Government at Our Doorstep
Many districts in Andhra Pradesh are bigger than nearly 100 countries in the world. There is no reason why people in a district should come to Hyderabad to get their problems solved. This negates the very notion of self-governance. In order to bring governance closer to people, every district will have a District Government with all necessary powers. All local governments will be empowered with funds, functions and functionaries. Lok Satta government will bring in an institutional revolution by ensuring a Citizen centered governance process that will establish the link between taxes and services.
1. Elected District Governments
- Lok Satta government will guarantee the establishment of a directly elected District Government for each district of the State.
- Each district will have a directly elected premier who will Head a Cabinet of District Ministers to administer the district.
- District Collector will act as the Chief Secretary to the District Government.
- District Ministers will be in-charges of various portfolios such as school education, health care, agriculture, animal husbandry, basic amenities in villages and cities, employment generation, social security for poor, civil supplies, social welfare, and other local issues. Necessary funds will be devolved to local governments.
2. Empowered Local Governments
- Lok Satta Government will guarantee the empowerment of district governments, panchayats and municipalities with full decision-making and implementation powers on subjects that fall within their purview.
- Laws will be suitably enacted / amended to empower district governments, panchayats and municipalities.
- Local governments will be responsible for providing safe drinking water, sanitation, drainage, roads, housing and implementation of various programmes, issuance of certificates and other basic amenities. Necessary funds will be devolved to local governments
3. Substantial Funds for District Government
- Lok Satta Government will guarantee that 50 % of the State's annual planned budget will be transferred to district governments.
- All the funds pertaining to various sectors that are being governed by the district government will be transferred to district government.
- In addition to the existing funds, every panchayat, town and city in the District will get Rs 1000 per-capita every year for developmental activities. For a population of 1000, a panchayat will receive Rs.10 lakhs of additional funding. A panchayat with 10,000 population will receive Rs. 1 crore of additional funding. Similarly, for a population of 1 lakh, the panchayat will receive Rs. 10 crore as additional funding.
4. Public Participation in Governance
- Lok Satta government will guarantee that people will be direct participants in the functioning of the local governments.
- Committees comprised of elected stakeholders, local government representatives, and experts will manage education, healthcare, civil supplies, irrigation, and market services at the local level.
- Ward committees in all municipalities and corporations comprised of members from each polling station will be instituted.
- Heads of all the panchayats, municipalities, corporations and district governments will be directly elected by the people.
- All government orders, instructions and files will also be maintained in Telugu.