Mumbai, Aug 25: The Maharashtra Government's landmark decision to adopt the recommendations of the Cabinet Standing Committee of 1994 providing for massive transfer of powers to the zilla parishads and gram panchayats for strengthening the leadership in rural Maharashtra and empower them with better decision making comes as a blessing for these people. Rural folk in Maharashtra including the elected zilla parishad president will no longer need to travel all the way to the Mantralaya, the State secretariat, for funds or to settle minor issues concerning their area.
With this, the rural development funds of the State Government would be directly transferred to the district fund, which exists on the lines of the Consolidated Fund of the State government. The Maharashtra Zilla Parishads and Panchayat Samitis Act 1961 is the most comprehensive legislation to be made in the country and is a tribute to the farsightedness of the State leadership in the early sixties. It provides for unlimited powers to the zilla parishad like direct taxation powers, levy of octroi, motor vehicle tax among other things. There are 33 zilla parishads, 302 panchayat samitis, 27,000 gram panchayats and 17,000 gram sevaks in the State. If one includes the wadis and hamlets, the number of gram panchayats go up to 44,000, officials say. — UNI