Welfare plans weaken panchayats
Multiple agencies set up for the implementation of the UPA government's flagship and anti-poverty programmes such as sarva shiksha abhiyan, national rural health mission and national horticulture mission are undermining the role of panchayats in the country, minister for panchayati raj Mani Shankar Aiyar said on Wednesday. Aiyar called for the abolition of all the development programs or their merger so that they could be brought under the supervision of panchayats for better implementation and impact.