In Parliament: Panchayat funds drying up, warns panel

The Standing Committee on Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, chaired by Congress MP Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka, expressed concerns over the steady erosion of funds to Panchayati Raj Institutions across successive Union Budgets. The committee has urged the Ministry of Panchayati Raj to immediately engage with the Ministry of Finance and 15th Finance Commission to reverse this trajectory. It also criticised many states for failing to regularly constitute their State Finance Commissions.

‘Need to revive railway land development body’

A panel, led by MP KC Venugopal, has come down heavily on the Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA), flagging delays, poor planning and lack of accountability in its commercial land development efforts. In its report tabled in Parliament, the panel revealed the Railways had entrusted RLDA with 49 sites between 2007-17, but none of the 17 audited projects had been completed. Many sites suffered from encroachments, missing land records, or pending litigation. Only three were handed over, while seven each were delayed and de-entrusted.

‘Tribal self-governance law only on paper’

Nearly 30 years after Parliament passed the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996, its implementation remains staggeringly incomplete across many tribal regions, said a parliamentary panel report. The Standing Committee on Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, chaired by Congress MP Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka, said it was “surprised” to find that several states had still not framed the required rules or brought local land, forest and mineral laws in line with the Act.