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1st of April, 1999 was a landmark day in the
political history of the Indian nation. As an important
step in the M.P. government’s decentralisation policy,
the major part of the responsibilities and powers of the
state were passed on to sixty-one district level bodies
in the state. This was done according to the provisions
of the District Planning Committee Act, 1995 which
provided that the state government may entrust any
programme of public welfare which was the responsibility
of the state government to the district planning
committee. |
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principal objective of the establishment of district
government is to decentralise powers vested in the
government, heads of departments and divisional officers
so that citizens get full and real benefit. The
initiative is targeted towards ensuring that district
plans are framed, keeping in view local needs and
available resources and are implemented properly with
the approval of the people and their
representatives. |
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| Each
district planning committee has from 15 to 25 members,
if which four to five are elected under the statutory
provisions. The representation of these members in the
district planning committee is determined on the basis
of rural and urban population. The minister-in-charge of
the district (appointed by the state government), the
district collector and the chairperson, Zilla Panchayat
are nominated members of the committee. The
minister-in-charge is the chair-person of the district
planning committee while the District collector is its
secretary. |
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committee holds regular monthly meetings, in which
subject matter specialists are also invited. Orders on
the decisions of the District Planning Committee are
issued on behalf of the government at the district
level. The collector has been assigned the status of
ex-officio additional secretary while the additional
collector has been given the status of a deputy
secretary to the government. |
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| This
model of district government framed for effecting
administrative decentralisation has this special feature
that it does not affect the powers already entrusted to
the three-tier panchayats and urban local bodies. |
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| Powers
of the District Government |
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District
Governments review, supervise and monitor at the
district level schemes and activities undertaken
by the departments of the government. |
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The
district planning committee has powers to
transfer all class III and Class IV employees
within the district. |
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The
District Planning committees have the power to
sanction continuance of grants sanctioned to
various institutions by different departments of
the state government. They also have the powers
to institute inquiry into such grants and stop
them, if necessary. |
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The
district government has powers in respect of
improvement and control of transport, giving
grants-in-aid for construction of new cinema
houses, evaluation of plantation schemes,
collection of tendu leaves, review of payments
for such collection and group insurance schemes
meant for tendu leaf gatherers. They also have
powers to ensure protection of minor forest
produce, prevention of illicit felling of forest
and the monitoring of development programmes
being implemented under the world food programme. |
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The
District planning committee also reviews
prosecution under labour laws and monitors
prevention of epidemics, mobile dispensaries,
health insurance, registration of births and
deaths, family welfare and other national health
programmes. |
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Apart
from the powers entrusted to the urban local
bodies, the district planning committee has
powers to delimit urban areas, delimit afresh
municipal wards and of land acquisition. It has
the power to review works under the public works
departments as well as to accord financial
sanction for them. |
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The
district planning committee has powers of price
control, prevention of black marketing and
sanctioning shops and godowns for the public
distribution system. It also has powers to
sanction financial assistance to women’s
cooperative banks and women’s committees, to
sanction loans and grants to members of the
scheduled castes and the scheduled tribes for
the purchase of shares of cooperative societies
and banks. |
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The
committee also has powers to consider cases of
losses through natural calamities of over RS.
15000, to allot nazul land to the departments of
the union and the state governments, public
undertakings and local bodies and to approve
temporary lease of nazul land by auction for up
to five years. It also has the power to grant
lease of land for industrial or commercial use
and to grant permanent lease on nazul land for
the installation of petrol pumps in towns with a
population under one lakh. The committee can
acquire land where abadi land is not available.
It has the powers for remission and suspension
of land revenue following damage to crops.
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The
committee monitors all monuments and museums
maintained by the state government. It is also
entrusted with the renovation of places of
worship maintained by the government. |
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The
committee has powers to appoint notaries and
enquire into complaints against them and to
appoint government and additional government
advocates. |
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The
committee is responsible for monitoring the
activities at the district level of the
departments of social welfare, school education,
tribal welfare and women and child development. |
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| One
year of district governments |
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| On
1st April 2000, M.P. completed one year of
the establishment of the district government. In spite
of the code of conduct enforced because of the elections
the district governments have stood true to the
expectations thrust on this monumental initiative. The
district governments have opened schools, sanctioned
grants, installed hand pumps, allotted land, delimited
boundaries of police stations and outposts and extended
the limits of urban areas. They cared to provide
drinking water and were also concerned about the
depleting ground water levels. Apart from saving lakhs
of rupees in sanctioning tenders, the district
government also became a competent agency for the
implementation and monitoring of development programmes.
Next, we give a brief of the important accomplishments
of district governments across the state. |
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In
Bhind, the DPC took a decision to replace all
piped water schemes of the PHE department by
hand pumps. The decision was widely appreciated
as most of the pipelines were not functioning
properly and villages with pipelines were
getting bypassed for construction of hand pumps.
The DPC also took a decision for coonstruction
of Ghoraka bridge across the river on
Daboh-Samthar road, which will ensure
round-the-year movement of people between U.P.
and M.P. |
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The
district government of Gwalior has taken
concrete measures to solve the problem of
drinking water. The DPC collected information
about drinking water crisis and accorded
sanction for boring of 190 tube-wells before the
summer season. |
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In
Tikamgarh district, the District government took
action against the encroachment by influential
people, upon land allocated to the weaker
sections, by the government. 478 patta holders
were identified and actual possession was
restored to 475 people. |
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Through
a timely watershed initiative in Amarakanatak,
the district government of Shahdol averted what
could have led to a serious problem of water
scarcity in the Narmada. |
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The
district government of Seoni initiated hostel
facility for the visually handicapped. |
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The
district government of Indore initiated a total
of 153 new schools (103 primary, 28 middle, 6
higher secondary and 6 Urdu schools) during the
academic session of 1999-2000 without any state
expenditure. The people of the city contributed
generously for the establishment of these
schools. With an objective of rationalising the
teaching staff, the chief minister sanctioned
the establishment of 103 schools in slum areas. |
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The
district government of Khandwa gave
administrative sanction of 22 Lakh rupees to
provide houses for leprosy patients. |
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The
Dhar District government has emerged as a model
example. It made model initiatives like Gram
Jyoti, Jeevan Setu and Bhagirathi Nyas in
priority sectors in a little span of time. The
district also developed the highest number of
village ponds and achieved universalisation of
middle school. |
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