People's Democracy
(Weekly Organ of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)
No.
42
October 17, 2010
|
Vol. XXXIV
No.
42 October 17, 2010 |
On Kerala Panchayat
Elections
N
KERALA, the tiny southern
state is
recognised for its contribution especially in education, public health
and
decentralisation, and its achievements have been considered as model of
development attained through equitable distribution in the back drop of
comparatively low economic growth. The state which has made a giant
leap in the
fields of decentralisation and women empowerment through projects like
Kudumbashree, is going to witness another edition of local body
elections in
the month of October. Kerala has three tier local self government
system that came
in to existence on October 2, 1995, after the 73rd and 74th
amendments of Indian constitution. The foremost and distinguishing
character of
this election which is scheduled to be held in two phases ie, on
October 23 and
25, is the implementation of 50 per cent women’s reservation. Elections
for 76
municipalities and 5 city corporations will also be held along with
this. The
reservation is not confined to only the number of candidates, it is
implemented
at the level of elected posts as well.
Women presidents are going to lead more than 50 per cent of
panchayats,
municipalities and city corporations. On November 1, the 54th
anniversary of formation of Kerala state, out of 1209 elected
presidents, 606
women will take oath and assume the power.
Kerala has the long
tradition of
nurturing self government and decentralisation. Even the non-communists
may
admit that whole credit of this triumph goes to the communist party led
governments. Kerala’s History of the decentralisation process starts
right from
the first ministry led by the legendary communist leader E M S
Namboodiripad.
Soon after assuming power in 1957, E M S ministry took a historical
decision to
form administrative reforms committee to look into various aspects of
decentralisation. This move was aimed to introduce political
decentralisation
through the constitution of elected district governments.
Though this committee under the chairmanship
of chief minister E M S really ignited the process, unfortunately the
renegade
forces of the rightwing toppled the elected government with the help of
Congress
party’s central leadership in 1957. This caused the premature death of
the
first attempt for decentralisation in
Kerala. The next government headed by Congress leader Pattom
Thanupillai which
came to power in 1959 put this process into the backburner. The second
communist government which came to power in 1967 again took initiative
to
introduce the bill in assembly. But the bill could not be passed.
The renewed attempts to
introduce the
district council bill succeeded in 1990. The LDF government led by E K
Nayanar
established district councils in 14 districts of state. The district
panchayat
came into existence in February 1991. Through these councils,
devolution of
power from state planning board to district councils was made. The
government
allocated 24 per cent of state budget to the councils to set up schemes
in the
jurisdiction of district councils. In addition to this, 5 per cent of state budget was transferred to district
councils on the
condition that funded programmes could be implemented only with the
involvement
of local governments within the district. This was a
revolutionary step
in the field of decentralisation. The councils prepared their own
schemes to
revitalise the fields of education, health, and infrastructure, since
19
departments and 240 subjects were handed over to the councils.
Tragically the Congress
led
government which came to power in 1991 started strangulating the
district
council by withdrawing the powers given to the councils by the previous
government. Gradually the councils became a carcass of what the
predecessors
dreamt. In April 1994, these councils were abolished and
the power to decide on district projects was reallocated to state
government
departments within each district. The
reason behind this vengeance was that all
districts except Malappuram were governed by the Left Democratic Front.
When the 73rd
and 74th
constitutional amendments were passed, Kerala enacted a law for the
introduction of three tier panchayat system all over the state in 1995.
This is
the fourth election to the three tier panchayat system. The Left
Democratic Front
led by CPI(M) has a great winning record
in the previous election to the three tier panchayats.
