Seethakka urges Centre to rethink panchayat performance norms

Hyderabad: Telangana Panchayat Raj and Rural Development Minister Seethakka on Friday, July 3, urged the Centre not to assess the performance of gram panchayats solely on the basis of tax collections and instead give greater weightage to public services, sanitation, transparency and governance indicators.

Participating in a conference in New Delhi, chaired by Union Panchayat Raj Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh on the recommendations of the 16th Finance Commission for rural local bodies, Seethakka called for special consideration for tribal, Scheduled and remote area gram panchayats with limited own-source revenue generation capacity.

She requested the Centre not to impose additional tax burdens on gram panchayats in tribal and backward regions and sought exemptions for such local bodies from performance-linked grant conditions tied to revenue generation.

The minister said the provisions relating to performance-based grants and own-source revenue proposed by the 16th Finance Commission should provide special priority to tribal, Scheduled and backward area gram panchayats.

Seethakka seeks decision-making based on local needs

She also urged the Centre to continue untied basic grants to enable gram sabhas to take decisions based on local needs and priorities.

Seethakka further requested that provisions be made to ensure the continuation of funds to 62 gram panchayats in Telangana where elections could not be conducted because of cases pending before courts.

The minister said financial support mechanisms should take into account the unique challenges faced by local bodies in remote and economically weaker regions while framing recommendations for rural local institutions.