Author : Mohan A K , Department of Social Work, University of Mysore
The State of Mysore (renamed as Karnataka in 1973) was formed in 1956 by bringing together the erstwhile princely state of Mysore districts of Bombay, three districts of Hyderabad, two districts of Madras, and the centrally administered territory of Coorg. The development of local governments in old Mysore state was not different from the development of local governments in India. The old Mysore state was ruled by many dynasties since the 6th century. History records that it was ruled by the Shatavahanas (121 B.C to 174 A.D), the Kadambas (360A.D to 565A.D), Gangas (350 A.D to 1050 A.D), Chalukyas of Badami (375A.D 793 A.D), and the Rashtrakutas (9735A.D to 973A.D). Inscriptions dating back to 1005 AD provide considerable information on the subject. The tradition of village bodies was very strong. The local governments were called by different names like Grama, Agrahara, Nadu, and Vishaya. These kinds of local governments were powerful during the reign of the Cholas. There were autonomous local institutions called Grama and Agrahara. In Agrahara villages, the assembly of Mahajans (head of the families of learned Brahmins) served as the local body. At times, the village assembly was known by a numerical suffix as in the case of aivathu okkalu (50 families) or muvathu okkalu (30 families). The functions of the village assembly included maintaining temples, arranging festivals and running chaultries and aravattiges (centers to distribute water), collecting tolls, conferring gifts for meritorious services, installing statues of heroes who died while defending the village against raids by enemies and bandits, maintaining the families of such deceased heroes by grant of land, and settling disputes (Mathew, 1997).
Later, during the Wodeyar’s and Tippu’s rule not much notable changes occurred (Government of Mysore, Report on the Integration and Co-ordination Committee for Local Bodies 1969). In 1862, a ‘local fund’ was established in Karnataka for constructing roads and other subsidiary works. By 1874, local fund committees were established in each district. But these committees were dominated by official members who were unresponsive to the needs of the people. In 1902, the Mysore Local Boards Act established a three-tier system with a nominated Chairman at the Village Panchayat level, a Sub-divisional Officer as President of the Taluk Board, and a District Commissioner as President of the District Board. Local self-government had not yet arrived on the scene. It was only in 1918, with the passing of the Mysore Local Boards and Village Panchayat Act, that elected members found a place in the system, allowing them some access to the decision-making process. This reform was motivated by the Mysore government inspired by the Madras Presidency where changes were taking place in response to the Montague Chelmsford reforms. Thus, for the first time, the Act provided that elected members should be vice-presidents of taluk and district boards. In 1926, the government enacted one more piece of legislation, namely the Mysore District and Mysore Village Panchayats Act, providing village and district panchayats with powers and resources to carry out basic civic amenities. By 1927, all the nine districts of the erstwhile Mysore State had elected members as board presidents (Chandrashekar, 2011).
With the removal of the Taluk Boards, the gap widened between the higher and lower tier. A direct link between these bodies was established with the dawn of independence in 1947. The Government of Mysore appointed a committee headed by Venkatappa (Integration and Co-ordination Committee) to study the local bodies. This committee recommended a two-tier system and the Mysore Government accepted the recommendation, i.e., to establish District Boards with indirectly elected members (Act of 1952).
But, there was considerable opposition to the establishment of the District Boards based on indirect election. Under such circumstances the Government appointed a ‘Local Boards Enquiry Committee’ to examine the question of using local bodies to implement important programmes, headed by Mr. D.H. Chandrashekarayya, which recommended a three-tier system with District Boards, Taluka Boards, and Village Panchayati with direct election as already recommended by the Balwantrai Mehta Committee Report. Later the Government of Mysore (Karnataka) adopted this system under the Act of 1959 and elections were conducted in 1960 (Naryanappa et al, 2010).
The Ashok Mehta Committee Report became an inspiration to the Janatha Dal government in the state to pass the Karnataka Zilla Parishads, Taluk Panchayat Samitis, Mandal Panchayats and Nyaya Panchayats Act in 1983. It set up elected bodies at the village and district level and an ex-officio body at the Taluk level. The Act provided for the reservation of seats for SCs, STs and women. Subsequent to the 73rd amendment, the Karnataka Panchayat Raj Act, 1993 was enacted. The Karnataka Panchayat Raj Act, 1993 bears a blue-print provided by the 73rd Constitutional Amendment, which establishes a uniform three-tier system of Panchayat Raj. The 1993 Act which is a new Act, in terms of structure and content, hardly makes any direct reference to the previous, i.e., the 1959 or 1983 Acts. With the enactment of the 1993 Act, the three-tier system, with the Zilla Panchayat, Taluk Panchayat and Gram Panchayat, has been commissioned in the State for promoting economic development in rural areas and ensuring social justice to rural people, particularly the weaker sections. The Bill for constituting panchayats, which was introduced on April 1, 1993, came into force from May 18, 1993 (Chandrashekar, 2000).