In 2005 elections, all
five
corporations (Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam,
The following are the results of 2005 panchayat elections:
Kasaragod
Total
LDF UDF BJP
Village
panchayats
39 19 14
06
Block
panchayats
04 03 01
00
Dist panchayat
members 16
06 09 01
Municipalities 02 00
02 00
Kannur
Village
panchayats
81 60 21
00
Block
panchayats
11 09 02
00
Dist panchayat
members 26
21 05 00
Municipalities 05 04
01 00
Wayanad
Village
panchayats
25 18 07
00
Block
panchayats
03 01 02
00
Dist panchayat
members 16
06 10 00
Municipalities 01 00
01 00
Village
panchayats
78 69 09
00
Block
panchayats
12 12 00
00
Dist
panchayat members 28
23 05 00
Corporation
Dvns
55 46 07
00
Municipalities 02 02
00 00
Malappuram
Village
panchayats
102 30
72 00
Block
panchayats
14 03 11
00
Dist panchayat
members 32
07 25 00
Municipalities 05 02
03 00
Palakkad
Village
panchayats
91 71 20
00
Block
panchayats
13 11 02
00
Dist panchayat
members 29
27 02 00
Municipalities 04 02
02 00
Thrissur
Village
panchayats
92 78 13
00
Block
panchayats
17 15 02
00
Dist panchayat
members 30
25 05 00
Corporation
Dvns
52 29 22
00
Municipalities 06 05
01
00
Eranakulam
Village
panchayats
88 67 21
00
Block
panchayats
15 13 02
00
Dist panchayat
members 28
20 08 00
Corporation
Dvns
71 42 29
00
Municipalities 04 02
02 00
Kottayam
Village
panchayats
73 38 35
00
Block
panchayats
11 06 05
00
Dist
panchayat members 23
12 11 00
Municipalities 04 02
02 00
Alappuzha
Village
panchayats
73 52 21
00
Block
panchayats
12 11 01
00
Dist panchayat
members 33
19 14 00
Municipalities 05 03
02 00
Pathanamthitta
Village
panchayats
54 35 10
00
Block
panchayats
09 06 03
00
Dist panchayat
members 17
10 07 00
Municipalities 03 01
02 00
Idukki
Village
panchayats
52 33 19
00
Block
panchayats
08 06 02
00
Dist panchayat
members 16
14 02 00
Municipalities 01 00
01 00
Kollam
Village
panchayats
71 64 07
00
Block
panchayats
13 13 00
00
Dist
panchayat members 27
25 02 00
Corpration
dvns
52 38 14
00
Municipalities 02 02
00 00
Thiruvananthapuram
Village
panchayats
78 62 16
00
Block
panchayats
12 10 02
00
Dist
panchayat members 27
21 06 00
Corpration
dvns
86 76 10
00
Municipalities 04 04
00 00
This LDF is confident
enough to
repeat the victory in these elctions. The steps taken by the LDF
government to strengthen
the local self governments is a positive factor. Even opponents may
also admit
that there is no anti- incumbency
feeling. Being a consumer state, Kearala is a major casualty of the
price rise
due the recurring petrol price hike. But the steps taken by the Left
government
to check the price hike of essential commodities especially during the
festival
seasons made a strong impact on the people. The combined effort of the
co-operative
sector and civil supplies department succeeded in intervening in the
public
distribution and this made the festivals like Onam and Ramzan less
costly. EMS Bhavana Paddhathi, a
flagship program of this government became a
great success. All state public sector industrial units became
profitable. The LDF
hopes these programmes will have a major impact in this election.
Kerala has a brilliant
record in
efficient and transparent implementation of Mahatma Gandhi National
Rural
Employment Guarantee Act. Social welfare measures were extended to the
beneficiaries of MNREGA. Now all the beneficiaries enjoy the benefits
of
availing rice for Two rupees a kilo and they are also included in the
special
health insurance scheme. Thavinjal panchayat in Wayanad district has
bagged the
best panchayat award as it spent Five crore rupees for MNREGA projects.
A well
organiSed social auditing all over the state makes the implementation
accountable and successful.
Projects like Kudumbashree
also helped
the state to find avenues for job opportunities and resource
management.
Kudumbashree is multifaceted women based poverty eradication program
jointly
initiated by government of Kerala and NABARD. This project also
attracted
national and international recognition. Kerala’s performances in the
field of law
and order, tourism and local self government also gained recognition
from the
central government.
In spite of all hindrances from the
central government, the state is doing its best to fulfill the people’s
mandate. The central government continues with a hostile approach
towards the
state by making attempts to deny projects like the Kochi Metro and
railway component
factory in Chertala. The antagonist attitude of the central government
is also being
highlighted in the election campaign.
