Meeting merits and demerits of upgrading local bodies

Tirunelveli:The district administration has planned to conduct a meeting here on June 8 to discuss the possibilities, merits and demerits of upgrading or downgrading and merger or bifurcation of rural and urban local bodies in the district.According to the Collector, G. Prakash, the district has a Corporation (Tirunelveli), seven municipalities (Sankarankovil, Puliyangudi, Kadayanallur, Tenkasi, Shencottai, Ambasamudram and Vickramasingapuram) 19 unions (Sankarankovil, Melaneelithanallur, Kuruvikulam, Vasudevanallur, Kadayanallur, Shencottai, Tenkasi, Alangulam, Keezhapaavoor, Kadayam, Nanguneri, Kalakkad, Valliyoor, Radhapuram, Ambasamudram, Cheranmahadevi, Pappakudi, Palayamkottai and Maanur), 36 town panchayats and 425 village panchayats.

The meeting to be held on June 8 will take into account the strengths and weaknesses of each local body, population, industrial growth, basic amenities, infrastructure facilities, probabilities of improving its revenue, geographical aspects etc. and based on the outcome of these deliberations, the meeting will further discuss the possibilities of upgrading local bodies to the immediate next higher level - i.e. village panchayats as town panchayats, town panchayats as municipalities and municipalities as Corporations.

At the same time, the meeting will also review the performance of existing local bodies and may come to the conclusion that whether some of the civic bodies in the district have to be downgraded since their performance had failed to match the stipulated standards and ensure the desired growth.Another major agenda of this proposed meeting is exploring the possibilities of merger of a portion of or the entire village panchayat with the adjacent village panchayat, town panchayat, municipality or Corporation. Considering the effective administration of larger panchayat unions, village panchayats and urban local bodies, the meeting will get the opinion of public representatives and others on bifurcating them into smaller and manageable local bodies.Yet another important plan of this meeting will be bifurcating a township into two or more smaller village panchayats, merger of extension areas of town panchayats, municipalities or corporation with another local body and formation of new civic bodies, Mr. Prakash said.

The Collector said MPs, MLAs, Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Tirunelveli Corporation, District Panchayat Chairman, chairpersons of panchayat unions, town panchayats and municipalities, presidents of village panchayats, district secretaries of recognised political parties and representatives of non-governmental organisations would participate in the meeting to be held at 5.30 p.m. at `Saaral Hall' of District Rural Development Agency on the Collectorate premises.