Karnataka legislature amends state Panchayati Raj Act
on april 21, 2007, the Karnataka legislative council (upper house of the legislature) passed an amendment to the state Panchayati Raj Act, 1993, to take over the role of panchayats in selecting beneficiaries for development programmes at the village-level. "If the gram panchayat fails to prepare beneficiaries' list in respect of housing schemes or other programmes funded by the government, then a committee headed by the member of the legislative assembly (mla) from the constituency shall select the beneficiaries,' the amendment reads.
Some believe that the move was taken because members of the state legislative assembly felt threatened by the growing popularity of panchayat leaders, especially because of the successful housing programme carried out by them.Karnataka had vested 5,652 village panchayats with the power to implement housing projects under the Rajiv Gandhi Rural Housing Corporation