ABSTRACT
There has been a decline in the importance of PRIs in Karnataka, as pointed out in Chapter 3. According to C. Narayanaswamy, ex-ZP President, who has had a working experience of the problems of PRIs in Karnataka, ‘The State political and bureaucratic leadership is unwilling to hand over power to PRIs and they want to retain the patronage that goes with it.’ 1 In an article entitled ‘Karnataka Puts the Clock Back’, Mathew points out that with the passing of the Karnataka Panchayat Raj Act 1993, the powers of officialdom have increased and the powers of the ZP President have been reduced to make him a ‘weak and titular head’ (1994: 68). Thus, the CEO of the ZP has the power to suspend the order of a GP if he considers it ‘unjust’. Similarly, the Commissioners have this power in the case of TPs and the state government in the case of ZPs.
