Bengaluru: The elevation of the post of zilla panchayat president to minister of state rank has turned out to be a bonanza for these civic representatives who now earn a monthly salary and other perks of around a few lakhs a month.
But to provide these benefits to the head of each zilla panchayat, the government has to bear an expenditure of Rs 10.02 crore per year and around Rs 54.50 crore for five years. There are 30 zilla panchayats in the state and all 30 presidents are entitled to get these benefits for five years or till their tenure ends.
Elevating them on par with minister of state and fixing their tenure for a full five years have been long pending demands of zilla panchayat members. All previous governments kept these demands pending owing to the burden on the state exchequer.
However, the Congress government which came to power in 2013, agreed to fulfill these demands despite the fact it bleeds the government treasury.
For how long the government is going to provide these facilities is a million dollar question. Mr G.T. Deve Gowda, former president of Mysuru Zilla Panchayat and Janata Dal (Secular) MLA from Chamundeshwari constituency told Deccan Chronicle that ever since the Belur declaration came into being, both zilla panchayats and taluk panchayats have lost their importance.
The S.M. Krishna government had given more powers to gram panchayats be it the selection of beneficiaries through holding gram sabhas or calling the shots on development projects.
The Zilla Panchayats and Taluk Panchayats have become more of show pieces than actually having any say in development of villages. He opined that the salary and other perks being given to Zilla Panchayat presidents are not necessary since they don't have much work to do.
Before the historic Belur declaration, zilla panchayats were given all powers in finalizing projects, maintaining several departments and selecting beneficiaries for various state and central government sponsored schemes.
The role of Zilla Panchayats is now restricted to holding meetings. But the irony is that while the president of a gram panchayat gets a monthly honorarium of Rs 2,000 , each Zilla Panchayat president gets a few lakhs every month plus other perks.
Vouching Mr Gowda's views, a Congress legislator also felt that giving a big salary to the presidents of zilla panchayats was 'uncalled' for and said it had been done for political purposes. The amount being spent on their salary and other allowances could have been spent on construction of roads, bridges and classrooms in villages, he said.
