Source: Ministry of Rural Development
Background
- Part IX of the Constitution of India provides for Panchayats and part XI defines the relationship between the Union and States.
- Article 243 G provides authority to State Legislature to endow local governments with power for planning and implementation
- Article 243 ZD provides the authority for the Committee for District Planning (DPC)
- DISHA is an effort to improve development coordination and monitoring within the Constitutional framework of responsibilities assigned to Central, State, and Local Governments
Objective
District Development and Monitoring Committee (DISHA) is being formed with a view to fulfill the objective of ensuring better coordination among all the elected representatives in Parliament, State Legislatures and Local Governments (Panchayati Raj Institutions/Municipal Bodies) for efficient and time-bound development of districts in our country.
Composition
DISHA should have the following composition:
Chairperson:
- The Chairperson of the DISHA should be a Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) elected from the district, nominated by the Ministry of Rural Development. The criteria for nomination should be the following:
- Where there are more than one Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) representing the district, the senior-most Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) should be nominated as the Chairperson.
- If the district has more than one Parliamentary Constituency (Lok Sabha) as its segments and the senior-most Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) is made Chairperson of DISHA in some other district, the next senior-most Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) should be the Chairperson
- In case of same seniority, the Chairperson should be the Member of Parliament in whose Parliamentary Constituency the largest geographical area of the district falls.
- Co-Chairperson:
- The other Members of Parliament (Lok Sabha) representing the district should be designated as Co-Chairpersons.
- Rajya Sabha MP: One MP (Rajya Sabha) representing the State and exercising an option to be associated with the district level Committee of that district (on first come basis), to be designated as Co-Chairpersons by the Ministry of Rural Development
Note: In case the Mp from RS is senior following the Warrant of Precedence maintained by the Ministry of Home Affairs, he/she may be made as chairperson of the committee
- Member secretary: The Member Secretary of the DISHA should be the District collector / District Magistrate/ Deputy Commissioner except in cases where specific exemption has been given by the Union Government. In very extraordinary circumstances the District Magistrate/Deputy Commissioner could authorize the CEO Zila Parishad or a Senior ADM to be the Member Secretary for a particular meeting to ensure that meetings of the DISHA are held as scheduled
- Members: The other Members of the committee should be as follows:
- All Members of the State Legislative Assembly elected from the district
- One representative of the State Govemment / UT Administration
- All Mayors / the Chairpersons of Municipalities (inclusive of at least one woman) and five elected heads of Gram Panchayat (inclusive of two women) to be nominated by the chairperson and the other Members of Parliament in the committee
- Chairperson of the Zila Panchayat
- Head of the Autonomous District Council in districts having Schedule VI Areas’
- All chairpersons of Intermediate Panchayats in the district.
- Chief Executive Officer of the Zila Panchayat
- project director, DRDA/Poverty Alleviation Unit’
- Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India may nominate up to 4 members as member of the committee from the following categories:
- An eminent person of the district from social, academic or public fields having special knowledge or experience of socio-economic development in the region/district
- An eminent person/office bearer of a civil society organization working in the district/region in the field of socio-economic development in the region/district
- An eminent person in the senior citizen category (above the age of 60 years). Provided that, At least one of the above persons shall be a woman and; At least one of the above persons shall be from either a scheduled caste or a scheduled tribe category
Provided further that continuance of these persons as member of the committee will be at the discretion of Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India
- One Member from a reputed NGO, to be nominated by the chairperson and the other Members of Parliament in the Committee
- One representative each of SC, ST, and women to be nominated by the chairperson and the other Members of Parliament in the Committee
- Lead Bank officer of the district
- Senior Superintendent/ Superintendent of the Postal Department
- District level nodal functionaries of all Programmes that will be under the purview of DISHA
Number of Meetings
Meetings of the DISHA should be held at least once in every quarter, after giving sufficient notice to the Hon’ble MPs/MLAs and all other Members. During the year at least 4 meetings are to be organized.
Powers of the Committee
This committee will have coordination and Monitoring powers. Its role is to facilitate the timely execution of approved projects. It will have powers in seeking effective follow up of issues raised during the deliberation. The District Collector will be the Member Secretary responsible for the timely follow up on recommendations
