Local bodies will have more fiscal responsibility as law gets legislature stamp

BENGALURU: The Legislative Council on Tuesday passed the Karnataka Local Fund Authorities Fiscal Responsibility (Amendment) Bill, 2021, amidst Opposition members staging a walkout. The Opposition benches expressed apprehensions about undermining the State Finance Department as regards audit of Panchayat Raj institutions and urban local bodies.

As per the Bill, the RDPR Department will be the competent authority with respect to panchayat raj institutions and the Urban Development Department for ULBs instead of the Finance Department to oversee compliance of the Act and to notify a mechanism for submitting periodical review reports.

But Opposition leader S R Patil and other Congress members including P R Ramesh, B K Hariprasad, M Narayanaswamy, and the JDS’ Thippeswamy, Marithibbegowda, K T Srikante Gowda, BEML Kantharaju opposed the Bill. The local bodies are incompetent as there are reports of corruption in state- and centrally-funded projects and they have failed to submit reports for audit for several years, they alleged.

They also took strong exception to RDPR minister K S Eshwarappa not being present in the House for the debate and staged a walkout.  The Bill was passed in the Assembly last week. With its passage in the Upper House, it will become an Act to strengthen local bodies as competent authorities with the decentralisation of power.