GP members seek more funds from government

BANGALORE: State Gram Panchayat Members Association has sought more funds and powers from the state government. On Wednesday, Maruti Manpade, member of the State Secretariat of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), who was speaking to ‘Express’ at the sidelines of an interaction meeting with Gram Panchayat members said there were around 91,000 Gram Panchayat members in 5,627 Gram Panchayats in Karnataka. He alleged that the Union and state government had neglected the rights of these Gram Panchayats. In Karnataka, out of the 43 per cent funds allocated to all the three Panchayat Raj institutions, including Zilla, Taluk Panchayat and Gram Panchayat, the share of Gram Panchayat is hardly two per cent, which means `8 lakh per Gram Panchayat. This is not at all sufficient. He urged the government to allocate at least `1 crore to each gram panchayat. “The state and Union government have failed to allocate adequate funds and powers. As a result, the gram panchayats have become powerless entities,” he said. Manpade said that when Mani Shankar Aiyar was the union minister for Rural  Development and Panchayat Raj, a proposal was made to bring 16 government departments including revenue, education, social welfare under the ambit of gram panchayats.