Speaker Biman Banerjee on Thursday said that the Centre was considering the possibility of enacting a law to bring all the panchayats in the country under
its control.

Speaking at an event commemorating the birth anniversary of Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar at the Assembly, Banerjee said the central government through its “one nation, one election” initiative intended to centralise control over zilla parishads, panchayat samitis, and village panchayats to establish direct communication with them.

“I had gone to attend the All India Speakers’ Conference. There, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha proposed a law similar to ‘one nation, one election’. The central government wants to bring the district councils (zilla parishads), panchayat samitis, and village panchayat (gram panchayats) under the control of a central authority so that they can directly communicate with them,” Banerjee said.

He was in New Delhi for the two-day conference on Monday and Tuesday.

Banerjee, who argued that this proposed centralisation could undermine the autonomy of state-run panchayat institutions and restrict the state government’s role in managing rural governance, said: “They want us to follow the agendas they set. I raised objections to this. I asked, where are the rules regarding this matter? I also questioned the consistency or practicality of what is
being proposed.”

“...What I feel is that slowly, they (Centre) are trying to exert control over the states in all matters. The institutions under the control of the state are now being taken over by the central government. This is extremely unfortunate,” he said.