The Hindu : National : The law and the reality

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jan 02, 2005

National

National

The law and the reality

THERE IS the law. Then there is the reality of the local self-government institutions (LSGIs) in Kerala. The gap is widening day by day. Many progressive pro-people features introduced by the amended panchayat and municipality Acts and the rules framed on their basis are yet to be unpacked.

Legal support structures mentioned below are part of a secret phrase list that leaves genuine governance by the people still a mirage in the State.

The right to information: This is granted to all persons under the two Acts to get any information (except about classified government documents) from any panchayat, municipality or corporation in the State. This transparency clause obliges the bureaucracy to provide the information within a prescribed period or face punishment.

Status: Remains untested, even by the media.

Citizens Charter: Under the Acts, every local body is required to publish a charter listing the different categories of services rendered, the condition of such service and the time limit for providing the service.

Status: Not implemented by a majority of local bodies.

Social Audit: One of the key accountability mechanisms intended under the Acts is the continuous social auditing of the performance of elected representatives at the tri-monthly grama sabhas.

Status: Concept never explained to people; with dwindling participation in the grama sabhas, social audit remains a dream.

Performance Audit: Perhaps the most important accountability feature, an autonomous auditing commission independent of government control to inspect literally all activities of each local body every three months and give directions for corrective action. Its report is to be placed before the grama sabha for discussions and published at the panchayat office with notes from the panchayat president on how mistakes have been corrected and recommendations were implemented.

Status: Has been reduced to the status of a mere audit of accounts.

Grama Sabha: Tri-monthly meeting of all voters in a ward, a fourth tier of government, with immense powers, functions and responsibilities on local governance.

Status: Dwindling participation. Reduced to a sham in almost all local bodies.

Ombudsman: An authority with vast powers to check corruption, maladministration and irregularities in the discharge of administrative functions by the LSGIs, government employees or elected representatives, including chairpersons or presidents.

Status: Initially a seven-member body under the LDF Government. Soon after assuming office, the UDF Government made it a single- member body, now performing far below expectation.

Appellate Tribunal: A judicial officer to consider and dispose of appeals by citizens against decisions of the local government taken in the exercise of their regulatory role — such as issue of licence and grant of permits.

Status: Five years after the Acts were amended, a tribunal has just been constituted. Fate unclear.

— R.K.

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