctioning village panchyat seats in the on-going elections, he said that the elections should be free and fair and must not be controlled by any external influences or forces.

 The village elders should intervene to help the election authorities to hold election to
the grama pancyats, he said.

He said the award presented by the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to him for successfully empowering panchayat bodies and decentralising power would help in improving the system. It also proved that Karnataka was a pioneer in the panchayat raj and implementation of decentralization of power, he added.