Having made his views on the Government’s claims of “inclusive growth” apparent, Union Minister for Panchayati Raj Mani Shankar Aiyar has now decided to approach the Cabinet Secretariat to ensure that ministries did their bit in increasing the role of panchayats in planning and implementation of Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSSs).

Aiyar believes that the ministries have not taken his initiatives in this regard seriously and now wants the Cabinet Secretariat to intervene. The Panchayati Raj Secretary wrote to the Cabinet Secretary in the last week of June requesting that coordination with Central ministries be put in place, with regular “monitoring”.

A committee under the Cabinet Secretariat and the Panchayati Raj Secretary has been constituted to initiate a dialogue with each of the Central ministries. The first meeting, on August 10, involves the Ministry of Water Resources, official sources told The Indian Express.

Subsequently, other ministries will be called for discussions.

“The pace of progress by several ministries towards raising the role played by Panchayati Raj Institutes is not satisfactory,” Aiyar admitted to The Indian Express.

Despite a note issued almost three years back, several Central ministries haven't made any changes in their schemes to allow more powers to panchayats in planning and implementation at the local level.

The Panchayati Raj Ministry wants all the ministries to carry out an elaborate activity mapping of all their major schemes (CSSs), clearly earmarking functions, finances and functionaries which must be devolved to PRIs.