While announcing the re-christening of the UPA government?s flagship rural job guarantee scheme (NREGS) after Mahatma Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday lamented the less than optimal utilisation of the Panchayati Raj framework and called for systemic reforms that would delegate more power to the third tier of government.
?Even today in many states, the functions, the funds and functionaries have not been delegated effectively to the panchayati raj institutions. We need to reform the system,? Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said, during a function to commemorate the golden jubilee of panchayati raj in the country.
?The 73rd amendment of the Constitution provides that the state legislatures should empower panchayati raj institutions as the institutions of local self government and strengthen them so that they can evolve schemes for social justice and economic development. But these legal provisions have not been used effectively,?the prime minister said.
UPA chairperson and Congress president Sonia Gandhi underlined the need to minimise hurdles in the functioning of panchayats.
?Village panchayats should play the pivotal role in the socio-economic development of villages and there should not be any obstacles for them. State governments are responsible for taking all possible steps to strengthen Panchayati Raj institutions,? Sonia Gandhi said, addressing the gathering of panchayat representatives.
“Panchayati Raj institutions have an important role to play in the implementation of NREGS. There is need for further improvement
towards its effectiveness and transparency??Sonia Gandhi said.