THRISSUR: Only three weeks are left for the tenure of the elected governing councils of the three-tier local bodies to come an end in the state. It is almost certain that the local bodies will be under bureaucratic rule for almost two months as the state is witnessing a sharp rise in Covid cases. Though there is a well-oiled system to manage the Covid control activities, the absence of elected members from the ward and panchayat-level committees is expected to pose serious challenges to the containment strategies of Kerala.
Unlike earlier, the local bodies have been given more powers by the state government to tackle disasters after the 2018 mega flood which has yielded results when Covid started spreading. The state government recently appointed a three-member committee to explore ways to handle the situation in the light of imminent bureaucratic rule in the local bodies and the committee has a submitted its proposals to the state government.
Speaking to TNIE, Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA) Director Joy Elamon, who is a member of the three-member committee, said the term of the elected governing councils is for five years from the day they assume office, which ends on November 11, and the state government cannot extend it. On November 12, new governing councils have to take charge as per the Kerala Panchayat Raj Act. Taking note of this, the committee has proposed to introduce an interim arrangement to man the governance of the local bodies.
“A three-member committee each will be formed in grama, block and district panchayats, municipalities and corporations to carry out their functions. In the district panchayats and corporations, the district collector concerned would be the head of the committee while in three-tier panchayats, the committee will be under the headship of secretary.
Further, panchayat- and ward-level committees including rapid response teams have already been constituted to coordinate Covid containment strategies at the local level, drawing members from the health department, elected members, Asha workers, Kudumbashree members, residents’ associations etc. In the absence of elected members, the committee has suggested to include a representative of a political party who does not wish to contest the elections this time and a government officer with magisterial powers in each local body. We hope this arrangement will be able to coordinate the containment strategies as there is already a system in place,” he said.
Manoj Valiyaparambil, former panchayat president, Kattoor, said, “Though the committee is capable to handle the containment strategies, people are more likely to inform the developments in their areas to their people’s representatives as a gap exists between the people and government employees. Whether the reconstituted ward- and panchayat-level committees would be able to bridge the gap is the main question. There would be some hiccups, but it will be for a brief period,” he hoped.