Minister Seethakka Seeks Special Exemptions For Tribals, Gram Panchayats
She urged that special weightage be given in fund allocations to scheduled areas, backward districts, and geographically challenging regions, as providing public services there incurs higher costs.
New Delhi: Telangana Panchayat Raj and Rural Development Minister Dr. Danasari Anasuya Seethakka on Saturday urged that special exemptions be provided to tribal, hill, scheduled areas, and backward gram panchayats in provisions such as performance-based grants and own-source revenue recommended by the 16th Finance Commission.
Speaking during the National Workshop of State Panchayati Raj Ministers in the National Capital to deliberate on the recommendations of the 16th Finance Commission, conducted under the chairmanship of Union Panchayat Raj Minister Rajeev Ranjan Singh, she appealed that the performance of gram panchayats should not be assessed solely based on tax collections, and equal importance should be given to aspects like services provided to the people, sanitation, transparency, digital governance, and public participation. Special Chief Secretary Danakishore, along with ministers and officials from other states, participated in this meeting.
Speaking on the occasion, Minister Seethakka stated that the Telangana government welcomes performance-based grants to GPs, but the provisions should not impose the burden of additional taxes on gram panchayats in tribal, hill, and remote areas with low income capacity. She noted that linking development to the economic condition of the people is not fair. She pointed out that many gram panchayats in scheduled areas have very low populations, resulting in their own revenue sources also being limited. She requested special relaxations for such areas and exemptions in the eligibility for performance grants for gram panchayats and mandal-level local bodies with high populations of tribal, hill, and scheduled caste communities.
She stated that withholding central government development funds for 62 gram panchayats where elections have not been held due to pending court cases is causing injustice to the people there. She appealed for provisions to continue funding in special circumstances where elections are delayed due to court orders.
The Minister also appealed that since every village has different needs, untied basic grants should be continued at an appropriate level to enable gram sabhas to make decisions according to local requirements. She said the Telangana government welcomes systems like digital governance, e-Gram Swaraj, and PFMS and requested the Centre to strengthen training, staff, internet connectivity, and technical infrastructure needed for their implementation in remote villages.
She urged that special weightage be given in fund allocations to scheduled areas, backward districts, and geographically challenging regions, as providing public services there incurs higher costs.
Minister Seethakka said that strong gram panchayats and strong states together lay the foundation for a strong India. To further empower rural local bodies, states need adequate financial capacity, and the 16th Finance Commission’s recommendations should be such that states are strengthened in the spirit of cooperation while making panchayats more powerful, she suggested.
