The Hindu

Mangalore, Apr 26: The Government is thinking of evolving a system to distribute funds among gram panchayats on the basis of their population and performance, Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj C M Udasi said here on Tuesday April 25.

Inaugurating a federation of presidents, vice-presidents and members of gram panchayats in Mangalore taluk at a convention, the Minister said the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Ministry was now giving equal grants to panchayats. Small and large panchayats got the same amount. There was a need to change the system, he said.

The Government was also thinking of granting funds on the basis of performance of gram panchayats, he added.

Udasi said that realising the importance of gram panchayats, the Government has increased the grant to them considerably in the 2006-07 budget when compared to the budget for 2004-05. In 2004-05, the Government set aside nearly Rs 1,594 crore for panchayats — Rs 797 crore (50 per cent) for zilla panchayats, Rs. 481 crore (30 per cent) for taluk panchayats and Rs 315 crore (20 per cent) for gram panchayats.

In the 2006-07 budget, the Government has allocated Rs 4,319 crore for panchayats, including Rs 2,090 crore (48 per cent) for gram panchayats. There was a substantial increase in funds for gram panchayats. The Government, which had given powers to gram panchayats, expected the proper utilisation of funds for development, he added.

The Minister said gram panchayats had not come up to expectations in implementation of development programmes. There was a need to take up programmes to obviate the need for people in villages to migrate to urban areas in search of employment opportunities, he said.

Minister for Fisheries, Muzarai and Horticulture B Nagaraj Shetty presided over the programme.