H K Patil urges Karnataka govt not to scrap taluk panchayats

Former RDPR minister and senior Congress MLA H K Patil said on Wednesday the state government should not make a hasty decision on scrapping taluk panchayat (TP) system without understanding its importance in three-tier panchayat raj system.

“As per the 73rd Amendment to the Indian Constitution, the state governments cannot scrap the taluk panchayat system. The successive governments failed in strengthening the TPs. The taluk panchayat has a big responsibility in initiating and executing development works of respective taluks. The government should give serious thought to empowering the TPs,” Patil told reporters.

“The ongoing talk about scrapping TPs or adding more teeth to Zilla panchayats is a conspiracy by the state government to postpone the elections to local bodies,” the Congress legislator charged.

The debate on taluk panchayat system gained fire with RDPR Minister K S Eshwarappa’s recent statement that the government is ready to scrap TP as it’s proving to be a burden on the state exchequer.