Chief Minister M.K. Stalin launching a portal that allows village panchayat consumers to pay taxes online.
Tamil Nadu has been ranked third at the all-India level under the Panchayat Devolution Index (PDI).
The State has received a score of 68.38 next to Karnataka (72.23) and Kerala (70.59), according to a study commissioned by the Union Panchayati Raj Ministry and conducted by the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA).
On Friday last, the report – Status of Devolution to Panchayats in States (2024) – An Indicative Evidence Based Ranking’ – was launched by S. P. Singh Baghel, Union Minister of State for Panchayati Raj, Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, in New Delhi.
Apart from the overall PDI, Tamil Nadu has the highest score at the national level with 60.24 with regard to the dimension of “functions,” one of the six dimensions scrutinised to assess the performance of 28 States and seven Union Territories. (The National Capital Territory of Delhi does not have operational panchayats).
The “functions” dimension has two components – functions assigned to panchayats and the involvement of panchayats in important schemes. Apart from devolving all core functions and other major functions to the panchayats, the State is utilising the services of the local bodies to carry out its schemes instead of unelected institutions.
Of the other five dimensions (framework, finances, functionaries, capacity enhancement / building and accountability), the State came second in “capacity enhancement/building” (84.29) and “functionaries” (84.25), and third in “finances” (55.78). In respect of “framework” and “accountability,” the scores were 66.83 and 71 respectively.
While the national average for the overall PDI was 43.89, the figures for the dimensions of framework, functions, finances, functionaries, capacity enhancement/building and accountability were 54.29, 29.18, 37.04, 50.96, 54.63 and 47.51 respectively.
In Tamil Nadu, there are 12,525 village panchayats, 388 panchayat unions and 37 district panchayats, of which the term of office of elected representatives for 9,624 village panchayats, 314 panchayat unions, and 28 district panchayats expired on January 5. Consequently, special officers (SO) have been appointed in these rural local bodies.
According to the IIPA’s study, the panchayats in Tamil Nadu have the “highest level of engagement” in Central and State schemes in comparison to their counterparts. The State has done well in the indicator of ‘training institutions’.
In the dimension of ‘capacity enhancement’, the State’s performance has been rated as “good” with regard to assessing the need and conducting training for representatives and officials of the panchayats. Besides, the study revealed that as for Tamil Nadu, the share of panchayats’ revenue in the State’s Own Revenue was 0.31% during 2021-22. Three southern States – Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka – had higher share with 2.84%, 2.42% and 0.67% respectively.
Published – February 15, 2025 09:04 pm IST
