New Delhi: The government is working on helping the village councils (Panchayats) to create its own income and become financially autonomous and carrying out development work without relying on funds from the center or states.
The Union Ministry Panchayati Raj has established a panel consisting of higher officials from different state governments to formulate a plan that can act as a guide for states and territories (UT) in creating and changing the rules of the OSR model (own source of income).
“We introduced a committee consisting of higher officials of different state governments to prepare the OSR framework model Panchayats, which can serve as a scale for states in formulation and change their OSR rules,” said Vivek Bharadwaj, Ministry of Panchayati Raj.
The aim of a template to be shared with states and UTS is to involve gaps in existing regulations and lead local authorities to income mobilization that come mainly from taxes, fees and other fees.
Development assumes importance because almost a dozen states and UT do not have the rules of OSR. 22 states and UT, which have already created the rules, must update them, said Bharadwaj.
Source revenues (OSR) relate to income that Panchayats generate themselves, from sources such as real estate tax, water fees, market fees, business license fees and building permit fees. OSR rules help regulate, standardize and seize Panchayats effectively collect and drive revenue. The OSR rules are essential for Panchayat because they seize them to function independently and also reduce excessive dependence on central and state grants. In addition, they support local development projects with local generated funds.
Missing in OSR rules
According to Bharadwai there are 11 states and UT, which have not yet broken OSR rules. These include Arnacal Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Manipur, Nagaland, Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Dadra and Nagar Havel and Daman and Di, Ladakh and Lakshadweep.
Twenty -two states and UTS have already developed and implemented OSR -based regulations, allowing Panchayats to collect and collect taxes, fees, tolls or other local revenue sources. These states include Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
Some states have detailed instructions for determining the OSR rates. In many cases across states, it has been observed that much more effort is needed to meet these requirements. “The financial rules related to the generation of the OSR have been prepared in the countries long ago, and therefore suffered from various shortcomings, such as the use of incomprehensible legal jargons and lack of update,” Bharadwaj added.
Panchayats, which act as local authorities on the implementation of government programs AK, achieve sustainable development goals, will receive grants from the center, state governments, and also increase their own income in a limited way through internal sources such as local taxation and user fees.
“Self-debit is an ideal state for Panchayats because they may have more funds to carry out development work. However, the collection of income is conditional because it depends on economic activities in a particular area,” said Sri Hari Nayud, economist, national institute of public finances and politics (NIPFP), New Delhi.
“Most of the time we are dependent on the Grant of the State Government on developmental works, because most of us do not know how to increase revenue. The proposed rules can lead us in this direction,” said Gurcharan Singh, Panch-Charik Patti Sarkar, a rural local authority in the Moga district in Pandjab.
In the years 2021-22 was the average OSR per head collected Panchayats at the level of all India £100. Also an average OSR for a gram of Panchayat was £230 000 per year, with 42% gram panchayat less than £100,000 income per year. “The key reasons for collecting low incomes are too much dependence on grants, insufficient use of tax powers, weak administrative systems and confidence deficit for citizens that reduce revenue,” said the economist who asked for identification.
(Tagstotranslate) Panchayat Raj
