DECENTRALISATION AND COMMUNITY
 INVOLVEMENT
 

With the enactment of the 73rd and 74th Amendment Act (Panchayati Raj ACT), 1992, the focus is now on democratically elected bodies at the district, sub-district, Panchayat and municipal levels. These Panchayati Raj bodies, which are to have adequate representation of women, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, minorities, representatives of parents, educationists, and appropriate institutions, will have the responsibility of preparing development plans and implementing educational programmes besides dealing with those subjects closely related to education such as health, social welfare and women and child development.

Detailed parameters for a decentralised management of education have been worked out by a CABE committee on Decentralised Management of Education. The committee's recommendations indicate how educa- tional structures should be set up at the district, taluk/ mandal and village levels in pursuance of the Constitutional Amendments. The recommendations of the Committee have been endorsed by the CABE in its meeting held on 15 October, 1993.

State governments have initiated the process of establishment of structures for decentralised planning and management and are in the process of drawing up appropriate legislation which provides for Panchayati Raj Committees for Education.

The breadth and scope of the Panchayati Raj Act provides an exceptionally 'enabling' framework for viable strategies and interventions that would play a commanding role in promoting universal elementary education. The responsibilities vested with the district level body, for instance, cover planning, which includes, inter alia, area development, spatial planning, institutional planning, adminis- trative and financial control and personnel management with respect to primary, middle, secondary and higher secondary schools and educational programmes.

The district level body will also implement, supervise and monitor all educational programmes, including non-formal and adult education. Besides, it will draw upon the expertise

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of DIETs and other institutions for substantive curricular and pedagogic inputs into district level programmes of Elementary Education (EE), Non-formal Education (NFE) and Adult Education (AE). From the district level, the process of decentralisation percolates down to the village level.

The Panchayati Raj Act envisages the formation of Panchayats for a village or a group of villages. These panchayats will have elected representatives. Each panchayat would constitute a Village Education Committee (VEC) which would be responsible for the administration of education programmes at the village level. The major responsibility of the VECs would lie in operationalisation of micro-level planning and school mapping in the village through systematic house to house surveys and periodic discussions with parents. Ensuring participation in primary education of every child in every family would be one of the prime aims of the VECs.

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