Shillong MP Vincent Pala has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling on the central government to recognise that Meghalaya has a different local government system to that of the Indian mainland and include it in the dispersion of funds for Panchayati Raj bodies.
In a letter dated yesterday, Pala said that Meghalaya, which has been exempted from the Panchayati Raj system, has been deprived of funds that are otherwise devolved to most of the other states and territories covered by legislation.
The state, though, has received a sanction for local government issues under the 15th Finance Commission from 2021 to 2026. However, the MP wants to “ensure that such allocation of grants by the Finance Commission are given in future as an entitlement … rather than an ad hoc release of central funds for the development of village”.
Expanding on the office of Rangbah Shnong and the village and neighbourhood Dorbars, Pala said that officers used to receive “one-time financial grants” from the central government but not regular wages, which “affects the performance of their duties” negatively.
Despite this, he added that the Dorbar Shnongs have performed admirably during the Covid-19 pandemic and done better than rural areas of other states where the Panchayati Raj system is in place.
Pala then requested that the Prime Minister’s office constitute a commission to study the local system of governance in Meghalaya and “suggest measures to legally, constitutionally and financially strengthen them.”
Such a gesture would show that the Centre is keen on promoting and preserving the traditions of the state that “have stood the test of time” and which are at par with other local government systems in the other parts of India, the MP stated.
