KARNATAKA-Panchayati Raj Reform

KARNATAKA Panchayati Raj Reform G Sreenivas Reddy PANCHAYATI RAJ (PR) reform has been a subject of debate ever since institutionalisation of the system after failure of the Community Development Programme in the late 50s. Over the years numerous Committees and Commissions, both at the national and state level, have gone into the working of the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRls) and made several recommendations for improvement. However, the overall pattern of PR was, by and law, guided by framework of the Balwantarai Mehta Committee Report (1957) for a long time past. Some significant departures from the Balwantarai Mehta model started manifesting in the last few years, The states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka which have come into the political limelight in the wake of the Congress(I) debacle earlier this year are presently contemplating reorganisation of their PR systems. While a resolution to this effect was adopted at the first annual conference of the ruling Telugu Desam Party in Andhra, a Bill on the subject is already before the Joint Select Committee of the Karnataka State Legislature and is likely to come up for discussion in the forthcoming session of the Assembly.