Shot down once by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, panchayati raj minister Mani Shankar Aiyar?s grandiose plans of organising a maha rally of sarpanches in the Capital to celebrate the 15th anniversary of Panchayati Raj institutions is back on the table.
The pertinacious panchayati raj minister has worked out an abridged version of his earlier proposal for the jamboree and will be bringing it up before the Union Cabinet on Wednesday. The revised plan not only brings down the number of sarpanches converging into the Capital but also significantly cuts down cost to be incurred on the exercise. It is understood that Aiyar has scaled down the expenditure to Rs 70 crore and is planning to hold it on April 24, which he has designated as panchayati raj diwas. It marks the 15th anniversary of entry into force of the Gazette Notification on April 24, 1993, of the Constitution Amendment Bills relating to panchayat empowerment passed by Parliament.
Government managers on Tuesday indicated that the panchayati raj ministry?s latest proposal suggests holding separate regional rallies in four corners of the country.They pointed out that the expenses would go down substantially as transportation costs would decrease due to holding the rallies at the regional level. The earlier plan, which was shot down by the union cabinet in November last year, reportedly envisaged a total expenditure of Rs 160 crore with 1.25 lakh participants. There was a clear reluctance to set aside such a large amount of money for an event which it was felt, would not yield any dividend for the government or the party. There was also apprehensions voiced by the Delhi chief minister Shiela Dikshit, who felt that planning was not done properly for the event scheduled then in late December, when it would be very cold.
Aiyar had then got 10 Janpath?s blessings to host the rally by making the pitch that he was fulfilling the dream of Rajiv Gandhi. The convention of ??presidents of zilla parishads and panchayats and rally of sarpanches?? was to be addressed by UPA chief Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.